CAT SYLLABUS

2020
 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

CONTENTS
Introduction 3
Overview 4
Syllabus 5
Best Books Subject wise 6
Exam Pattern 12
Marking Scheme 13
Question Paper 14

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

INTRODUCTION
The first step to prepare for the Common Admission Test is to be well versed with syl-
labus as this includes all the important topics and sub-topics from which the ques-
tions are likely to be asked. Officially, IIMs do not provide any official syllabus for CAT.
Hence, if we check the past years trends it can be observed that the syllabus of CAT
comprises topics mainly three sections i.e. quantitative ability (QA), data interpreta-
tion and logical reasoning (DILR), verbal ability and reading comprehension (VARC).
The topics which form part of CAT syllabus normally cover topics from Class 9 to 12.
By knowing the CAT syllabus in advance, candidates will be able to draw a clear cut
strategy as to how and when they should start their preparation for the exam. CAT
will be conducted on November 22. Talking about the exam pattern, it has undergone
changes over the years. However, for the past few years it has remained constant in
terms of marking scheme, time duration and number of questions asked. As per the
latest exam pattern of CAT, a total of 100 MCQ and Non-MCQ (TITA) questions will be
asked in CAT. Know all the details related to the syllabus of the Common Admission
Test such as the sections from which the questions will be asked, sub-topics, so on
and so forth.

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

OVERVIEW
A total of three sections will be asked. Each section has important topics which form
part of the CAT syllabus. According to the past years trend of CAT one can deduce
that the first section will include questions from the verbal ability and reading com-
prehension, followed by quantitative ability, data interpretation and logical reasoning.

Overview of CAT Syllabus

Sections Topics
Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation Tables, Graphs,Seating Arrangement, Data
Caselets, Syllogism, Blood Relation
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Sentence completion, Para-jumbles & para-
summar, Questions based on reading compre-
hension, Inferences

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

SECTION WISE TOPICS

The section wise topics which are part of CAT exam syllabus will help the candidates
to get an idea as to how to prepare through self-analysis, strategy revision and better
preparation..

1. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
3. Quantitative Aptitude

VERBAL ABILITY AND READING

COMPREHENSION
The syllabus of CAT for verbal ability and reading comprehension contains all the
topics from which the questions are likely to be asked.

Topics for Verbal Ability Section

Fill in the blanks Syllogisms Foreign language words used
in English
Verbal Reasoning Grammar Sentence completion
Jumbled paragraphs Para Completion and Sentence correction
inference
Verbal Logic Antonyms One word substitution
Parajumbles Analogies Contextual usage
Facts-Inferences-
Judgments

Important Points Related to Verbal Ability

• The total number of questions that are asked are normally 8 to 10 and similar
weightage is given for this section
• As part of CAT syllabus, in the verbal ability section non-MCQ (TITA) questions
will be asked
• For TITA questions, there will be no negative marking for any question answered
incorrectly
• Questions are likely to be asked from jumbled sentences and contextual odd man
out questions, sentence completion, analogies and critical reasoning

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

Topics and Expected Number of Questions in Verbal Ability

Topics Expected Number of Questions
Sentence Completion & Correction 2-3
Para-Jumbles 2-4
Others (Fill in the blanks, Vocabulary 1-2
Based, etc.)
Odd Sentences 1-2

Key Points About Reading Comprehension

In this section of CAT, four to five passages will be given and candidates will be
required to answer the questions which are given after that. They will have to answer
the question after drawing inference from the passage.
• The total number of questions that will be asked could anything between 24-28
• Since the questions that are asked in this are multiple choice , there will be nega-
tive marking
• In the reading comprehension section, there will be at least four long passages
and one short passage
• Going by the past years trend, the long comprehension passage will be of at least
800-900 words while the short passage will be of around 500-600 words
• The comprehension passages will mainly revolve around topics such as politics,
environment, literature, society etc

Expected Number of Questions in Reading Comprehension

Total Number of Passages Total number of questions
4-5 passages At least 24 questions

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

BEST BOOKS FOR VERBAL AND

READING COMPREHENSION (VARC)
Candidates who will be appearing for CAT, they can check the list of best books from
which they can prepare for the verbal ability and reading comprehension section:

Books and Authors for VARC

Name of the book Name of the author
Word Power Made Easy Norman Lewis
The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Nishit Sinha
Logical Reasoning (Pearson)
Barron’s Pocket Guide to Vocabulary -
How to Prepare for the Verbal Ability and Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay (Tata
Reading Comprehension for the CAT McGraw-Hill)

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

DATA INTERPRETATION AND LOGICAL

REASONING
According to the CAT syllabus, there are two sub-sections which are (i) data inter-
pretation (ii) logical reasoning. Candidates must complete this section in one hour.
Before this time no candidates will be allowed to proceed further. The important top-
ics from which the questions will be asked are given below in the table:

Syllabus of Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

Blood Relations Proposition Coding-Decoding
Puzzles Seating Arrangement Tables
Series Syllogism Line Graphs
Binary Logic Statements Data Arrangement
Data Structures Statements Direction Sense
Bars Data Sufficiency Caselets
Data Sufficiency Pie Charts Syllogism

