CAT DILR Topics and Section Rules

CAT DILR combines data interpretation and logical reasoning in one timed section. The standard section time is 40 minutes; unused time from VARC cannot be carried into it. PwBD compensatory time is divided equally across the three sections.

The 2025 papers had 22 DILR questions arranged in five sets. They included linked tables, route problems, charts, assignments and changing positions. These are useful preparation examples, not fixed topic quotas for 2026.

A familiar story can hide a difficult structure. A train problem may be a table of overlapping journeys; a trade problem may combine ratios with missing totals. The DILR syllabus organises these skills, while the slot-wise DILR analysis shows the contexts used in 2025.

Turn the Clues into a Model

Choose a representation that matches the information. Use a grid when people must be assigned to categories, a route table when quantities move between places, and a position diagram when order or direction changes. Keep an unknown as a variable until a clue fixes it.

Original example: on route A-B-C, 18 passengers travel A-C, 7 travel A-B and 11 travel B-C. The A-B load is 25 and the B-C load is 29. There are 36 distinct passengers. Adding the two loads gives 54 because the 18 through-passengers are counted on both segments.

Weighted data needs the same care. If groups of 20 and 30 people have average scores of 60 and 80, their combined average is (20 x 60 + 30 x 80) / 50 = 72, not 70. The group sizes decide the weights.

When two arrangements remain possible, keep both. A question asking what must be true needs a conclusion shared by every valid case. A question asking what could be true needs only one valid case.

Choose a Set by Its Deductions

Read the conditions and question demands together. Before committing to a full solution, look for a fixed total, a forced position or a restriction that removes several cases. Those are stronger starting points than a short passage or a familiar topic name.

A long set may have direct questions before its hardest deduction. Conversely, a short arrangement may have many valid branches. Solve an independently answerable question when the clues are sufficient; avoid treating a trial arrangement as the only arrangement.

There is no universal number of sets that guarantees a percentile. Difficulty, accuracy and the candidate distribution vary. Compare your choices with the sets you can solve during review, rather than chasing a fixed attempt count.

Build Timed DILR Practice

Move from untimed sets to mixed timed sections when you can explain the model without looking at a solution. Starting a timer before you understand why a case is valid mainly measures confusion.

For each timed attempt, record where the minutes went: reading, modelling, calculation or an abandoned branch. If most time went into drawing the wrong grid, another calculation drill will not address that error.

The DILR question-paper page includes dated downloads and an original train-capacity exercise. Use short sets to repair one skill and full sections to practise choosing between different sets.

Review DILR Errors and Marks

CAT awards 3 marks for a correct answer. A wrong MCQ loses 1 mark; a wrong typed answer or an unanswered question scores zero. A partly solved set receives marks only for its correctly answered questions, not for the quality of the rough work.

Reattempt the set with the solution closed. If the same unsupported assumption returns, the method has not been repaired. If the model is now clear but arithmetic remains slow, practise the particular percentage, ratio or weighted-total calculation involved.

Review sets you skipped as well as questions you answered incorrectly. A skipped set that becomes straightforward without time pressure exposes a selection issue; one that still requires several new concepts exposes a knowledge gap.

1. DILR Set Families
2. Route Totals: Worked Example
3. Set Selection

1. DILR Practice Sequence
2. DILR Error Review