CAT 2020 Exam Pattern - Check MBA CAT Paper Pattern Here

By Sneha Dasgupta
23 March 2020

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CAT 2020 Exam Pattern - To crack the Common Admission Test with high percentile, the candidates need to prepare as per the paper pattern and syllabus. The MBA CAT pattern 2020 will release officially along with the exam notification on the official website, www.iimcat.ac.in. CAT paper pattern provides the structure of the exam concerning the no. of questions, mode of exam, no. & name of sections, and duration of exam, etc. The exam pattern of CAT 2020 is expected to remain unchanged and will be similar to that of last year. Keep reading this post for complete details on the CAT exam pattern 2020 and marking scheme. The CAT 2020 notification is expected to release in July and the exam registration to begin from the first week of August 2020. The eligible and interested candidates can click on the link below to apply for this MBA entrance test.

Click Here to Register for CAT 2020 Exam

CAT 2020 Exam Pattern

CAT has always been the exam of surprises, and this characteristic only makes it the toughest one to crack for the management aspirants. It is the gateway to not just IIMs but all the B-schools of India. The CAT MBA test aims to examine the basic aptitude and skills of the candidates in quant, critical & logical thinking, reasoning, and data interpretation.

The candidates aiming to appear for the Common Admission Test this year must go through the CAT exam pattern 2020 before beginning with their preparations. Having clarity and an idea about the exam pattern will help them understand the question paper format and the marking scheme. To accustom to the CAT test pattern 2020, the candidates must take the mock tests. These tests will give them an idea about the kind of questions that are asked in the exam and the difficulty level of the exam. Also, the CAT examinees can refer to the CAT model test papers, previous year question papers, and sample papers for effective preparation. Check Out Top Reasons to do an MBA in 2020

Specifications of MBA CAT Pattern 2020

Mode of Exam - It is a computer-based test (CBT), where candidates can attempt this exam via assigned computer systems. They will have to mark the options of MCQs using the mouse and type the answers for the descriptive questions.
Duration of the CAT – The exam will be of 3 hours (180 minutes). However, for PwD candidates, the duration of CAT 2020 will be 4 hours. PWD candidates with or without Scribe requirement will be given a time extension of 20 minutes per section.
Sectional Constraint - To attempt each section, only 60 minutes will be given. If the candidates finish a particular section in less than 60 minutes, he/she cannot proceed further until 60 minutes for that section are over. The “Submit button” will be enabled only upon completion of test time. The candidates will have to be seated at their seats for the entire duration of the CAT 2020 test even if they complete it early.
Type of Questions – Multiple choice (MCQ) and Type in the Answer (TITA) questions will be asked in CAT 2020 exam. The objective type questions will have 4 options and the candidates will have to opt for one correct answer.
Number of Questions – According to the CAT paper pattern 2020, the total number of questions will be 100. The number of questions across the sections may vary every year. However, usually, 34 questions are asked in the VARC and QA section. However, in DILR section, a total of 32 questions are asked.
The number of sections - Total 3 sections will be there in the exam – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Aptitude (QA).
Switching between the sections - The candidates will not have the option to switch in between the 3 sections.
Online Calculator – As per the expected CAT 2020 exam pattern, an online calculator will be provided for performing basic calculations.
Online Exam Tutorial – An official tutorial for better understanding of the CAT exam structure and pattern will be made available on the official website of IIM CAT. The candidates must go through this tutorial to understand how they should take the exam.

Tabular Representation of CAT Exam Pattern 2020

The candidates planning to take CAT 2020 can go through this table to have more clarity on the test pattern.

Sequence of Sections in CAT	Name of Section	No. of MCQs	No. of Non-MCQs	Total No. of Questions from each section	Total Marks	Minutes allotted for each section
1	Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VRC)	27	7	34	102	60
2	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR)	24	8	32	96	60
3	Quantitative Ability (QA)	23	11	34	102	60
Total		74	26	100	300	180

CAT 2020 Marking Scheme

The exam pattern of CAT 2020 will also reveal the marking scheme of the exam. Knowing the CAT marking scheme 2020 is equally important as one can draw an idea about how the questions will be marked in the test, how many questions they need to answer correctly and with how many questions they can freely do the guesswork. From the table below, the candidates can check the marking scheme of CAT 2020.

Total number of Questions in the exam	100
Marks for each question	3 (For MCQ & non-MCQ)
Total Marks	300 (100*3)
For marking a correct answer	3 mark will be given
For marking an incorrect answer (MCQ)	1 mark will be deducted
For answering Non-MCQ incorrectly	No mark will be deducted
For leaving the questions unanswered	No mark will be awarded or deducted

Also, Know How to become industry-ready and earn a high salary after MBA?

Official CAT Exam Tutorial

During the duration of the CAT test, an on-screen timer will continuously keep flashing on the computer screens of the candidates. This timer will keep displaying the leftover minutes for the test. As mentioned before, the candidates will not be allowed to toggle between the 3 sections and will only have an option of attempting one section at a time. Though they are free to attempt any of the section first and also can choose to answer the questions in any sequence but within the time duration of 60 minutes only. The questions answered by marked for review by the candidate will be shown with a tick mark. However, the questions simply marked for review and are unanswered will not be carrying a tick mark and will be marked in violet colour. A panel on the right-hand side of the computer screen will keep displaying the status of the questions in distinct four colours. These colours will help the candidates manage and identify the questions answered/unanswered by them. The different colour and the status indicated by them have been stated below –

Green Colour – It will indicate the questions answered by the candidate
Red Colour – It will indicate the questions unanswered by the candidate
White Colour – It will indicate the questions not yet viewed by the candidate
Violet Colour – It will indicate the questions marked for review by the candidate

Common Admission Test 2020 will be organized in over 150 cities of the country. The score of this test remains valid for a year and accepted by Sunstone- the only B-school that takes an MBA tuition fee only after getting its students placed.

About Sunstone

Sunstone is a leading higher education service provider that works with academic institutions in up-skilling students for employability. Sunstone offers career oriented training interventions for undergraduate and postgraduate students at 30+ institutions across 25 cities.

Sunstone’s training programs are industry endorsed to enhance employability. These programs are designed for hybrid delivery with unparalleled focus on soft skills and personality development. Sunstone’s focus is to provide students with holistic educational experience.