CAT 2021 Exam Analysis | Difficulty Level, Types of Qs Asked | Slot 1, 2 & 3

CAT 2021 is being conducted today i.e 28 November 2021 across India in multiple shifts. This year CAT exam is similar to the 2020 Exam pattern. Let us begin with the detailed section-wise CAT 2021 Exam analysis

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CAT 2021 Exam Analysis | Exam Pattern

The CAT 2021 will be of 120 minutes. There will be three sections:

Section I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
 Section III: Quantitative Ability

• Candidates will be allotted exactly 40 minutes for answering questions in each section, and they will not be allowed to switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section.
• Some questions in each section may not be of multiple-choice type. Instead, direct answers will have to be typed on the screen. Also, they will allow the use of a basic on-screen calculator for computation.

CAT 2021 Exam Analysis

CAT 2021 Slot 1 Analysis

The Slot 1 of CAT 2021 has concluded.

The overall difficulty level of CAT 2021 First Shift was easier as compared to last year. There was a change in No. of Questions in the 3 sections, VARC had 24 Questions. DILR had 20 Questions & Quant had 22. Time Management was the key in the first shift as DILR section as usual was lengthy. VARC was a little trickier but doable. Quant was on the easier side.

Sections	Total number of questions	Difficulty Level
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	Moderate
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	Moderate to Difficult
Quantitative Ability (QA)	22	Easy to Moderate
Total	66	Moderate

VARC section had 4 RC Questions, 3 Parajumble Questions, 3 Para Summary Questions and 2 Odd man out Questions

DILR had Bar Chart, Table, Venn Diagram. Time management was the key in this section

Quant – Hexagon Area type question

99 percentile can be around 100 to 110 marks

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CAT 2021 Slot 2 Analysis

The Slot 2 of CAT 2021 has concluded.

The overall difficulty level of CAT 2021 Slot 2 was just a little difficult then Slot 1, especially Quant. There was no change in No. of Questions in the 3 sections as compared to Slot 1 – VARC had 24 Questions. DILR had 20 Questions & Quant had 22.

Sections	Total number of questions	Difficulty Level
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	Moderate
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	Moderate to Difficult
Quantitative Ability (QA)	22	Easy to Moderate
Total	66	Moderate

VARC section of Slot 2 was same as Slot 1 – 4 RC Questions, 3 Parajumble Questions, 3 Para Summary Questions and 2 Odd man out Questions

DILR had Bar Chart 4 Qs, Arrangement / Rating point 6 Qs, Tournament – 4 Qs, Assignment – 4 Qs

Quant – This was Arithmetic heavy.

99 percentile can be around 97 to 101 marks

CAT 2021 Slot 3 Analysis

The Slot 3 of CAT 2021 has concluded.

There was no change in No. of Questions in the 3 sections as compared to Slot 1 and Slot 2- VARC had 24 Questions. DILR had 20 Questions & Quant had 22. Time Management was the key in the third shift as a few questions in DILR section were lengthy. VARC was on the easier side. Quant was lengthy.

Sections	Total number of questions	Difficulty Level
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	Easy
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	Easy to Moderate
Quantitative Ability (QA)	22	Moderate
Total	66	Moderate

VARC section had 4 RC Questions (2 difficult) , 3 Parajumble Questions, 3 Para Summary Questions and 2 Odd man out Questions

DILR had Graph, Javelin throw based question, Mixture based question and puzzle.

Quant – Algebra (5-7), Geometry (4), Arithmetic  (10)

99 percentile can be around 100 to 105 marks

CAT Previous Year Exam Analysis | 2020 – All Shifts

CAT 2020 Overall Exam Analysis | Slot 3

Just like the 1st shift CAT 2020, 76 questions were asked in the 2nd shift as well and the time duration of 120 minutes. VARC had 26 questions, DILR contains 24 questions and the quant part comprises 26 questions.  TITA questions were easy again, 2 puzzles (Time slot for seminars and election data) in DILR part was easily solvable giving you 8 correct answers in first 10 minutes. Quant questions were less tricky compared to 2019 as the length of question (in terms of words) were less and candidates could figure out the solutions in lesser time. Just like the 1st shift RC was tough and time-consuming. A right approach would have been finding out the paragraph that was familiar and answering then first followed by paragraph summary, sequencing of sentences, and picking the odd on out.  

CAT 2020 Section-Wise Exam Analysis

The MCQ & Non MCQ Bifurcation of each section is given in the following table:

Section	Total MCQs	Total Non-MCQs
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	21	5
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	18	6
Quantitative Ability (QA)	18	8

CAT 2020 VARC sectional Composition

The VARC consisted of the following sections:

Topic	No. of Questions
Reading Comprehension	18 (4 passages )
Para jumbles	3
Para Summary	3
Out of context Sentences	2

99 Percentile Score can be achieved with 17-18 attempts with high accuracy.

CAT 2020 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) sectional Composition

Topic	No. of Questions
Logical Reasoning	14
Data Interpretation	10

• In CAT 2020 examination DILR section had 5 sets with 2 sets having 6 questions while the remaining 3 sets had 4 questions each.
• The difficulty level of the DILR section was hardest of all shifts of CAT 2019.

