CAT 20253 minutes

CAT 2025 Slot 2 Analysis: Exam Pattern, Difficulty Level & Key Insights

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Seshu Budda
Seshu Budda

CAT 2025 – Slot 2 Analysis

Overall Difficulty: Moderate
Closest Comparison: Very similar to Slot 1; slightly tougher VARC.

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CAT 2025 Slot 2: Exam Overview

CAT 2025 Slot 2 followed the same structure as Slot 1, with 68 questions and 40 minutes per section. The overall difficulty was Moderate–Difficult, primarily because DILR was significantly tougher than usual.

Key Highlights

  • Total Questions: 68
  • Sectional Time Limit: 40 minutes each
  • Marking Scheme: 
    • +3 for correct answers
    • -1 for incorrect MCQs
    • No negative marking for TITA

Section-Wise Question Distribution

  • VARC: 24
  • DILR: 22
  • QA: 22

Overall Difficulty: Moderate–Difficult

Tougher than CAT 2024 due to a spike in DILR difficulty.

CAT 2025 Slot 2: Section-Wise Analysis

1. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

VARC remained the most manageable section of Slot 2. The structure stayed similar to CAT 2024, with 4 RCs (16 questions) and 8 VA questions. Passages were moderate in length and had clear eliminations. VA was predictable.

Key Features

  • Total Questions: 24
  • TITA: 4
  • RC Length: 400–450 words
  • VA Types:

    • 2 Para Summary
    • 2 Para Jumble
    • 2 Odd One Out
    • 2 Para Completion

Reading Comprehension Breakdown

Passage Topic Questions Difficulty Doable
Economics/Trade (Slot Themes Comparable to 2024) 4 Moderate 2
Ecology / Carnivores-Type Themes 4 Easy–Moderate 2
Sociological / Abstract Theme 4 Moderate 2
Research/Scientific Topic 4 Easy–Moderate 2
Total 16 Easy–Moderate 8

Verbal Ability Breakdown

Question Type No. of Qs Difficulty Doable
Para Summary 2 Moderate 2
Para Completion 2 Moderate–Difficult 1
Odd One Out 2 Moderate–Difficult 1
Para Jumble 2 Moderate 1–2
Total 8 Moderate 4–5

Ideal Attempts

18–20 attempts with good accuracy would be highly competitive.

2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

Difficulty: Difficult

DILR was the toughest section of Slot 2. Most sets had multi-layered logic, making set selection extremely important. Difficulty was higher than CAT 2024 and closer to older CAT patterns known for trickiness.

Question Set Breakdown

Set Topic Questions Difficulty Doable
Table-Based Set 4–5 Difficult 1
Graph-Based Set 4 Moderate–Difficult 1–2
LR Puzzle 4 Difficult 1
Chart-Based Reasoning 4 Difficult 1
Mixed Reasoning + Table 5 Difficult 1
Total 22 Difficult 8–9

Ideal Attempts

8–9 attempts (1.5–2 sets) with strong accuracy.

3. Quantitative Ability (QA)

Difficulty: Moderate–Difficult

QA had conceptual but solvable questions. Compared to CAT 2024, difficulty increased slightly due to deeper logic in Arithmetic and Algebra.

Structure

  • Total Questions: 22
  • TITA: 7–8

Topic-Wise Split

Topic Questions Difficulty
Arithmetic 7–8 Moderate–Difficult
Algebra (Functions, Logs, Equations) 6 Moderate
Geometry & Mensuration 4 Moderate
Number System 2–3 Easy–Moderate
Modern Math 1 Moderate
Total 22 Moderate–Difficult

Ideal Attempts

13–14 questions with careful accuracy.

CAT 2025 vs CAT 2024 & CAT 2023: Difficulty Comparison

Section CAT 2025 CAT 2024 CAT 2023
VARC Easy–Moderate Easy–Moderate Moderate
DILR Difficult Moderate Moderate–Difficult
QA Moderate–Difficult Moderate Moderate
Overall Moderate–Difficult Moderate Moderate

CAT 2025 Slot 2: Ideal Attempts & Scores

Section Ideal Attempts Ideal Score (2025)
VARC 18–20 48–52
DILR 8–9 25–28
QA 13–14 37–40
Total ≈ 105–115

CAT 2025 Slot 2 at a Glance

  • Overall difficulty higher than Slot 1 due to a tough DILR section.
  • VARC was the clear scoring section.
  • DILR required smart set selection, not speed.
  • QA demanded conceptual clarity over shortcuts.
  • A high percentile in Slot 2 leaned heavily on accuracy and discipline, not attempts.

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CAT 2025 Slot 2 Analysis: Exam Pattern, Difficulty Level & Key Insights