GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE CAT SYLLABUS

The Common Admission Test is known to be one of the most popular entrance exams for the management aspirants in India. This exam is a national-level entrance exam that is conducted once every year. This exam is conducted by the prestigious older Indian Institutes of Management. There is a certain standard of exam every single year, and students try to make sure that they study very hard in order to prepare for the entrance exam well. There are many students who like to take the help of coaching institutions like Hitbullseye in order to make their preparation journey much smoother. Students also need to have a good command over the CAT syllabus. When the students know more about the CAT 2026 syllabus, it will help them to move ahead with their preparation. The students can always opt for different methods in order to have a solid preparation. Students will always find a lot of material available for them in the online and offline mode. Taking help of this material is necessary for the students to have a good preparation.

CAT Exam Syllabus 

1. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

This is the first section of the CAT exam, and majorly, the section is based on the English language knowledge of the students. Every topic that is a part of the CAT syllabus in this section will examine how well the students have command over the language. There will be about 24 questions in this section. Students will find the questions to be a mix of type-in-the-answer-type questions and multiple-choice questions.

Major Topics in VARC

a) Reading Comprehension (RC)

• Reading passages from diverse fields such as science, economics, philosophy, history, literature, and current affairs.

• Identifying the main idea of a passage.

• Understanding tone, inference, and arguments.

• Drawing conclusions from given information.

b) Verbal Ability

• Para Jumbles

• Para Summary

• Odd Sentence Out

• Sentence Completion

• Critical Reasoning

• Grammar and Vocabulary-based questions

2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

In the second section of the CAT exam, students will often find that there are questions related to interpretation of data and logical reasoning according to the CAT 2026 syllabus. In order to perform well in this section, the students need to be able to understand and comprehend the data really well. Apart from this, the students should also know how they can identify patterns so that they perform well in this section. Students should try to actually solve a lot of questions from different practice papers in order to understand the CAT syllabus well.

Data Interpretation Topics

• Tables

• Bar Graphs

• Pie Charts

• Line Graphs

• Caselets

• Mixed Graphs

• Data Comparison

• Data Sufficiency

Logical Reasoning Topics

• Seating Arrangements

• Blood Relations

• Syllogisms

• Team Formation

• Direction Sense

• Puzzles

• Series

• Venn Diagrams

• Games and Tournaments

• Logical Connections and Networks

3. Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

The Quantitative Aptitude section is the last section in the CAT exam, and the students will find that there will be 22 questions in this section. The questions will again be a mix of multiple choice and type-in-the-answer type questions. One of the main requirements from the students in order to do well in this section is to have a lot of concept clarity and learn formulas really well. The students will only be able to solve the different questions that will be asked in this section if they have a lot of clarity about the exam syllabus and if they have learned it well. Here are the topics that are covered as a part of the CAT exam syllabus for this section.

Major Topics in Quantitative Aptitude

a) Arithmetic

• Percentages

• Profit and Loss

• Ratio and Proportion

• Averages

• Mixtures and Alligations

• Time and Work

• Time, Speed and Distance

• Simple and Compound Interest

b) Algebra

• Linear Equations

• Quadratic Equations

• Inequalities

• Logarithms

• Functions

• Progressions (AP and GP)

c) Geometry and Mensuration

• Triangles

• Circles

• Polygons

• Coordinate Geometry

• Areas and Volumes

• Surface Areas

d) Number System

• Divisibility Rules

• HCF and LCM

• Remainders

• Factors and Multiples

• Unit Digits

e) Modern Mathematics

• Permutation and Combination

• Probability

• Set Theory

• Statistics

Conclusion

Once the students get to know all the information regarding the CAT examination syllabus, their main aim should then be to focus on their preparation entirely. The students can start their preparation a few months before the exam is about to take place, and in those months the only focus that the students have should be on getting good percentiles so that they can enter the institutions and business schools that they have aimed for themselves. Knowing about the CAT syllabus is not enough when the students want to start their preparation. Rather, one of the main things that will help the students to do well in the exam is being consistent. There is no replacement for consistency, and when the students every single day put in hard work to know more about the syllabus and prepare, they will see the results in the exam. The main aim of the students should be to do well for themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. Is there a sectional time limit in the CAT exam?

Students will find that even though the overall time limit of the CAT exam is 120 minutes, there is still a sectional time limit of 40 minutes in every section. Students will not be able to move in between sections when one section is going on, and once the sectional time limit is over, students also can't move back to make any changes.

2. How many questions are there in the different sections of the CAT exam?

There are different numbers of questions in every section of the CAT exam. The first section, which is VARC has 24 questions; the second section, which is DILR has 22 questions; and the last section, which is QA has 22 questions. The total number of questions in the exam is 68.

3. Is the CAT exam easy?

The CAT exam is not a very easy entrance exam for the students. Students need to put in a lot of effort in order to make sure that they're doing well in the exam. With the right kind of coaching and preparation, students can truly make an impact on the exam.