CAT Exam Syllabus 2024 Download PDF Subject Wise

Summary: Understanding CAT Syllabus 2024 is important in planning your preparations smartly. The CAT exam syllabus pdf download helps you with what to expect in the exam, the weightage of each topic, and the difficulty level. Let's explore these factors in the article below.

IIMs don't publish a specific syllabus; instead, they anticipate candidates to deduce crucial subjects from previous year's papers.

The subjects have basically stayed the same in the past few years. 

Most questions in the CAT entrance exam are application-based, assessing applicants' problem-solving speed rather than memorisation skills.

Without further delay, let's check the CAT Syllabus 2024!

Download FREE Study Material for CAT Exam 2024 by SuperGrads

CAT Exam Syllabus 2024 Highlights

Before the COVID pandemic, CAT was a three-hour paper, but for the past three years (2020, 2021, 2022), CAT has been a two-hour exam.

Though the CAT exam pattern has changed over the years, the three subject areas have remained the same. So, even though there is no officially prescribed CAT syllabus based on the CAT exams conducted over the past many years, we can logically infer a few things. 

Having said this, solving previous years' CAT questions papers can increase the probability of scoring well in CAT 2024, even if the authorities decide to throw a little surprise at you.

In this article, we discuss the syllabus for CAT 2024 based on the analysis of CAT conducted over the years.

What is the syllabus for CAT exam?

CAT 2022 consisted of a total of 66 questions divided into three timed sections.

Around 75% of the questions are MCQs (Multiple-Choice Questions), while the rest are TITA (Type in the Answer). The table here gives a quick overview: 

CAT Syllabus 2024 - Section	CAT Syllabus 2024 - Duration	CAT exam syllabus for MBA - Number of MCQs	CAT entrance exam syllabus - No. of TITA Qs.	CAT exam pattern and syllabus - Total
VARC	40 minutes	21	3	24
DILR	40 minutes	14	6	20
QA	40 minutes	14	8	22
Total	120 minutes	49	17	66

Check the highlights for CAT Exam Syllabus 2024 tabulated below: 

CAT Syllabus 2024 - Key Components	CAT Syllabus 2024 - Details
Time allotted	2 hours
Total No. of Questions	66
No. of Questions Section-wise	VARC: 24 DILR: 20 QA: 22
Time allotted per section	40 minutes each
Mode of Examination	Computer-based
Medium of Examination	English

CAT Syllabus 2024 [Subject-Wise] - Check Here

What is the syllabus of CAT exam for MBA?

The official site does not release any CAT exam syllabus pdf.

The analysis of the CAT exam aptitude syllabus, CAT exam quantitative aptitude syllabus, CAT exam subjects and syllabus is based on previous year's papers. 

There are 3 sections for the MBA CAT syllabus 2024. 

• Quantitative Aptitude
• Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
• Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

1. Quantitative Aptitude (CAT Exam Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus): Number System, Geometry, Algebra, Mensuration, Time and Work

2. Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (CAT Exam Reasoning Syllabus and CAT Exam Logical Reasoning Syllabus): Seating Arrangement, Blood Relation, Syllogism, Tables, Graphs, Data Caselets

3. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (CAT Exam English syllabus): Para-Jumbles & Para-Summary, Sentence Completion, Inferences, RC Passages-Based Questions

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is an all-India entrance exam that tests a candidate's aptitude and skills for admission to various post-graduate management programs offered by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top business schools in the country. 

The exam is conducted in multiple slots over a period of two days in more than 400 cities across India.

The exam is considered one of the toughest, so sticking to the syllabus in this article can help you plan your preparation strategy.

Check: CAT Exam Pattern 2024

Samples to download the CAT syllabus pdf and CAT exam syllabus in Hindi can be found on various websites. 

