With each passing year, the competition for CAT intensifies, making it crucial for candidates to have a thorough understanding of the CAT Exam syllabus. If you’re planning to take the CAT 2025, you’re at the right place. This article will walk you through every detail of the CAT syllabus 2025, providing insights that will help you prepare effectively and confidently.
Understanding the CAT Exam Syllabus and Structure in Detail
Check below the CAT exam structure given in detail:
| Particulars | Details |
| Full Form | Common Admission Test |
| Conducting Body | Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Exam Date | November 2025 (Exact date will be announced closer to the exam) |
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Mode of Exam | Computer-Based Test (CBT) |
| Number of Sections | 3 |
| Sections | – Quantitative Ability (QA) |
| – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) | |
| – Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) | |
| Number of Questions | 66 questions (subject to change) |
| Question Format | Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Type-In-The-Answer (TITA) questions |
| Sectional Distribution | – QA: Approximately 22 questions |
| – VARC: Approximately 24 questions | |
| – DILR: Approximately 20 questions | |
| Marking Scheme | – +3 marks for each correct answer |
| – -1 mark for each incorrect answer (for MCQs) | |
| – No negative marking for TITA questions | |
| Scoring | – Total Marks: 198 (66 questions × 3 marks each) |
| Sectional Time Limit | 40 minutes per section |
| Total Time | 120 minutes |
CAT Exam Pattern 2025
CAT aspirants must know the CAT exam pattern in order to ace the CAT exam easily. The exam pattern consists of three sections with a total of 66 questions for a duration of 120 minutes. Check below the CAT exam pattern given below:
| Sections | Number of Questions | Time (minutes) |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 24 | 40 |
| Quantitative Ability (QA) | 22 | 40 |
| Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) | 20 | 40 |
Read more: Is CAT Exam Tough : Difficulty Level & Pattern
CAT Syllabus – Weightage Assigned to different Topics
Check below the weightage assigned to the different topics mentioned in the CAT exam syllabus:
| Section | Topics | Weightage | No. of questions |
| VARC | RC – passages | 67% | 16 |
| VA – Parajumbles, Odd one out, etc. | 33% | 8 | |
| DILR | DI – Tables, graphs, etc. | 50% | 10 |
| LR – Vein Diagram, Arrangements, etc. | 50% | 10 | |
| QA | Arithmetic | 55% | 10 to 12 |
| Algebra | 25% | 6 to 8 | |
| Modern Math | 12% | 3 to 4 | |
| VA – Para jumbles, Odd one out, etc. | 8% | 2 |
This is roughly the weightage that remains same across years, however, the exact number of questions vary slightly depending on the level of difficulty.
CAT Exam Syllabus 2025 (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension)
CAT Exam Syllabus – Reading Comprehension (RC)
The Reading Comprehension section forms an important part of CAT syllabus 2025 which assesses your ability to understand, interpret, and analyze written passages. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect:
Passage Types: Passages can cover a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:
- Literature and Fiction: Passages from novels, short stories, or literary critiques.
- Social and Cultural Issues: Texts discussing societal issues, cultural observations, or anthropological studies.
- Historical Texts: Excerpts from historical accounts or discussions on historical events.
- Scientific and Technological Articles: Passages explaining scientific discoveries, technological advancements, or research findings.
- Economic and Political Texts: Analysis of economic policies, political theories, or current affairs.
Types of Questions:
- Detail-Based Questions: These require you to locate specific information from the passage.
- Inference-Based Questions: These ask you to infer meaning beyond the text, such as the author’s tone or the implication of statements.
- Summary Questions: You will need to select the best summary of the passage or identify the central theme.
- Logical Questions: Questions that test your ability to understand the logical flow of ideas in the passage.
CAT Syllabus – Verbal Ability (VA)
The Verbal Ability section of CAT exam syllabus 2025 tests your proficiency in various aspects of English language usage. Here’s what you need to know:
- Para Jumbles: These questions involve rearranging a set of jumbled sentences to form a coherent paragraph. You need to understand the logical flow and connections between sentences.
- Sentence Completion: In these questions, a sentence is given with one or more blanks. You must choose the word or phrase that best fits the context, testing vocabulary and contextual understanding.
