This weekend is anticipated to see the issuance of the CAT exam 2026 notification. The trends suggest that the application cost may increase by INR 100. The CAT exam pattern for the current session is likely to stay the same.
The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are anticipated to formally announce the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026 on July 26, 2026. According to past patterns, the CAT exam date will be made public on the official website, iimcat.ac.in, on the last Sunday in July. Students must check their CAT eligibility criteria before applying.
According to the IIMs' rotation cycle, IIM Indore is anticipated to be the conducting IIM for the upcoming session. The exam is scheduled for November 29, 2026 (the final Sunday in November), according to historical trends. The first week of August 2026 will mark the start of the CAT registration 2026 period, which will run until the second week of September.
Since the CAT test is the primary entrance exam for around 1200 B-schools in India, including all 22 IIMs, it is the ambition of thousands of candidates who wish to define their careers in top management professions. However, now we are going to talk about some crucial tips that candidates for the CAT 2026 must comprehend.
July is almost over, and around four months remain before the CAT exam 2026. This blog discusses the thorough study of the CAT 2026 paper anticipated to be carried out by IIM Indore and examines a few tips that should be the main focus of the CAT 2026 preparation plan.
CAT Exam 2026: Will IIM Indore administer the CAT exam this year?
Every CAT 2026 candidate is now thinking about this issue. IIM Indore is scheduled to conduct the CAT exam in accordance with the IIMs' rotation among the older IIMs, having last managed in 2020. However, definitive confirmation won't be available until the official announcement is posted on the official CAT website.
IIM Indore has a history of using distinctive multi-step quantitative questions with moderate-to-easy overall difficulty. Understanding how IIM Indore prepared and conducted the CAT exam in 2020 is the key to your CAT 2026 preparation strategy this year since it is the closest reference.
Why is this so important to CAT 2026 candidates? The selection of reading comprehension passages, the structure of DILR sets, and the ratio of calculation-heavy to logic-heavy questions in QA are all examples of how IIM tends to leave a little imprint on the paper.
CAT Exam Dates 2026: Expected
The notification for the CAT exam 2026 is expected to be released on July 26 or 27, 2026, after which students can check out the important dates for the CAT exam. Right now, you can check the tentative CAT exam dates 2026 are shown in a table.
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Event
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Dates (Tentative)
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CAT 2026 Notification Release
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15th July 2026
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CAT 2026 Registration Start Date
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1st Week of August 2026
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CAT 2026 Registration Last Date
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Last Week of September 2026
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Application Form Correction Window
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4th Week of September 2026
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CAT 2026 Admit Card Release Date
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4th Week of October 2026
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CAT Exam Date 2026
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29th November 2026 (Sunday)
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CAT 2026 Answer Key Release
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1st Week of December 2026
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CAT 2026 Result Date
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4th Week of December 2026 (tentative)
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CAT 2026 Exam Pattern
By going over the previous year's CAT exam pattern, you may begin your CAT 2026 preparation this year. Make sure you thoroughly go over the CAT 2026 Exam Pattern after it is released.
Following the format of last year, the CAT exam in 2026 will be given as a computer-based examination across three sessions in a single day.
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CAT 2026 Exam Pattern
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CAT Exam Mode 2026
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CBT Online or Computer-Based Test
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CAT 2026 Duration
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2 Hours or 120 Min. (Each Section will have a 40-minute limit)
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Total Count of Questions for CAT 2026
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68
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CAT total marks
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204
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CAT 2026 Language
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English
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Number of Choices for Each Question
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4
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CAT 2026 Exam Mode
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CBT Online (Computer-based Test)
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CAT 2026 Types of Questions
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MCQs and Non-MCQs (TITA)
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CAT 2026 Sections
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1. Quantitative Aptitude
2. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
3. Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation
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MCQ and non-MCQ question counts by section (based on the 2025 CAT test)
Based on last year's trend, the following table approximates the number of multiple-choice and non-multiple-choice questions in each CAT topic or section.
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Section Names
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Number of MCQs
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Number of Non-MCQs
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Total Questions
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VARC - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
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21
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3
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24
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DILR - Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
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16
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6
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22
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QA - Quantitative Ability
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14
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8
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22
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Total Questions
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51
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17
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68
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How many questions do I need to attempt in the CAT 2026?