Important topics and weightage of CAT Exam Syllabus 2024

The CAT exam syllabus for MBA, important topics and respective weightage are listed below:

CAT entrance exam syllabus for Quantitative Aptitude

The CAT exam maths syllabus/CAT 2024 QA Syllabus is as follows: 

• Number System: Prime Factorisation, Divisibility Rules, Finding Units place and tens place of a number, LCM and HCF, Indices and Surds, Cyclicity, Remainders, Base Change and Factorial.
• CAT Math Syllabus/ CAT exam aptitude syllabus: The following topics must be covered under the Arithmetic section of the CAT Syllabus - Simple Interest and Compound Interest, Time, Distance and Speed, Mixtures and Alligations, Ratios, Proportions and Variations, Time and Work, Pipes and Cisterns, Percentages and Averages, Profit and Loss, Discount.
• CAT 2024 Syllabus for Geometry: The Geometry and Mensuration section contains the following topics - Circles, Polygons, Triangles, Trigonometry, Lines and Angles, and Coordinate geometry. Check details for Geometry Questions for CAT.
• CAT Syllabus Algebra: The Algebra section of the CAT IIM exam syllabus includes the following topics - Functions and Groups, Inequalities and Modulus, Logarithms, Maxima and Minima, Polynomials, Linear and Quadratic Equations, Algebraic Identities, Get an idea of the Seating Arrangement CAT Questions.
• Modern Mathematics: Probability, Permutations, and Combinations, Set Theory & Venn Diagram, AP, GP, HP, Binomial theorem

Check: Why CAT Exam is Important?

In CAT 2022, out of the 22 questions, 8 were TITA questions, and the remaining were MCQs. Over the years, the maximum number of questions in the QA section of CAT have been from Arithmetic. 

• In slot 1, 9 questions were from Arithmetic, 7 from Algebra, 3 from Geometry and 3 from Modern Math and Number Theory.
• In slot 2, 8 questions were from Arithmetic, 7 from Algebra, 3 from Geometry and 4 from Modern Math and Number Theory.
• In slot 3, 11 questions were from Arithmetic, 6 from Algebra, 3 from Geometry and 2 from Modern Math and Number Theory. 

Here is the classification of key topics of the four broader areas in QA: 

IIM CAT Exam Syllabus - Broad Area	CAT Syllabus 2024 - Key Topics
Arithmetic	Time, Speed and Distance, Ratio, Proportion and Variation, Time and Work, Pipes and Cisterns, Simple and Compound Interest, Percentage, Profit and Loss, Averages, Mixtures
Algebra	Linear and Quadratic Equations, Special Equations, Inequalities and Modulus, Surds and Indices, Logarithm, Functions and Graphs, Polynomials, Arithmetic Progression (AP), Geometric Progression (GP), Harmonic Progression (HP)
Number Theory and Modern Math	Permutation and Combination, Probability, Set Theory, Factorials, Remainders, Base System, Factor Theory, LCM, HCF, Divisibility, Units Digit, Last 2 digits, Statistics
Geometry	Lines and Angles, Triangles, Quadrilaterals and Polygons, Circles, Trigonometry, Co-ordinate Geometry

Here is an overview of the four broad areas (in %) covered over the years in the QA section. 

CAT exam subjects and syllabus are as follows: 

Weightage:

CAT Exam Maths Syllabus	CAT Syllabus 2024 - Expected Number of questions
Arithmetic	9-10 questions
Algebra	7-8 questions
Geometry	3-4 questions
Mensuration	3-4 questions
Modern Mathematics	1-2 questions

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation 

CAT 2024 DILR Syllabus is provided below:

Under DI Topics: Prepare the following topics which are as follows: 

Tables, Scatter Plots, Venn Diagrams, Radar Charts, Line Charts, Column Graphs, Pie Charts, Bubble Charts, Bar Graphs, Routes and Networks, Data Caselets - Reasoning-Based DI

Under LR Topics: Prepare the following topics which are as follows: 

Team Formation, Arrangements, Games and Tournaments, Order and Ranking, and Binary Logic

Check: How to prepare for logical reasoning for CAT

Weightage:

CAT Syllabus 2024 - CAT Syllabus for DILR	CAT Syllabus 2024 - Total Number of Questions
Graph, Bar diagram	6-8
Tables & Charts	5-8
Graphs, Charts	7-10
Tables, Pie chart	4-5

In CAT 2022, 4 sets with 5 questions each were asked. From a total of 20 questions, 6 were TITA questions.