An attempt of 12-15 questions with good accuracy will fetch 99%ile.

CAT 2020 Quantitative Ability (QA) sectional Composition

• • This section consisted of 26 questions and the maximum questions were asked from arithmetic & algebra (TSD, Percentage, etc.). Other questions were based on topics like on Geometry, Roots, Log, etc. and the level of questions asked was easy.
  • The difficulty level of this section was also similar to the CAT 2006 examination.

An attempt of 15-19 questions with good accuracy level will fetch 99%ile

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CAT 2020 Overall Exam Analysis | Slot 2

Just like the 1st shift CAT 2020, 76 questions were asked in the 2nd shift as well and the time duration of 120 minutes. VARC had 26 questions, DILR contains 24 questions and the quant part comprises 26 questions.  TITA questions were easy again, 2 puzzles (Time slot for seminars and election data) in DILR part was easily solvable giving you 8 correct answers in first 10 minutes. Quant questions were less tricky compared to 2019 as the length of question (in terms of words) were less and candidates could figure out the solutions in lesser time. Just like the 1st shift RC was tough and time-consuming. A right approach would have been finding out the paragraph that was familiar and answering then first followed by paragraph summary, sequencing of sentences, and picking the odd on out.  

CAT 2020 Section-Wise Exam Analysis

The MCQ & Non MCQ Bifurcation of each section is given in the following table:

Section	Total MCQs	Total Non-MCQs
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	18	8
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	18	6
Quantitative Ability (QA)	18	8

CAT 2020 VARC sectional Composition

The VARC consisted of the following sections:

Topic	No. of Questions
Reading Comprehension	18 (4 passages )
Para jumbles	3
Para Summary	3
Out of context Sentences	2

Expected 99 Percentile Score: 38-40 marks.

CAT 2020 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) sectional Composition

Topic	No. of Questions
Logical Reasoning	14
Data Interpretation	10

• In CAT 2020 examination DILR section had 5 sets with 2 sets having 6 questions while the remaining sets had 4 questions each.
• The difficulty level of the DILR section was found easier than that of CAT 2019.

Expected 99 Percentile Score: 32-34 marks.

CAT 2020 Quantitative Ability (QA) sectional Composition

• This section consisted of 26 questions and the maximum questions were logarithms-3, TSD–3, P&L-1, Averages-1, Geometry-4, Algebra-5, Time and Work – 2, Alligation-2, others-2. Commercial maths and ratio based topics like percentage, profit & loss and others had the most number of questions. Overall the quant section was easy.
• Overall the quant section was moderate to difficult.

Expected 99 Percentile Score: 48-50 marks.

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CAT 2020 Overall Exam Analysis | Slot 1

A total of 76 questions were asked and the time duration of 120 minutes is given. VARC part contains 26 questions, DILR contains 24 questions and the quant part comprises 24 questions. According to a candidate who had appeared in the exam, TITA questions were easy and one should attempt them on priority. DILR part was easier among all and English consists of tricky questions. 

CAT 2020 Section-Wise Exam Analysis

The MCQ & Non MCQ Bifurcation of each section is given in the following table:

Section	Total MCQs	Total Non-MCQs
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	18	8
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	18	6
Quantitative Ability (QA)	18	8

CAT 2020 VARC sectional Composition

The VARC consisted of the following sections:

Topic	No. of Questions
Reading Comprehension	18 (4 passages )
Parajumbles	3
Para Summary	3
Out of context Sentences	2

Expected 99 Percentile Score: 40-42 marks..

CAT 2020 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) sectional Composition

Topic	No. of Questions
Logical Reasoning	14
Data Interpretation	10

• In CAT 2020 examination DILR section had 5 sets with 2 sets having 6 questions while the remaining sets had 4 questions each.
• The difficulty level of the DILR section was found similar to that of CAT 2019.

Expected 99 Percentile Score: 32-34 marks.

CAT 2020 Quantitative Ability (QA) sectional Composition

• This section consisted of 26 questions and the maximum questions were asked from arithmetic & algebra (TSD, Percentage, etc.). Other questions were based on topics like on Geometry, Roots, Log, etc. and the level of questions asked was easy.
• The difficulty level of this section was also similar to the CAT 2019 examination.

Expected 99 Percentile Score: 46-48 marks.

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CAT Previous Year Exam Analysis & Cut-Off

CAT 2019 Exam Analysis & Cut-Off

CAT 2018 Exam Analysis & Cut-Off

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