- Error Spotting: You may be asked to identify grammatical errors in a sentence or select the grammatically correct sentence. This tests your knowledge of English grammar and usage.
- Fill in the Blanks: These questions provide a sentence with missing words, requiring you to select appropriate words or phrases to complete the sentence meaningfully.
- Odd One Out: This involves identifying the sentence or phrase that does not belong to the context of the given set of sentences.
- Critical Reasoning: These questions assess your ability to evaluate arguments, identify assumptions, and draw logical conclusions.
CAT Exam Syllabus 2025 (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning)
Topics Covered under Data Interpretation (DI) in CAT Exam Syllabus 2025
The Data Interpretation section is an essential portion of the CAT exam syllabus 2025 that focuses on your ability to interpret and analyze data presented in various formats. Here’s a detailed look:
- Tables: You may encounter complex tables with multiple rows and columns. Questions will involve extracting and analyzing data to solve numerical problems.
- Graphs: Includes bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, and more. Questions may require you to interpret trends, compare data, or calculate percentages and other metrics from the graphs.
- Caselets: Short passages with embedded data that need to be interpreted. These passages may contain tables, charts, or textual data that you need to analyze to answer the questions.
- Venn Diagrams: Questions involve interpreting relationships between different sets represented by Venn diagrams. You need to understand intersections, unions, and complements of sets.
- Data Sufficiency: Questions where you need to determine if the given data is sufficient to answer a specific question. This tests your ability to analyze and utilize data effectively.
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Topics Covered under Logical Reasoning (LR) – CAT Exam Syllabus
The Logical Reasoning section evaluates your ability to think logically and solve problems based on given information. Key areas include:
- Arrangements:
- Types: Linear arrangements, circular arrangements, and more.
- Concept: You need to arrange people, objects, or events based on given constraints and relationships.
- Puzzles:
- Types: Includes scheduling problems, seating arrangements, and other scenario-based puzzles.
- Concept: Requires logical deduction and problem-solving skills to arrive at the correct answer.
- Syllogisms:
- Concept: Deductive reasoning questions where you need to determine if certain conclusions follow from given premises. Tests your understanding of logical relationships.
- Blood Relations:
- Concept: Questions that involve understanding relationships within a family tree based on given clues.
- Data-Based Reasoning:
- Concept: Includes problems where you need to derive conclusions from provided data or information sets.
CAT Syllabus 2025 (Quantitative Ability)
Have a look at the different topics covered under the Quantitative Ability section of the CAT exam syllabus for MBA:
Arithmetic
- Percentages: Understanding percentage calculations, percentage increase/decrease, and applications in various scenarios.
- Profit and Loss: Concepts related to calculating profit, loss, discounts, and markups.
- Time and Work: Problems involving work done by individuals or groups, including work efficiency and time calculations.
- Time, Speed, and Distance: Calculations involving speed, distance, and time, including relative speed and applications.
- Ratios and Proportions: Solving problems related to ratios, proportions, and their applications in various contexts.
- Mixtures and Allegations: Problems related to mixing different quantities and finding the resulting mixture’s properties.
- Simple and Compound Interest: Calculations involving simple and compound interest, including applications in financial problems.
- Averages: Understanding mean, median, mode, and their applications in data analysis.
Algebra
- Linear Equations: Solving equations with one or more variables, including systems of equations.
- Quadratic Equations: Understanding the properties of quadratic equations and solving them using various methods.
- Inequalities: Solving linear and quadratic inequalities and understanding their graphical representations.
- Functions: Understanding different types of functions and their properties, including linear, quadratic, and exponential functions.
- Progressions: Problems involving arithmetic progressions (AP), geometric progressions (GP), and harmonic progressions (HP).
Number System
- Divisibility Rules: Understanding rules for divisibility by various numbers and their applications.
- Factors and Multiples: Finding factors, multiples, and least common multiple (LCM) and highest common factor (HCF).
- Properties of Integers: Understanding the properties of integers, including odd and even numbers, prime numbers, and more.
- Base Systems: Converting numbers between different bases and understanding the base number system.
