CAT Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026: VARC, DILR, QA

What is the CAT syllabus 2026?

The CAT syllabus 2026 covers three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA), tested in a single computer-based test of 68 questions worth 204 marks in 120 minutes. CAT (Common Admission Test) is the national MBA entrance exam conducted by the IIMs for admission to the IIMs and 1,200+ other B-schools, with CAT 2026 conducted by IIM Indore and applications made through the official portal iimcat.ac.in. Unlike many government exams, CAT does not have a fixed factual syllabus you can memorise; it tests aptitude across reading, reasoning and mathematics, so the smart move is to understand exactly what each section asks and how it is marked. This guide breaks down the CAT exam pattern, the marking scheme and the section-wise topics for VARC, DILR and QA so you can plan your prep with no guesswork.

CAT 2026 is scheduled for Sunday, 29 November 2026 in three slots, with registration open from 3 August to 15 September 2026 on iimcat.ac.in. The exam is conducted in English only, so there is no Hindi or Marathi question paper.

What is the CAT 2026 exam pattern?

The CAT 2026 exam pattern is a single computer-based test of 120 minutes with three sections that must be attempted in a fixed order under hard sectional timing. There are 68 questions for 204 marks, and each section runs for exactly 40 minutes; once a section's 40 minutes end you cannot go back to it. Every question carries 3 marks, and the paper mixes MCQ (with options) and TITA (Type In The Answer, no options) questions.

Section	Questions	Time	Marking
VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension)	24	40 min	+3 correct, -1 wrong MCQ
DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning)	22	40 min	+3 correct, -1 wrong MCQ
QA (Quantitative Aptitude)	22	40 min	+3 correct, -1 wrong MCQ
Total	68	120 min	204 marks

The sections always appear in the order VARC, then DILR, then QA, and the hard 40-minute limit per section means time management is built into the format rather than left to you. There is no sectional cutoff to simply qualify; final selection is by percentile, both overall and sectional, set by each IIM after the exam.

How is CAT marked (and is there negative marking)?

CAT has negative marking, but only for MCQs: a correct MCQ earns +3 and a wrong MCQ costs -1, while TITA (Type In The Answer) questions earn +3 for a correct answer and carry NO penalty for a wrong answer. This split is the single most important thing to internalise about the CAT marking scheme, because it changes how you should attempt each question type. Roughly a quarter to a third of the paper is TITA, concentrated in DILR and QA.

Question type	Correct	Wrong	Unattempted
MCQ	+3	-1	0
TITA (non-MCQ)	+3	0 (no penalty)	0

The practical rule follows directly: on MCQs, respect the -1 and avoid blind four-option guesses, but on any TITA question you have a reasonable method for, always attempt it, because a wrong TITA answer costs nothing. Leaving a solvable TITA blank out of caution simply throws away free marks.

What is the VARC syllabus?

The VARC syllabus has 24 questions built around Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability. Reading Comprehension dominates, typically about 16 of the 24 questions across four passages of 4 questions each, and the remaining 8 questions are Verbal Ability. In our CAT question analysis of recent exam cycles, RC alone accounts for roughly two-thirds of the section, so reading is where VARC is won.

• Reading Comprehension (about 16 Q): dense, argumentative passages across genres such as economics and business, science and technology, philosophy and psychology, and history and humanities. Questions cover the main idea, inference, tone, and author's purpose.
• Verbal Ability (about 8 Q): para-summary, para-completion and insertion, odd-sentence-out and para-jumbles. Much of Verbal Ability is TITA in recent years (VARC has about 2 to 4 TITA questions), so you can attempt those without any negative-marking risk.

What is the DILR syllabus?

The DILR syllabus has 22 questions arranged as roughly 4 to 5 sets of 4 to 5 questions each, mixing Data Interpretation with Logical Reasoning. Nothing in DILR is standalone; every question sits inside a set, which is why set selection, choosing which sets to solve, is the section's most important skill. DILR carries a high share of TITA (about 6 to 8 questions), so cracking a set banks several marks with no negative risk.

• Data Interpretation: tables, bar, line and pie charts, caselets, mixed graphs, Venn-based and reasoning-based DI.
• Logical Reasoning: linear and circular arrangements, games and tournaments, distribution and grouping, scheduling, binary logic, routes and networks, and quant-based LR.

What is the QA syllabus?

The QA syllabus has 22 mostly standalone questions and is heavily weighted towards Arithmetic. In our CAT question analysis of recent exam cycles, Arithmetic alone makes up roughly 40 percent of QA, and Arithmetic with Algebra together account for about 70 percent of the section, so these two areas give you the biggest return on effort. The maths is at a school level, but the questions are multi-step and trap-heavy, and QA carries about 6 to 8 TITA questions you can attempt freely.

• Arithmetic (about 40 percent): percentage, profit, loss and discount, time speed and distance, time and work, ratio and proportion, averages, mixtures, and simple and compound interest.
• Algebra (about 34 percent): quadratic equations, functions, inequalities, logarithms, sequences and series, and linear equations.
• Geometry and Mensuration (about 13 percent): triangles, circles, coordinate geometry, and areas and volumes.
• Number System (about 9 percent): factors, remainders, divisibility, and base systems.
• Modern Maths (about 6 percent): permutations and combinations, probability, and set theory.

How should you plan your CAT section-wise prep?

Plan your CAT preparation section by section, because each of the three sections rewards a different habit and IIMs shortlist on sectional percentiles as well as an overall percentile. A very strong QA score cannot rescue a weak VARC percentile, so no section can be neglected.

• VARC: build a daily reading habit across serious non-fiction and editorials so dense RC passages stop feeling heavy, and drill para-jumbles and para-summary for the Verbal Ability part.
• DILR: practise a wide variety of set types and train the first-three-minutes scan that separates solvable sets from traps. Solving 3 sets well beats dabbling in 5 and finishing none.
• QA: master Arithmetic and Algebra first since they make up about 70 percent of the section, then add Geometry, Number System and Modern Maths, keeping your calculation fast and clean.
• Full mocks: take full-length mocks in the exact 40-minute sectional pattern, then analyse each one to fix one weak area at a time.

For a deeper plan and a phase-by-phase timeline, see our CAT preparation strategy guide, and confirm the exam window in our CAT 2026 exam date and registration guide.

Ready to practise the real pattern? Take full-length CAT mock tests on Quiz4Exam in the exact 68-question, 40-minute sectional format, with sectional and topic tests to drill VARC, DILR and QA, plus All-India live mocks that give you a percentile and rank so you know exactly where you stand. Always confirm the latest syllabus, pattern and dates on the official portal iimcat.ac.in.