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

DATA INTERPRETATION AND LOGICAL

REASONING
Topics Total Number of Questions
Tables & Charts 5-8
Graph, Bar diagram 6-8
Tables, Pie chart Around 5
Graphs, Charts Around 7-10

Important Points Related to Logical Reasoning

• For every incorrect answer, there is negative marking
• There are both multiple choice and non-multiple choice questions for logical
reasoning
• There is negative marking for answering the multiple choice questions incorrectly
• There is no negative marking for non-MCQ questions
• The total number of questions asked could be anything between 15-20

Important Points Related to Data Interpretation

• In data interpretation there are both multiple choice questions as well as non-
multiple choice questions
• There are no fixed number of MCQ and Non-MCQ
• If MCQ is answered incorrectly, there is negative marking
• If non-MCQ is answered wrongly, there is no negative marking

Best Books for DATA Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

Name of the book Name of the author
How to Prepare for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning for Arun Sharma
CAT (Tata McGraw-Hill)
Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency Ananta Ashisha
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT Nishit K. Sinha
Trishna's Verbal Ability And Logical Reasoning For The CAT And Pearson
Other MBA Examinations by T.I.M.E. Publisher

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE
As part of the syllabus of CAT for quantitative aptitude, questions will be asked from
mathematics, arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry etc. Check some of the topics from
which the questions will be asked.

Topics for Quantitative Aptitude

HCF & LCM Profit & Loss Geometric Pro-
gression
Percentages Geometry Mensuration
Number system Work and time Averages
Time-Speed-Distance Inequalities Logarithms
Algebra In-equations Quadratic and linear Partnership
equations (Accounts)
Surds and Indices Trigonometry Ratios and
Proportion

Topics and Total Number of Expected Questions in Quantitative Aptitude -

Topics Total Number of Expected Questions
Geometry & Mensuration 7-8
Arithmetic Questions 10-12
Algebra 6-7
Number System 4-5
Others 2-3

Important Points Related to Quantitative Aptitude

Approximately 30-34 questions will be asked in the quantitative ability section
• There are both multiple and non-multiple choice questions in this section
• Candidates will lose marks if they answer the MCQ incorrectly
• Approximately 25 MCQ are asked and around 9 non-MCQ

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

BEST BOOKS FOR QUANTITATIVE

APTITUDE
Some of the best books which the candidates can refer to for quantitative aptitude
for CAT are mentioned in the table that is given below:

Quantitative Aptitude Books

Name of the book Name of the author
How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for Arun Sharma
CAT
Quantitative Aptitude for CAT and Other Trishna Knowledge Systems (Pearson)
MBA Entrance Exams
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Abhijit Guha (Tata McGraw-Hill)
Examinations
The Complete CAT Digest, by Tata Arun Sharma
McGraw-Hill

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

EXAM PATTERN - KNOW ALL THE

DETAILS
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) prescribes the CAT exam pattern. Details
pertaining to the mode of exam, total and sectional time duration of the exam, total
number of sections, marking scheme, type of questions etcetera. Candidates will have
to answer multiple types of questions as well as TITA questions within three hours
time duration. Candidates who belong to the PwD category will be given an additional
20 minutes in CAT.

Exam Pattern
Section Total Number of Questions
Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VARC) 32
Quantitative Ability (QA) 34
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI 34
& LR)

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

MARKING SCHEME
According to the marking scheme of CAT candidates will be awarded three marks for
every correct answer and one mark will be deducted for every wrong answer. If the
candidate does not answer the question, then he will not lose any marks.

CAT will have two types of questions that is-

1. MCQs
2. Non-MCQs.

Both the types of questions will carry equal marks. Here is the CAT Marking Scheme
for your reference:
• Total Questions- 100
• Total Marks- 300
• Marks for Each Correct Answer- +3 marks
• Marks for Each Incorrect Answer- -1 score.
• Negative Marking for Non-MCQs- No
• Questions Left Blank- No mark

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 CAT SYLLABUS 2020

QUESTION PAPERS
Candidates who will appear for the Common Admission Test ( CAT) can download the
question papers of CAT of past years. By solving the CAT question papers, candidates
will be able to assess their level of preparation and will also be able to identify their
strong and weak areas. Past years question papers of CAT will enable the candidates
to know how much time they need to devote in each section, depending on their level
of preparation.
Question paper can be solved within a set duration of 3 hour and each section should
be alloted 1 hour time limit. The previous CAT exam test papers are followed by
answers and detailed solutions. This will help candidates to be well versed with the
exact CAT exam pattern as well as the recent changes over the years. Candidates can
test their preparation level with the help of these previous year actual CAT question
papers which are made available free for CAT aspirants.

CAT Previous Year Papers are the best guide to know the exact CAT exam and ques-
tion pattern. By attempting more and more previous year CAT question papers, CAT
preparation comes to a final stage and candidates are well aware about the topics
and question pattern according to which you should approach the test paper on CAT
exam day.

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