Geometry
- Triangles: Properties of triangles, including Pythagorean theorem, similarity, congruence, and special types of triangles.
- Circles: Understanding the properties of circles, including chords, tangents, and arcs.
- Quadrilaterals: Properties of various quadrilaterals, including rectangles, squares, parallelograms, and trapeziums.
- Polygons: Understanding the properties of polygons, including regular and irregular polygons.
- Coordinate Geometry: Problems involving the coordinate plane, lines, and curves. Concepts include distance formula, midpoint formula, and slope.
Modern Math
- Permutations and Combinations: Understanding counting principles, arrangements, and selections.
- Probability: Basic probability concepts, including probability of events, conditional probability, and applications.
- Set Theory: Understanding sets, operations on sets, and Venn diagrams.
- Binomial Theorem: Expanding binomials and understanding their properties.
Topic-Wise Distribution of CAT Exam Syllabus 2025
Check below the detailed analysis of the CAT exam syllabus for all the sections of the CAT exam through the given topic-wise distribution:
CAT Syllabus 2025 – VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension)
Check the topic-wise distribution of the VARC section of the CAT exam based on previous years’ analysis:
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Reading Comprehension | 16 | Moderate to Difficult |
| VA-Para jumbles | 3 | Moderate to Difficult |
| VA-Odd Sentence | 2 | Easy to Moderate |
| VA-Summary | 3 | Easy to Moderate |
| Overall | 24 | Moderate to Difficult |
LRDI Syllabus of CAT 2025
Check the topic-wise distribution of the DILR section of the CAT exam based on previous years’ analysis:
| Topics | No. of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Set 1 (Data Interpretation) | 5 | Easy |
| Set 2 (Data Interpretation) | 5 | Moderate |
| Set 3 (Logical Reasoning) | 5 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Set 4 (Logical Reasoning) | 5 | Moderate |
| Overall | 20 | Moderate to Difficult |
Quantitative Ability Syllabus for CAT 2025
Check the topic-wise distribution of the QA section of the CAT exam based on previous years’ analysis:
| Topics | No. of Questions | Difficulty Level |
| Arithmetic | 8 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Algebra | 7 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Geometry | 3 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Modern Maths | 2 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Number System | 2 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Overall | 22 | Moderate to Difficult |
Tips to Ace Each Section of the CAT Exam Syllabus
Note below the preparation tips to ace each section of the CAT syllabus easily:
Verbal Ability (VA): Focus on enhancing your grammar and sentence structure skills by practicing para jumbles, sentence corrections, and critical reasoning exercises. Regularly read diverse materials to improve vocabulary and comprehension, and use summarization techniques to strengthen your understanding of complex texts.
Reading Comprehension (RC): Develop your reading speed and comprehension by engaging with various genres of reading material. Summarize passages to capture the main ideas and practice inference-based questions to sharpen your analytical skills. Regularly expand your vocabulary to enhance your understanding of nuanced content.
Logical Reasoning (LR): Build your logical thinking by solving different types of puzzles and engaging in critical reasoning exercises. Focus on improving your ability to identify patterns and solve problems efficiently. Practice under timed conditions to enhance your speed and accuracy.
Data Interpretation (DI): Familiarize yourself with different data formats like tables, graphs, and caselets. Prioritize accuracy initially, then work on speed as you become more comfortable. Regular practice with previous years’ papers can help you develop strategies for interpreting data quickly and correctly.
Quantitative Ability (QA): Strengthen your foundation by mastering basic concepts in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and modern math. Regularly practice problem-solving and use shortcuts to enhance speed. Review key formulae frequently, and focus on understanding the core principles rather than rote memorization.
Conclusion
Understanding the details CAT exam syllabus 2025 is essential for effective preparation. By familiarizing yourself with the topics and question types, you can tailor your study plan to address each area comprehensively. Regular practice, combined with a strategic approach to time management and mock tests, will equip you with the skills needed to excel in the CAT exam. Remember, a well-rounded preparation strategy that covers all aspects of the CAT exam syllabus will help you approach the exam with confidence and clarity. To start preparing correctly, check out iQuanta.
