CAT 2023

CAT and other MBA Entrance Exams

Get more information about the CAT and other MBA Entrance Exam’s exam patterns, syllabus, tips , notes, etc.

Candidates who wish to enroll in management programs at the post-graduate level must take the CAT, or Common Admission Test. CAT 2023 exam will take place on November 26 (tentatively).  CAT exam 2023 registration period will begin during the first week of August on iimcat.ac.in. To register for the CAT in 2023, applicants must create a login ID, finish the application, and pay the exam fee. The IIM hosting the test will officially release the CAT 2023 exam date in the latter week of July 2023.

CAT Exam

Common Admission Test, commonly referred to as the CAT examination, happens to be a nationwide management aptitude test which is held once a year to grant admission to MBA aspirants in IIMs and almost 1200 other business schools across the country. 

As per stats gathered till 2021, almost 2,00,000 candidates sit for this highly competitive examination that generally takes place near the end of November. Total number of questions in CAT 2023 is expected to be same as that of CAT 2022 i.e., 66 questions in all.

The entire marks are distributed among multiple subjects like Quants or Quantitative Aptitude, Logical reasoning, Data Interpretation, Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability. The time duration of exam is 2 hours. 

CAT Exam Highlights

The guidelines for the CAT examination are set by any top IIM institute each year. In 2021, IIM Ahmedabad got this prestigious opportunity of hosting the exam. The exam governing body’s name for this year’s Common Admission Test will soon be declared by the General Council. We have listed the highlights of CAT exam 2023 for your prompt reference:

Examination ParticularsDetailed Insights
Full name of CATCommon Admission Test
Host for 2023IIM Bangalore (as per provisional announcement)
Level of ExaminationNational
SyllabusThree distinct sections include VARC (Verbal Ability along with Reading Comprehension), Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning coupled with Data Interpretation (DILR)
Examination process CBT (includes both response based and MCQ-type questions)
Total number of cities participating in CAT 2023156
Examination date (tentative)26th November 2023
CAT EligibilityStudents need to graduate with at least 50% marks on aggregate. Percentage relaxation of 5% is allowed for ST/SC candidates
Examination charges

₹ 2,200 for General caste candidates

₹ 1,100 for Reserved category students

Course affiliatedMBA/ PGDM
CAT Examination’s motiveTo secure admission in one of the top IIMS or PJIMR, IMT, MDI, SPJIMR or in any of top 1200 business schools across the country
Statistical inputs from CAT Examination 2021
Total applications recorded2.31 lakhs
Total number of examinees1.92 lakhs

To check the latest updates related to CAT Exam 2023, we highly recommend the aspirants to stay in touch with the official website tagged as iimcat.ac.in. This ensures that no important notification related to examination dates, issuance of admit card, application form availability, etc. is missed by a student. Also, there is a toll-free help desk extension which is 1-800-210-1088.

CAT 2023 Eligibility Criteria

As we have already discussed earlier that the CAT Examination is conducted to fill up PG-level managerial course vacancies, hereby we are about to discuss the bare minimum qualification that a candidate must secure in his/her undergraduate course to sit for CAT: 

  • An MBA aspirant needs to graduate in any specialization securing at least 50% marks on aggregate. This threshold has been set to 45% for all reserved caste candidates (SC/ST). The student’s graduation certificate must be issued from and acknowledged by a recognized university.
  • Individuals who had passed college a few years ago and have already been working in various professional sectors like IT/ Sales/ Marketing etc. also appear for the CAT examination.
  • Last year college students who are currently pursuing a degree course in any subject principle are also eligible to sit for CAT 2023.

CAT Syllabus

Ideally, a minimum of six months is recommended for each candidate who attempts to fully brush up on the vast syllabus for the CAT examination. For first-timers, this timeframe is sufficient to prepare well by appearing in several mock tests while the students who have already sat before, might need lesser preparation. 

CAT SubjectsSubject Topics
VARCVerbal Ability, Para Summary, Reading Comprehension, Para Jumbles and ODD Sentence identification
QuantsAlgebra, Number system, Mensuration, Basic Arithmetic Problems, Geometry
DILRArrangement, Set theory, Puzzles, Numerical Reasoning,  Games and Tournaments, etc.

