Going with the last 10-year analysis we see a pattern in the CAT paper setter authority. With IIM Lucknow setting the 2023 CAT paper, we expect IIM Calcutta to be the paper-setting authority for CAT 2024. IIM-C is believed to be the engineer’s campus, stressing slightly more on the quantitative and analytical side of a candidate.
A Quick Timeline
| Year |
Conducting Body |
Quick Analysis |
| 2024 |
Calcutta (Expected) |
- |
| 2023 |
Lucknow |
Tougher Quant, moderate DILR, and VARC |
| 2022 |
Bangalore |
Quant slightly tougher, moderate VA and DILR |
| 2021 |
Ahmedabad |
Tougher DILR, moderate DILR & VARC |
| 2020 |
Indore |
Overall moderate to difficult (Pattern Changed) |
| 2019 |
Kozhikode |
Overall easy to moderate |
| 2018 |
Calcutta |
Moderate VARC and DI, tougher LR, and Quant |
| 2017 |
Lucknow |
Easier VARC, moderate to Tough DILR, and Quant |
| 2016 |
Bangalore |
Easy VARC, moderate DILR, and quant |
| 2015 |
Ahmedabad |
Overall easy to moderate |
Expectations from IIM Calcutta as the conducting body of CAT 2024
CAT 2018
| Section |
Difficulty |
Focused On |
| VARC |
Easy to Moderate |
Easy RC with question pattern change. Moderate VA. |
| DILR |
Moderate to Difficult |
Doable sets along with tricky ones. |
| QA |
Difficult |
Calculative and Application questions |
CAT 2011 Exam Pattern
The pattern of the 2011 paper used to be much different from what it is today. Summarizing, the paper saw calculation-intensive DI, tougher Quant, and easy VARC with a new question type in the VA section.
Both the papers conducted by IIM-C previously had a level-up on quants and calculations with good analytical testing in LR.
CAT 2018: Score vs Percentile
(score out of 300 marks)
| CAT 2018 Scaled Score |
Percentile |
| 238 |
100 |
| 154 |
99 |
| 121 |
95 |
| 103 |
90 |
| 89 |
85 |
| 79 |
80 |
*Slot-2 was tougher than Slot-1 and was scaled up for the DILR and QA sections.
Does The Conducting Body and Convenor Affect the CAT Paper?
Each IIM is famous for setting the CAT paper in a certain way. The difficulties across sections and the approach of questions change but the fundamentals of how the IIMs test the candidates remain similar. IIM Lucknow conducted CAT 2023 with Prof. Sanjeet Singh as the convenor. Most students found the Quantitative Aptitude section more challenging than expected, while they had anticipated a tougher DILR section.
It can not be guaranteed that an IIM as a conducting would follow a specific ideal as per its last exam trends. However, having general insights about the IIM conducting body and convenor can help focus on certain aspects of the CAT exam. Under Prof. Sanjeet Singh, we saw a comeback of mean, mode, median, and higher aptitude questions, given his experience as an operational research professor at IIM Calcutta and a DRDO Scientist.
CAT 2024 official notification is expected to be released by the end of July 2024. Stay tuned with us for more insights on the CAT 2024 exam pattern.
You can download the CAT 2018 paper here!
Quick Links:
Preparation Strategies and Time Table for CAT 2024
Free CAT Mock Test 2024
List of Books for CAT Exam 2024
Free online cat exam coaching by ARKSS