CAT 2026 Rules and the Completed 2025 Paper

CAT 2026 takes place on 29 November. The official instructions confirm VARC, DILR and QA in that order, with 40 minutes per standard section. The final question count and a chapter-wise distribution are not specified.

The 2025 papers had 68 questions for 204 raw marks. Their topic mix is useful for preparation, but it cannot be described as the observed difficulty or distribution of the upcoming exam. The CAT pattern page covers the confirmed current rules.

VARC Across the 2025 Slots

All three VARC papers used 16 RC and 8 verbal-ability questions. The verbal component had two questions each of summary, paragraph ordering, odd sentence and sentence placement.

The task counts matched, but the question order differed. RC and VA were interspersed rather than appearing as two uninterrupted blocks. A question about an unfamiliar subject could still be answered through the text; a familiar subject could contain a difficult inference.

The VARC analysis maps the exact question numbers to tasks in each slot.

DILR Across the 2025 Slots

Each DILR paper had five sets: three of four questions and two of five, for 22 questions. The sets combined data calculations with logical restrictions.

The skills varied inside the same broad label. Train occupancy required shared-segment accounting; pollution data combined weighted averages with assignments; trade balance distinguished net flows from total trade. Calling all of them graphs or puzzles would hide those differences.

The DILR paper analysis gives the question ranges and counts for all 15 sets.

QA Across the 2025 Slots

The QA grouping uses one preparation area per question. Progressions, functions, logarithms and equation/inequality constraints are grouped under Algebra; digit and factor questions are Number Properties. Contextual rate, mixture, return and fee problems are Arithmetic. Other analyses may place some of these under Modern Mathematics.

The geometry count was three in each slot, but its content ranged from coordinates and chords to tangents, area ratios and triangle relationships. Arithmetic contexts included changing ratios, mixtures, discounts, work and travel.

The QA analysis identifies the questions assigned to each topic. This avoids treating an unexplained coaching category as an official chapter division. A different reasonable grouping can move a mixed question between categories without changing the total of 22.

Reported Difficulty and What a Score Can Tell You

IMS's 2025 slot reviews gave the following section-level assessments. These are coaching judgments, not official IIM difficulty ratings.

A difficulty label does not supply a fixed normalization bonus, and a predicted good-attempt range does not establish a final percentile. Accuracy and MCQ/TITA response type affect raw marks; official score processing determines the reported result.

For example, 10 correct answers and 3 wrong MCQs yield 27 raw marks. Replacing those wrong MCQs with 3 wrong typed answers yields 30. The attempt count stays 13, but the score changes.

For preparation, use the 2025 papers with their question-level analysis. For interpreting marks, use CAT score calculation and keep historical score-percentile comparisons separate from the upcoming result.

1. 2025 Paper Structure
2. VARC Task Comparison
3. DILR Set Comparison

1. QA Topic Comparison
2. Reported 2025 Difficulty