CAT Exam Pattern

Specific test centres are selected to conduct the CAT exam across various cities. The mode of examination is online and the students answer the papers seated in front of computers. 

Exam pattern underwent alterations in 2020 followed by the pandemic effect. The number of questions reduced to 76 from 100, also the exam duration had been reduced to 120 minutes or 2 hours from 3 hours. In 2021, the number of questions was reduced to 66 from 76.

CAT Examination modeComputer Based Test
Exam Time40 minutes are allotted for each section making it a total of 2 hours
The time slots for CAT Examination 2022

Morning: 8:30 in the morning to 10:30 A.M. 

Second slot (afternoon): 12:30 in the noon to 2:30 P.M.

Last slot (Evening): 4:30-6:30 P.M. 

Revised number of questions66
Raw Score198
Number of options per question4
Question formatMCQ and student response based
Question paper’s languageEnglish
Marking Criteria3 marks will be awarded for correct answers, and 1 mark is deducted for each wrongly answered MCQ type question, for student response based, candidates can attempt the question even if they are unsure about the solution as these questions does not apply negative marking.

CAT 2023 Preparation Tips

The aspirants are expected to start preparation for this examination at least by the end of June; however, those who prepare from March create a more decent chance for themselves to secure a handsome aggregate in the CAT. Top MBA institutes including the IIMs provide admission to students with percentile ranging between 95 and 99.5+, thus without adequate preparation, it is not suggested that one must appear for this highly competitive examination. Several dedicated books are designed for cracking this test; this includes books on Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning, self-study books, last week’s preparation modules and much more. After sufficient practice, a student can appear for a reasonable number of mock evaluations depending on their conceptualization satisfaction of key aspects. After all of these, one becomes ready to excel in this national-level test.

CAT Registrations

The registration procedure involves filling out the CAT exam application form by all those who are willing to officially enrol their names in top MBA institutes across the country. First, the candidate must visit the official web page of the CAT Examination and register their candidature. It is estimated that the registration process for CAT Examination will start in August (1st week). To know more about registration, visit the website and execute CAT login.

CAT Admit Card

Students will be able to download it by visiting the website iimcat.ac.in and entering their login credentials.

Top MBA colleges 

We have listed the top 10 MBA colleges in India in the following table:

  1. IIM Ahmedabad
  2. IIM Bangalore
  3. IIM Calcutta
  4. IIM Kozhikode
  5. IIM Lucknow
  6. IIM Indore
  7. XLRI 
  8. IIT Delhi
  9. SP Jain
  10. IIT Bombay

Top Colleges Accepting CAT Scores

CollegeCollege
IIM AhmedabadIIM Sirmaur
IIM BangaloreIIM Trichy
IIM CalcuttaIIM Raipur
IIM LucknowIIM Sambhalpur
IIM IndoreIIM Kashipur
IIM KozhikodeIIM Ranchi
IIM AmritsarIIM Udaipur
IIM VizagIIM Jammu
IIM ShillongIIM Bodhgaya
IIM NagpurFMS Delhi
IIT DelhiNITIE Mumbai
MDI GurgaonIMT Nagpur
JBIMS MumbaiGIM Goa
LBSIM DelhiLIBA Chennai
MICAIIT Kharagpur

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faq

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the CAT exam for?

CAT stands for Common Admission Test. It is conducted once every year by different IIMs for admissions to MBA/PGDM courses. Its score is taken by a...Read full

Who is eligible to take the CAT exam?

The candidate applying for the CAT exam should be a graduate or is in the final year of graduation. While applying for the colleges the candidate s...Read full

Which IIM is conducting the CAT 2022?

IIM Bangalore is conducting the CAT 2022. The exam is going to take place on 27th November.

Is there a sectional time limit for the exam taker to complete a section?

According to the CAT 2022 notification, there is a time limit of 40 minutes for each ...Read full

Are there any sectional cut-offs given by the IIMs for the exam taker to be eligible for the admissions?

Yes, each IIMs have their own sectional cutoffs for the admission process.

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