CAT Exam Pattern 2025: Marking Scheme, Exam Duration, Structure, Total Marks

The CAT Exam 2025 is scheduled on 30th November this year. Like every year, this year too it will be a computer-based test. It’ll have 3 sections based on subjects like mathematics, English language and logical reasoning. The CAT Exam Pattern 2025 will likely revolve around VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension), DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning) and QA (Quantitative Aptitude) sections.

Knowing the CAT paper pattern is essential to building the right preparation strategy. Since the CAT exam pattern has changed over the years, we’ll break down the latest trend for you. Understanding the latest structure is the first step to cracking the exam with confidence. In this blog, we’ll give you a detailed breakdown of the CAT 2025 exam pattern, including section-wise distribution, duration, marking scheme, and more.

What can be the CAT Exam Pattern 2025?

Before starting preparation, every aspirant must be familiar with the CAT exam pattern 2025, as it defines the structure of the test. The CAT, like previous years, will test candidates on QA, VARC, and DILR sections.

The CAT exam has often been known to surprise candidates with a changing exam pattern and questions. However, based on past year patterns, the CAT exam will likely follow a fixed duration of 120 minutes. Moreover, it’ll most likely follow a sectional time limit of 40 minutes per section.

Here’s a quick overview of the expected CAT paper pattern 2025:

CAT Marking Scheme 2025

Understanding the marking scheme of CAT 2025 is just as important as knowing the exam pattern. The marking scheme often directly affects your attempt strategy. The CAT exam follows a scaled scoring system where each response impacts your percentile.

Here’s the CAT marking scheme for 2025:

• Correct Answer (MCQ & TITA): +3 marks
• Negative Marking in CAT Exam (MCQ only): –1 mark
• Negative Marking in CAT Exam (TITA): 0 marks (no negative marking)
• Unattempted Question: 0 marks

CAT Exam Duration 2025: Overall & Sectional Time Limit

The CAT exam has an overall and sectional time limit. The sections appear in sequential order, and the sequence while attempting can’t be changed. The chronological order in which the CAT sections will appear is:

• First Section: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 
• Second Section: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
• Third Section: Quantitative Aptitude

CAT Exam Time Duration

The CAT exam candidate will get a total time of 120 minutes. Therefore, for each CAT sections, you get 40 minutes. CAT Section-wise weightage, along with marks and time limit, is summarised below:

Key Points to Note:

• The CAT total marks for 2025 are expected to be 204
• Since there’s no CAT negative marking for TITA questions, candidates should always attempt them.
• It’s not mandatory to attempt the total questions in CAT.
• Sectional cut-offs will apply for IIMs and other top B-schools.
• Even though the raw scores are calculated based on the marking scheme, the final score goes through a normalisation process across slots to ensure fairness.

Tip: While attempting mocks, keep this marking scheme in mind to avoid over-attempting. Guesswork could reduce your score due to the CAT marking scheme.

Changes in CAT Paper Pattern Over the Years

The CAT exam pattern has changed over the years. Till 2019, CAT was of 3 hours and was held in only 2 shifts. It also had 100 questions. The new CAT pattern has now reduced questions to 66-68. However, the CAT sections have remained the same.

CAT Exam Pattern Comparison Table (2019–2025 Expected)

Note: The changing CAT exam pattern is undertaken by IIMs to make the exam more friendly to candidates of non-engineering backgrounds. The CAT paper pattern has traditionally favoured candidates from engineering backgrounds. But now, many IIMs have started promoting academic diversity on campuses. Some IIMs have started awarding points to candidates with non-engineering backgrounds.

CAT Topic Wise Weightage

The CAT exam has largely remained the same for the past 4-5 years. However, last year, the total questions in CAT slightly increased to 68 from 66. Here is the topic-wise CAT weightage that’ll give you more clarity. 

CAT Quant Topic Wise Weightage

The quant section in CAT is often considered the toughest among all CAT sections by many. The quant section includes questions from arithmetic, algebra, number system, modern math, geometry, etc. The table below depicts the quant topic-wise number of questions in all three slots last year.

CAT DILR Topic Wise Weightage

The DILR section in CAT assesses your logical reasoning and data analysis skills. The section, along with assessing your conceptual clarity, also tests your time management skills. Here are the CAT DILR topic-wise questions from last year.

CAT VARC Topic Wise Weightage

The CAT VARC section assesses your reading skills and vocabulary. The major part of the section is RC (Reading Comprehension).

Expected Topic-wise CAT Questions 2025 

CAT Exam Pattern vs Other MBA Exam Patterns

The CAT exam pattern is similar to other MBA entrance exams in India. However, it has some peculiarities. The CAT exam has 66-68 questions, and the CAT exam time duration is 120 minutes. Comparing it with XAT, the XAT exam has 95 questions and is 180 minutes long. However, the total marks in the MBA entrance exams vary. In the table below, we have compared the CAT total questions, time, marks, etc, with other MBA entrance exams. 

Conclusion 

The CAT exam pattern 2025 is expected to follow the recent trend of 120 minutes, and 66-68 questions. There will be three sections, VARC, DILR, and QA, with a sectional time limit of 40 minutes each. A clear understanding of the CAT paper pattern helps in designing an effective preparation strategy. Best of luck with the exam!!