What is the CAT syllabus?

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

If you have written CAT earlier, then probably you should skip this post. This is mainly directed towards those who are planning to write CAT and do not know what all gets covered in the exam.

CAT is divided into two sections:

1. Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation

2. Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability

Looking at the data of past few years, both sections have 30 questions each. A student is given 70 minutes for each section.

Quantitative Aptitude (20/21 questions) is basically questions which test your mathematical prowess. It can be further classified into 5 broad categories:

Number System – Deals with properties of numbers, HCF, LCM, remainder, factorial, etc.
Arithmetic – Deals with percentage, average, profit & loss, SI & CI, Time Speed Distance, Time & Work, etc.
Algebra – Linear equations, Quadratic equations, functions, etc.
Geometry – Lines, angles, triangles, circles, polygons, mensuration, etc.
Modern Maths – Permutation and Combination, Set Theory, Probability, etc.

Maximum number of questions are asked from Algebra and Geometry.

Data Interpretation (9/10 questions) consists of questions based on pie charts, tables, etc. In these kind of questions, you would be given a large amount of data and questions will be based upon that data. I agree that there are no formulas which are required for stuff like this but a little bit of practice with different type of questions would take your prep a long way.

Logical Reasoning (9/10 questions) consists of questions based on puzzle and logic. Once again, it is not something that you can really prepare for in terms of concepts. But there are a variety of questions that you can practice on it. Looking at past year papers is a good idea.

Verbal Ability (20/21 questions) checks your mastery over the English language. It can be broadly classified into two categories:

Reading Comprehension (9/10 questions) – 3 passages will be given to you and then you will have to answer questions based on those passages.
Verbal Usage (9/10/11 questions) – It will consist of questions on Parajumbles, Statements & Assumption, Fact Inference Judgement, Syllogisms, Fill in the blanks, etc.