CAT 2019 Exam Pattern
CAT 2019 did not throw any surprises in paper format. In terms of the level of difficulty, VARC was slightly trickier this year, with 2 passages on the difficult side. Expect the cutoff in VARC to decrease by about 6 - 8 marks. Both DILR and Quant were slightly easier than last year. Overall, the paper was slightly less difficult, as compared to CAT 2018. An overall raw score of around 157-160 should fetch a 99%ile in CAT 2019.
The overall structure of the CAT paper was as follows:
|
Section
|
No. of Questions
|
No. of non-MCQ questions
|
Difficulty Level
|
Attempts for 95%ile
|
Attempts for 99%ile
|
|
VARC
|
34
|
7
|
Moderate - Difficult
|
23 - 25
|
26 - 28
|
|
DILR
|
32
|
8
|
Easy - Moderate
|
14 - 16
|
18 - 20
|
|
QA
|
34
|
11
|
Easy - Moderate
|
18 - 20
|
24 - 26
|
|
Total
|
100
|
26
|
|
~ 60
|
~ 65
|
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CAT 2019 Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Analysis
The VARC section was of moderate difficulty level. However, the pattern was the same as that of the previous year. There were 34 questions, with 10 Non-MCQ questions.
There were 5 passages. One had 4 questions (the passage on Emperor Penguins) while the rest had 5 questions each. The topics of the remaining RC passages were from varied areas. While some were easy to read, there were few that were tedious and had confusing answer options. There were quite a few inference-based questions; and most of these had tricky answer options. However, a student should have followed the POE (process of elimination) to be able to achieve a decent accuracy rate, as the options were not straightforward. The 10 TITA questions were also of slightly higher difficulty level than last year. The para jumble questions were of moderate difficulty level, with some challenges regarding the sequencing of the opening lines. The summary questions were relatively easier; and focused on academics and marketing/advertising.
However, the options were not really difficult, and one could eliminate 1-2 options easily. The questions on odd-one-out were relatively easy.
VARC was undoubtedly trickier than that of last year’s CAT paper due to:
- Trickier question types: One would encounter questions like “Which of the following if TRUE, will strengthen the argument of the author the least” and “Which of the following will not cause the inversion referred to in the ‘flipping the script’”. The students would have spent quite some time trying to understand what they are required to think about.
- Close options: RC passages, like the one on the origins of the Aladdin story and on ‘folk culture’ had options which were extremely close to each other. This would have definitely reduced the speed of the student.
Expect the cutoff of VARC to drop by about 8-10 marks, which is about 2-3 questions lesser than last year.
Surprises: Contrary to popular speculation, the paper structure was a replica of the last year’s paper.
An attempt of 23 - 25 would be considered good in this section for a 95%ile. Accuracy level will be an issue.
|
Area
|
Topic
|
No. of Questions
|
Description
|
|
Reading Comprehension
(24 Questions)
|
Reading Comprehension
|
24
|
There were 5 passages - All of them had similar word limit (around 550-600 words each). The passage on Emperor Penguins had four questions; and was slightly easy to read, with simple questions.
The passage on British Folk music was tedious to read; and the options were confusing, as well.
The passage on Aladdin, though easy to read, had a lot of inference-based questions, with some close options.
Of the remaining two passages, the one on Topophilia was of slightly higher difficulty level, with questions that had close options.
The one on Online Shopping was easy to read and solve.
Overall, the paper was moderate- difficult. One could attempt 15-16 questions with 85% accuracy. |
Here is the break-up of what the RCs were like:
|
Passages
|
Understanding
|
Attempts
|
|
Emperor Penguins
|
Easy
|
Easy
|
|
Aladdin
|
Easy
|
Difficult
|
|
Topophilia
|
Moderate - Difficult
|
Moderate - Difficult
|
|
Online Marketing
|
Easy
|
Easy
|
|
British Folk
|
Moderate - Difficult
|
Moderate
|
The VA questions were of the following types:
|
Passages
|
Easy
|
Moderate
|
Difficult
|
Total
|
|
Verbal Ability
(10 Questions)
|
Para Summary
|
2
|
|
1
|
3
|
|
Odd Sentence
|
2
|
|
1
|
3
|
|
Para Jumbles
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
CAT 2019 Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning Analysis
DILR was easier, as compared to last year. About 3 sets, more specifically the ones about different types of gifts in 100 boxes, the 12 different junctions, and summation of two 6-digit numbers, were easy; and should have surely been attempted.
Another set, which was a horizontal bar chart on the different types of crimes in different states, was also easy; and would not have taken more than 5-10 minutes to solve.
It was good to see a new chart type, i.e. the radar graph, making its way to the CAT 2019 slot 1 paper (the image here shows what a radar chart looks like).
In this set, different Vendors were ranked on features like Customer Service, Cost, Reliability, etc. This straightforward set required you to solve questions as simple as finding the best vendor on the basis of the average of scores on each of the features.
|
Section
|
Topic
|
No. of Questions
|
Doable
|
|
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
|
Crime Rate across States
|
4
|
4
|
|
Rating of Vendors
(Radar Graph)
|
4
|
4
|
|
Tournament – Shooting Bullseye
|
4
|
3
|
|
Dancers and Choreographers
|
4
|
3
|
|
Summation of Two 6-Digit Numbers
|
4
|
3
|
|
100 Boxes of Gifts
|
4
|
4
|
|
12 Junctions
|
4
|
2
|
|
Arrangement of Books on Shelves
|
4
|
3
|
The cut-off for DILR is expected to increase by about 7-9 marks from last year, which is about 2-3 questions extra from CAT 2018.
CAT 2019 Quantitative Ability Analysis
QA was also slightly easier than last year. You could have found more sitters this time round than in CAT 2018. The paper had a good number of questions on Arithmetic from topics like Percentages, TSD, Time and Work, etc. Among Algebra, Geometry, and Numbers, the paper had more questions on Algebra and Geometry than on Numbers.
| Section |
Topic
|
No. of Questions
|
Doable
|
|
Quantitative Ability
|
Number System
|
2
|
1
|
|
Algebra
|
13
|
7 - 8
|
|
Arithmetic
|
14
|
6 - 7
|
|
Modern Math
|
1
|
1
|
|
Geometry and Mensuration
|
4
|
1 - 2
|
The cutoff for QA is expected to increase by about 5-7 marks from last year, which is about 1-2 questions extra from CAT 2018.
Expected Scores for 99%ile
|
Percentiles
|
VARC
|
DILR
|
QA
|
|
99
|
65-67
|
48-50
|
55-58
|
Please Note: All information on analysis and scores are based on the accuracy of attempts provided by you as well as independent analysis and evaluation made by Career Launcher Academic Team. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on this information.
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All the very best!!
Last Updated at 6:11 PM, 24th November 2019