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CAT Sample Papers Free PDFs Section-Wise VARC, DILR & QA + How to Use
July 28, 2026
Quick Answer: Did you know? "The IIMs do not release official CAT sample papers"
The sample papers for CAT are model question sets designed to mirror the latest CAT exam pattern and help you build exam familiarity before attempting mocks. The IIMs do not release official CAT sample papers - they only publish one official mock test before the exam. A good CAT 2026 sample paper should follow the latest pattern: 68 questions, 120 minutes, 40 minutes per section, +3 for correct answers, and −1 for incorrect MCQs.
Key Takeaways
- IIMs do not release official CAT sample papers - only one official mock test.
- Use CAT previous year papers for the latest exam pattern.
- Solve sample papers with a timer to simulate the real exam.
- Switch to full-length mocks for percentile-based preparation.
- Review longer than you solve - analysis is where improvement happens.
- Focus on quality practice, not collecting more PDFs.
Download CAT Sample Papers 2026: Section-Wise PDF
22 questions, 40 minutes. Arithmetic and algebra weighted as recent papers weight them. Use it to find where your errors cluster with CAT QA Sample Papers:
24 questions, 40 minutes. Four reading passages plus the verbal ability block. Solve these CAT VARC Sample Papers:
22 questions, 40 minutes, five sets. Open with a two-minute scan and commit to an order in writing before solving. That ranking decision is most of your DILR score.
Treating all three the same way is why so much practice produces so little movement. And none of them is a mock test: a CAT mock test enforces the sectional lock, benchmarks you against a live cohort and reports where your time went.
Download Topic-Wise CAT Formula Sheet PDFs below:
You can download CAT formula sheets arranged topic-wise from the section below. Each CAT pdf is categorized to help you target individual subjects effectively. Choose a topic, download the sheet, and strengthen your preparation step by step:
| CAT Number System Questions | |
| CAT Arithmetic Questions | |
| CAT Number Theory Questions | |
| CAT Quadratic Equation Questions | |
| CAT Inequalities Questions | |
| CAT Logarithms, Surds & Indices Questions | |
| CAT Time, Speed & Distance Questions | |
| CAT Linear Equations Questions | |
| CAT Ratio, Proportion & Variations Questions | |
| CAT Simple Interest - Compound Interest Questions | |
| CAT Profit & Loss Questions |
CAT 2026 Exam Pattern: What Your CAT Sample Papers Must Match
Before solving any CAT sample paper, make sure it follows the latest CAT 2026 exam pattern so your practice reflects the actual exam.
| Element | CAT 2026 |
|---|---|
| Total questions / marks | 68 / 204 |
| VARC · DILR · QA | 24 · 22 · 22 |
| MCQ questions | ~45 (approx. 20 VARC, 11 DILR, 14 QA) |
| TITA questions | ~23 (approx. 4 VARC, 11 DILR, 8 QA) |
| Duration | 120 min · 40 min per section, non-transferable |
| PwD duration | 160 min · 53 min 20 sec per section |
| Marking | +3 correct · −1 incorrect MCQ · 0 for TITA |
| Section order | Fixed: VARC → DILR → QA. No backward navigation |
How Many CAT Sample Papers Should You Solve?
Around ten to twelve, properly analysed - roughly four topic sets, six sectionals, one or two full-length. Higher figures you'll see elsewhere refer to mock tests, not sample papers. Both are right for their own tool: 10–12 CAT sample papers, then 20-plus mocks.
The number is small because sample papers do one job - expose you to the CAT syllabus, question types until nothing surprises you. Once four consecutive papers produce the same three findings in your error log, the eleventh will produce them again.
This is where the sample-paper-versus-mock distinction stops being academic. Most guidance recommends twenty to forty, and that's correct - for mocks. Applied to PDFs it produces a specific failure: thirty solved papers, a comfortable average, and no idea how you'd perform against a live cohort under a locking timer.
Which CAT Sample Question Papers and PYQs Still Matter for 2026
Given a choice between a coaching set and an actual CAT paper, choose the CAT paper - but choose the year deliberately.
| Year | Conducting IIM | Questions | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAT 2025 | IIM Kozhikode | 68 | Highest - same structure. Your primary benchmark |
| CAT 2024 | IIM Calcutta | 68 | Highest - first year of the 68-question structure |
| CAT 2021–2023 | Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Lucknow | 66 | Good questions, outdated structure |
| CAT 2020 | IIM Indore | 76 | Questions only. Not a pattern reference |
Any CAT sample question paper built on a previous structure is fine as a question bank and actively misleading as a timing guide.
One point specific to this year. IIM Indore last conducted CAT six years back, and that paper ran to 76 questions in a format that no longer exists.
How to Solve a CAT Sample Question Paper PDF Like a Computer-Based Test
Five rules recover most of the value a paper format loses.
- Hard timer - 40 minutes sectional, 120 full-length. Stop when it expires, even mid-question.
- Read on screen, not paper - On-screen reading is slower until trained, and the gap is largest in long RC passages. Practise VARC on print and you've trained a skill you can't use.
- Fixed order, no returns - Finish VARC in thirty-four minutes and you sit still for six. The discomfort is the point.
- Ninety-second checkpoint in QA - No clear path at ninety seconds, mark it and move - that's roughly where a question stops being a knowledge problem and becomes a time problem.
- Log every skip and the reason for it.
That last rule is the whole game. A solved CAT sample paper PDF with a score written on top is a wasted paper.
For each mistake, record whether it was conceptual, a calculation slip, a misread, or a question you should never have attempted - and whether it took you two minutes or six.
Those four error types need four different fixes, and aspirants who lump them together as "silly mistakes" fix none of them.
What Your CAT Sample Paper Score Predicts - and When to Stop
A CAT sample question paper score cannot produce a percentile. Percentile is a rank against everyone who appeared, normalised across three slots - CAT 2025 saw roughly 2.95 lakh registrations and about 2.58 lakh candidates appear. A self-solved paper has no cohort and no normalisation.
Your score reliably shows conceptual coverage, accuracy on attempted questions, and time per question type. It can't show your percentile, whether you'd clear an IIM sectional cut-off, or how you hold up in the last fifteen minutes of a locked section. For a real estimate, use the CAT percentile predictor.
Move to full mocks when any two are true: you've completed one full syllabus pass; you finish a sectional inside 40 minutes without borrowing time; your accuracy on attempted questions is above 70% across three papers; you're within four months of the exam regardless of syllabus completion; or your last two papers produced near-identical scores.
That last one matters most. A plateau isn't a signal to solve more sample papers - it means the tool has stopped generating information about you.
Conclusion
CAT sample papers are a starting tool, not a preparation strategy. Used properly - timed, on screen, in the fixed section order, with every skip and its reason logged - ten or twelve will teach you what the exam looks like and, more usefully, where your own leaks are. Used carelessly, thirty will teach you little beyond the fact that you've been busy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Zubeen Siddiqui
Content Writer | MBA & CAT Preparation
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