• In slot 1, the sets were based on Routes & Networks, Venn Diagram, Mathematical Reasoning, and Games & Tournaments.
• In slot 2, the sets were based on Routes & Networks, Venn Diagram, Tables & Graphs, and Selection & Distribution.
• In slot 3, two sets were based on Tables and graphs, one on Arrangements and one on Rank and ordering.  

Here is an overview of the topics (in %) covered over the years in the DILR section. 

Check: CAT Exam Preparation Books 2024

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension 

CAT 2024 VARC Syllabus is provided below:

Here are the important topics for the CAT Exam English syllabus

• English Usage or Grammar
• Vocabulary-Based (Synonyms/ Antonyms)
• Fill in the blanks
• Sentence Correction
• Cloze Passage
• Jumbled Paragraph
• Meaning-Usage Match
• Analogies or Reverse Analogies
• Summary Questions
• Verbal Reasoning
• Facts-Inferences-Judgments
• Reading Comprehension

Check: What to do after the CAT exam?

Weightage:

CAT Exam Syllabus 2024 for VARC	CAT Syllabus 2024 - Expected Number of questions
Reading Comprehension	16-18 questions
Para Jumbles	5-6 questions
Odd One Out	1-2 questions
Fill in the blanks, Vocab-based, etc.	1-2 questions

Among the three sections, describing the syllabus for VARC is the simplest. Reading Comprehension dominates the section with a little more than 65% of the question weightage.

The remaining questions are from Para Summary, Para Jumble, Odd One Out, and Missing Sentence (introduced in CAT 2022). So, building a reading habit is the key to covering the VARC syllabus.  

In CAT 2022, 4 passages with a total of 16 questions were asked. 3 Para Summary Questions, 3 Para Jumble Questions and 2 Missing Sentence Questions completed the section. From a total of 24 questions, 3 were TITA questions. 

Here is an overview of the RC genres (in %) covered over the years in the VARC section. 

Number of questions in each section

Here is the number of questions asked in each section:

CAT Exam Syllabus Sections	CAT Exam Syllabus PDF - Questions	CAT Exam Preparation Syllabus - MCQs	Non-MCQs
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	19	5
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	15	5
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	22	14	8
Total	66	48	18

Best Books for CAT Preparation 2024

You can prepare for the CAT Exam Syllabus 2024 using the CAT books below. 

CAT Books For Quantitative Ability

• Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Nishit Sinha
• How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Arun Sharma
• Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT by Sarvesh Verma
• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha

Check: How to prepare for quantitative aptitude for CAT

CAT Books for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning

• Data Interpretation by Nishit Sinha
• Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit Sinha
• How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT book by Arun Sharma
• How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT book by Arun Sharma
• A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal

CAT Books for Verbal Ability

• High School Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin
• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension For The CAT by Nishit Sinha
• How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
• Read books from different genres

Check: CAT Exam Eligibility 2024

The CAT exam syllabus 2024 is comprehensive and covers many topics. It is important to be thorough in your preparation and to cover all the topics mentioned in the syllabus. With the right amount of dedication and hard work, you can definitely crack the CAT exam and pursue your career goals.

• The CAT exam consists of three sections: Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation, and Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension.
• The CAT exam does not have an officially prescribed syllabus. Instead, candidates are expected to deduce important subjects and topics from the previous year's papers.
• CAT primarily assesses candidates' problem-solving speed and application skills rather than rote memorization. Questions are designed to test practical aptitude.