The Common Admission Test (CAT) does not have a minimum or predetermined number of questions that you must attempt; instead, you can select the number of questions to answer based on your accuracy and aim. About 45 to 50 questions (approximately two-thirds of the entire test) with high accuracy are a safe aim to achieve a 99+ percentile.
CAT Exam Pattern 2026 Expected: VARC Weightage
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, or VARC, is the first topic on the CAT exam syllabus. There are 24 questions total, divided into two sections: Reading Comprehension (RC) and Verbal Ability (VA). Because most of the questions in this part come from RC, it is rather long and moderately to challengingly difficult.
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CAT VARC Topics with Question Weightage
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VARC Topics
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No. of Questions
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Weightage
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Difficulty Level
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Reading Comprehension
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16
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65%
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Moderate to Difficult
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Parajumbles (VA)
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3
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15%
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Moderate to Difficult
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Odd Sentence (VA)
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2
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10%
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Easy to Moderate
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Summary Writing (VA)
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3
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10%
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Easy to Moderate
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Total
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24
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100%
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Moderate to Difficult
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CAT Exam Pattern 2026: DILR Weightage
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, or DILR, is the second topic in the CAT exam course. It evaluates applicants' knowledge, comprehension, and logical problem-solving skills. The most recent CAT curriculum for 2025 states that this block normally comprises 22 questions, 11 from Data Interpretation (DI) and 11 from Logical Reasoning (LR). Forty minutes are given for this section.
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CAT DILR Topics with Question Weightage
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DILR Topics
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No. of Questions
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Weightage
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Difficulty Level
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Data Interpretation
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11
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50%
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Easy to Moderate
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Logical Reasoning
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11
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50%
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Moderate to Difficult
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Total
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22
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100%
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Moderate
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CAT Exam Pattern 2026: QA Weightage
Quantitative Aptitude (QA) is the final topic on the CAT test syllabus. This component is frequently the most computationally demanding and is one of the most challenging portions of the CAT paper. It evaluates applicants' quickness in solving numerical problems as well as their understanding of basic arithmetic concepts.
According to the MBA CAT exam syllabus, most of the problems in this section come from Algebra, Geometry, Modern Math, and Arithmetic. The following are the main topics covered in the CAT exam syllabus for quantitative aptitude:
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CAT Quantitative Aptitude Topic-wise Weightage
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Quant Topics
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No. of Questions
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Weightage
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Difficulty Level
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Arithmetic
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8–10
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45%
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Moderate to High
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Algebra
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5–7
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25%
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Moderate to High
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Geometry
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1–3
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20%
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Moderate to High
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Modern Math
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2–4
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10%
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Moderate to High
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Total
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22
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100%
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Moderate to High
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Complete Analysis of the CAT 2020 by IIM Indore to get an idea of the CAT 2026 Pattern
The CAT 2020 took place in three slots on November 29, 2020. The CAT 2020 exam was administered by IIM Indore, and it took 120 minutes to complete with a total of 76 Questions.
There were 76 questions in CAT 2020 Slot 1: 26 in VARC, 26 in QA, and 24 in the DILR part. While QA and DILR were easy to modify in terms of difficulty, VARC was a little more complex.
There were no surprises in the CAT 2020 Slot 2 VARC & QA segment, which was comparable to Slot 1. In contrast to CAT 2020 Slot 1, the DILR part proved difficult in Slot 2.
If a person received 42 points in the VARC portion, 34 points in the DILR section, and 44 points in the QA section, they were in the 99th percentile overall.
Although the CAT 2026 test will not follow the same format, students should concentrate more on the DILR and VARC parts before moving on with the CAT 2026 preparation.
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Section
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Total Questions
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Total MCQs
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Total Non-MCQs
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Remarks
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VARC
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26
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22
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4
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Moderate – Difficult
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DILR
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24
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19
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5
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Moderate–Difficult
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Quants
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26
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18
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8
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Moderate
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Overall
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76
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59
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17
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Moderate to Difficult
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Will the difficulty of the CAT exam 2026 be the same as that of the CAT 2020 exam?
