Common Admission Test (CAT) is India's most prestigious MBA entrance exam, conducted annually by IIMs on a rotational basis. It tests Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Aptitude. A high CAT percentile is the gateway to IIMs and over 1,200 B-schools across India.

Official 2025 syllabus extracted from https://iimcat.ac.in/per/g06/pub/32842/ASM/WebPortal/1/PDF/CAT_2025_Advertisement.pdf

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Reading comprehension

Para-jumbles

Para-summary

Sentence completion

Odd sentence out

Vocabulary in context

Inference questions

VARC

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

Tables, bar/line/pie charts

Caselets and combined data sets

Games and tournaments

Arrangements (linear, circular, matrix)

Puzzles

Logical conditions

Venn diagrams

Data sufficiency

DILR

Quantitative Ability (QA)

Arithmetic: percentages, profit and loss, simple/compound interest, ratio, time-speed-distance, time and work, averages, mixtures

Number system

Algebra: linear and quadratic equations, inequalities, functions, sequences and series, logarithms

Geometry and mensuration: triangles, circles, polygons, 2D/3D mensuration, coordinate geometry

Modern math: permutation and combination, probability, set theory

Quantitative Ability

CAT Syllabus 2025, 2026 and more: Subjects, Topics, and What to Study