CAT 2023: All that you need to know about the Common Aptitude Test

The Common Aptitude Test (CAT) is a management aptitude test conducted by the IIMs to evaluate candidates to be admitted at the institutes.

Considered India's premier national institutes, the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) offers management education and research in the country. Many aspirants dream of being a part of the institute and work their way up to their dream college.

CAT 2023 will be conducted on November 26 in three sessions and is a prerequisite for admission to various Post Graduate and Fellow/Doctorate programmes of IIMs. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/ Representational image)

Getting admitted to the IIMs is not an easy task and scores secured by the candidates from the CAT exam is detrimental. The Common Aptitude Test (CAT) is a management aptitude test conducted by the IIMs to evaluate candidates to be admitted at the institutes.

CAT 2023 will be conducted on November 26 in three sessions and is a prerequisite for admission to various Post Graduate and Fellow/Doctorate programmes of IIMs. Some listed non-IIM institutions also use the CAT scores to admit candidates for their programmes.

The exam essentially contains three sections mainly:

1. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
3. Quantitative Ability (QA)

• The exam duration will be 120 minutes (for non-PwD candidates) with each section having a time limit of 40 minutes. Candidates can move from one section to the next only after exhausting the 40 minutes allotted to the ongoing section. Hence moving back and forth from one section to another would not be possible.
• A digital calculator for the candidates will be provided on the top, right-hand side of the screen.
• Candidates can also check the time left to answer the questions in the section from the timer on the top, right-hand side of the screen, just below the calculator.
• Candidates can check the status of the questions on the question palette which will be displayed on the right-hand side of the screen.
• Both Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) and non-MCQ type questions will be present. For non-MCQ-type questions, space will be provided to type in the answer.
• Candidates who wish to change their response can do so by clicking on the using the ‘Clear Response’ button after selecting the question number on the palette.