Although it will maintain a comparable moderate-to-difficult quality, CAT 2026's difficulty level is not anticipated to be an identical match for CAT 2020. The overall number of questions and structural distribution have changed since 2020; however, the 40-minute sectional time restriction is still in place.
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Total Questions: Due to COVID-19 changes, CAT 2020 had 76 questions; however, current trends follow a consistent format of 68 questions divided into three halves.
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Section Breakdown: In contrast to the 26-24-26 allocation observed in 2020, CAT 2026 is anticipated to include around 24 questions in VARC, 22 in DILR, and 22 in QA.
Expectations by Section
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VARC: In line with past patterns, it is likely to remain modest with predictable reading comprehension sections.
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DILR: Expected to be complex and computationally demanding, reflecting the strict logical sets connected to previous IIM Indore studies.
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Quantitative Aptitude: Expected to be moderate-to-difficult, with arithmetic accounting for 35–40% of the total.
CAT Section-Wise Difficulty Level (2025 to 2020)
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CAT Paper Section-wise Difficulty Level 2021 to 2025
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Section
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2025
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2024
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2023
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2022
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2021
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2020
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VARC
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Moderate
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Moderate
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Moderate-Difficult
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Moderate
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Moderate-Difficult
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Difficult
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|
DILR
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Moderate-Difficult
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Moderate
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Difficult
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Difficult
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Moderate-Difficult
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Moderate-Difficult
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|
QA
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Moderate-Difficult
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Moderate
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Difficult
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Moderate
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Moderate
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Easy – Moderate
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|
Overall
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Moderate-Difficult
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Moderate
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Difficult
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Moderate-Difficult
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Moderate-Difficult
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Moderate – Difficult
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How can CAT mock tests help students achieve a high score?
The key to laying a solid foundation for CAT 2026 preparation is the CAT mock test 2026. Candidates can assess their conceptual understanding by taking the CAT sample exam. To replicate the real exam setting, candidates who plan to take the CAT 2026 must practice the mock examination online.
The following are some advantages of taking CAT mock exams:
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Recognizing the most recent CAT exam format
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Getting acquainted with the exam format
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Developing better time management abilities
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Finding the regions that are strong and weak
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Creating section-specific test-taking techniques
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Lowering anxiety on test day
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Gain conceptual clarity
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Revision of each subject repeatedly
Conclusion
Taking the CAT 2020 exam pattern and syllabus as part of your CAT 2026 preparation plan since IIM Indore is again set to administer the exam this year after 6 years is the key to acing the CAT exam 2026.
Apart from this, students must also clarify whether they meet the CAT eligibility criteria for 2026 before applying tentatively in the first week of August 2026. The CAT 2026 notification is expected to be released on July 26 or 27, 2026, and the difficulty level is expected to be moderate to difficult, as per IIM Indore’s 2020 record.
August 2026 is approaching fast, bringing a new wave of enthusiasm among CAT aspirants, and students have only 4 months to prepare for it. Hope this blog will help you get a deep understanding of what to expect from IIM Indore for the CAT exam 2026.
Also Read :
FAQs for CAT Exam 2026
Q1. What is the CAT exam date 2026?
The anticipated CAT exam date this year is Sunday, November 29, 2026. The last week of July 2026 is when the official CAT notice confirming the test date is anticipated to be made available on iimcat.ac.in.
Q2. Which IIM will host CAT in 2026?
CAT 2026 is anticipated to be hosted by IIM Indore. The CAT notification will be issued on the final Sunday of July. IIM Kozhikode was the organizing IIM for CAT 2025.
Q3. What is the CAT eligibility Criteria in 2026?
For CAT 2026, a candidate must have at least 50% aggregate marks in their graduation (45% for SC/ST/PwD). Students in their last year of graduation may also apply. The registration age is unlimited.
Q4. How will the CAT mock test help CAT aspirants?
CAT practice tests assist you in identifying your areas of weakness, managing your time effectively, and making an effective CAT 2026 preparation plan. They increase your speed and reduce exam anxiety.
Q5. What are the sections in the CAT exam pattern?
VARC, DILR, and QA make up the 3 sections of the CAT exam pattern. By specifying sectional time limitations, question styles, and scoring strategies, the CAT test pattern aids in your CAT 2026 preparation.