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    CAT

    Overall CAT Exam Analysis 2024 – Difficulty Level, Expected Cutoffs, Types of Questions

    25 November, 2024
    Pintu Das

    CAT 2024 was held by IIM Calcutta in centres across the country on 24 November 2024. Over 3 lakh students are expected to have taken the test, which was held in three slots: slot 1, slot 2, and slot 3. Based on our CAT exam analysis 2024, we can say that the exam was of a lower difficulty level than in 2023. There were a few pattern changes, too, that came as a bit of a surprise. 

    cat exam analysis

    At first glance, here are some snippets from our overall CAT 2024 exam analysis:

     

    1. The total number of questions went up from 66 to 68.
    2. The number of questions in the DILR section was increased from 20 to 22. Instead of 4 sets of 5 questions each, as has been the norm, CAT 2024 had 3 sets of 4 questions and 2 sets of 5 questions.
    3. According to the CAT 2024 exam analysis by our expert mentors, the overall difficulty level of CAT exam 2024 was lower than that of CAT 2023, especially in the DILR and Quant sections.
    4. The difficulty level across the three slots was also varied. Slot 1 was the easiest, and slot 3 was the hardest.
    5. The difficulty level of VARC was largely the same as last year, while the DILR and Quant sections were on the easier side.
    6. According to our expert mentors, CAT 2024’s overall difficulty level was similar to that of CAT 2021. 
    7. The overall cutoffs for the top colleges are expected to go up,, and the CAT score vs. percentile report will also change, with the 90%ile and 95ile benchmarks climbing upwards to 47-51 marks and 58-61 marks, respectively.

     

    For a more detailed CAT 2024 analysis, read below. You can also find the individual analysis of each slot in these links:

     

    Read More – CAT 2024 Slot 1 Analysis – Difficulty level, expected cutoffs

    Read More – CAT 2024 Slot 2 Analysis – Difficulty level, expected cutoffs

    Read More – CAT 2024 Slot 3 Analysis – Difficulty level, expected cutoffs

     

    CAT exam analysis 2024 – CAT 2024 exam pattern

    </tr

    Section Name Number of MCQs Number of TITAs Total
    VA-RC Section 22 2 24
    DI-LR Section 12 10 22
    QA Section 14 8 22
    Total 48 20 68

     

    • Paragraph Jumbles questions completely disappeared from this year’s CAT.
    • LRDI – Total 5 sets- 2 sets of 5 questions and 3 sets of 4 questions.
    • QA was one notch less difficult compared to CAT 2023

    CAT 2024 analysis – Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

    RC: 4 passages with 4 Questions each
    Verbal Ability: 3 Summary + 3 Para-completion + 2 Odd one

     

    Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3
    Easy Digital rights of content (streaming vs DVD/BluRay) Spice Trade The success of Chinese liquor brand Moutai
    Craftsmanship and creativity Unintended Consequences of Technology Contamination of space
    Revival of bandicoots in Australia Peer Review of Research Languages have become endangered
    Medium Critique of behavioural economics Carnivore-Human Conflict The need to regulate AI

    Read More – CAT 2024 Slot 1 Analysis – Difficulty level, expected cutoffs

    CAT exam 2024 analysis – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

    2 sets of 5 questions each and 3 sets of 4 questions each

    Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3
    Easy Stock prices 6 firms profitability App subscription
    Web surfers and 30 starts Ratings of a product Room temperature
    Medium 3 persons visiting different countries Rating of 8 gymnasts Proteins, Carbohydrates in food items
    Difficult Tournaments Lakes in a gated community GDP of 10 countries
    Two candidates contesting the election 10 numbers in a grid Network of roads and ATMs

    Read More – CAT 2024 Slot 2 Analysis – Difficulty level, expected cutoffs

    CAT exam 2024 analysis – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

     

    Area Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3
    Arithmetic 8 8 8
    Algebra 7 5 7
    Modern Math 3 3
    Geometry 3 3 3
    Numbers 1 3 1

    Read More – CAT 2024 Slot 3 Analysis – Difficulty level, expected cutoffs

    CAT exam analysis 2024 – Initial score vs. percentile estimates

    Overall

     

    Percentile Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3
    99.9%ile 120-124 118-123 118-123
    99.5%ile 106-110 103-108 103-108
    99%ile 95-98 92-95 92-95
    98%ile 71-74 69-72 68-71
    95%ile 59-61 57-59 55-57
    90%ile 46-47 47-49 45-47
    85%ile 41-42 42-44 39-42
    80%ile 36-37 39-40 36-38

     

    Read More – CAT Score vs Percentile (Updated for 2024)

     

    • Revised Estimates will be released 2-3 days after the CAT Response Sheet is released, incorporating student performance data.
    • Please do not make any B-School application decision based onthe initial estimate. They serve only as a first indicator of likely performance

    CAT exam 2024 analysis – Sectional score vs percentile estimates

    Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

     

    Percentile Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3
    99.9%ile 48 50 48
    99.5%ile 40 46 40
    99%ile 36 42 36
    98%ile 25 38 25
    95%ile 20 32 19
    90%ile 17 26 16
    85%ile 15 22 14
    80%ile 13 20 12

    Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

     

    Percentile Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3
    99.9%ile 49 46 46
    99.5%ile 43 40 40
    99%ile 40 37 37
    98%ile 33 30 30
    95%ile 29 27 27
    90%ile 23 21 21
    85%ile 21 19 19
    80%ile 19 17 17

    Quantitative Aptitude

     

    Percentile Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3
    99.9%ile 48 46 48
    99.5%ile 43 41 43
    99%ile 35 33 35
    98%ile 24 22 24
    95%ile 18 16 18
    90%ile 14 13 14
    85%ile 13 12 13
    80%ile 11 10 11

     

    We’ll update our percentile estimates as more data comes in. But, as can be seen in our CAT exam analysis 2024, CAT 2024 did throw a few surprises. The exam had a lower difficulty level, a new exam pattern, and simpler DILR sets. We expect the cutoffs for top MBA programs to go up based on our current estimates. More concrete estimates will only come in since CAT releases the answer key and response sheet. We expect the CAT answer key and response sheet to be tentatively released in the first week of December 2024. You can learn more about it here.

    Read More – CAT Answer Key Download Link

     

    *** The scores and percentiles mentioned in this analysis are indicators based on feedback from students and IMS experts. They are in no way related to the results that IIMs are expected to declare in January 2025. You are advised to wait for the results.