CAT Syllabus 2023-24 – Updated CAT Exam Syllabus PDF for MBA (QA, DILR, and VARC)

The CAT syllabus 2023 is designed to test the aptitude, analytical and quantitative skills of the candidates. It is essential for the candidates to have a thorough understanding of the syllabus in order to prepare for the exam effectively.

The Syllabus of the CAT exam is broadly divided into three sections: Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning. Aspiring candidates should try to get a good hold of all these sections to clear the exams with flying colours.

It is a computer-based test conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to select eligible candidates for admission into the various IIMs. In this article, we are going to provide the latest CAT Syllabus 2023-24 along with all the components. 

CAT Syllabus 2023 Overview

Name of the exam	Common Admission Test (CAT)
Year	2023
Number of Questions	66 questions
Number of Sections	3
Time allotted per section	40 minutes for each section
Medium of examination	English

CAT Exam Pattern 2023

There are three sections in the CAT exam. You will find both MCQ and non-MCQ types of questions, and incorrect answers to MCQs carry penalties. You need to be familiar with the CAT 2023 exam pattern before diving into the important topics:

Sections	Number of questions	Time Limit
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	40 Minutes
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	40 Minutes
Quantitative Ability (QA)	22	40 Minutes
Total	66 Questions	120 Minutes

Each Question will carry 3 marks. 

CAT Exam Syllabus 2023 – 2024

Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Syllabus	Verbal Reasoning Syllabus
Number Systems	Caselets	English Usage or Grammar
LCM and HCF	Tables	Fill in the blanks
Percentages	Bar Graphs	Vocabulary-based (Synonyms/ Antonyms)
Ratio and Proportion	Column Graphs	Cloze Passage
Quadratic Equations & Linear Equations	Line Graphs	Sentence Correction
Simple and Compound Interest	Venn Diagrams	Jumbled Paragraph
Sequences and Series	Basic Reasoning Questions	Summary Questions
Inequalities	Pie Chart	Analogies or Reverse Analogies
Mensuration	Number and Letter Series	Meaning-Usage Match
Geometry	Calendars	Verbal Reasoning
Coordinate Geometry	Blood Relations	Reading Comprehension
Trigonometry	Logical Connectives	Facts-Inferences-Judgments
Mixtures and Alligations	Syllogism
Permutation and Combination	Logical Sequence
Set theory and function	Logical Matching
Surds and Indices	Binary Logic
Probability	Seating Arrangement
Profit, Loss, and Discount	Cubes
Speed, Time and Distance
Time and Work
Averages
Complex Numbers
Logarithm

Section-Wise Detailed Syllabus

Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus

There are a few topics in the Quantitative Aptitude section that are extremely important and are covered again and again on the CAT exam each year. There are 22 questions in this section, 14 of which are non-MCQ questions. The following are some of the most significant topics on the CAT 2023 syllabus, along with their respective weightage.

Main Topic	Sub-Topic	Number of Questions in CAT
Arithmetic	Percentages, TSD (Time, Speed, and Distance), Averages, Time and Work, Ratio and Proportion, Profit and Loss, Simple and Compound Interest, Mixtures and Alligations.	9 to 11 questions
Number System	Factorization, Unit Digit, Divisibility, Binomial Theorem, Surds and Indices	2 to 4 questions
Algebra	Linear Equations, Quadratic Equations, Inequalities, Functions, Logarithm, Complex Numbers	5 to 6 questions
Geometry & Mensuration	Lines and Angles, Triangles, Polygons, Circles, Solids (3D Geometry), Coordinate Geometry, Trigonometry	3 to 4 questions
Modern Maths	Set Theory, Permutation, and Combination, Probability, etc.	1 to 2 questions

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Syllabus

There are nearly equally as many questions in the DILR section related to data interpretation and logical reasoning, with some of them based on a combination of the two. Typically, this section consumes the most time.

The subtopics in this section keep on changing every year. Up until the 2017 CAT, the section was evenly divided into two sections, each with 16 questions for DI and LR. However, CAT 2018 and CAT 2019 included 20 questions from Logical Reasoning and 12 questions for Data Interpretation.

In CAT 2020, students were surprised by the section’s 16 questions on data interpretation and 8 questions on logical reasoning. In the DILR section of CAT 2021, there were 20 questions, 15 of which were Non-MCQ questions. Candidates should have a solid understanding of the data sets in order to accurately attempt the entire set of questions in the DI section, which consists of three to four sets of questions. Given below are sub-topics of the DILR section as per the previous CAT exam.

1st Exam Slot
Topic	Number of questions
Arranging People into Countries & Categories​​	6
Bar Graph – Percentages	4
Table – 3 Girls making a smoothie	6
Table – Relation (Acquaintance, ​​Friend & Stranger)	4
Total	20 Questions

2nd Exam Slot
Topic	Number of questions
Rating	6
Games & Tournament	4
Bar Graph – Stacked Horizontal	4
Number-Based Reasoning (Envy Set)	6
Total	20 Questions

3rd Exam Slot
Topic	Number of questions
Games and Tournaments (Javelin)​	6
Mixtures	4
Gantt Chart	4
Content Creation	6
Total	20 Questions

Verbal Reasoning Syllabus

There are 24 questions in the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section, 19 of which are Non-MCQ questions. The majority of the questions are in Reading Comprehension. The following is a list of some important syllabus topics for the CAT VARC section.

Name of the topic	Expected Number of Questions
Questions based on Reading Comprehension Passage	16
Para-Summary	3 to 4
Para-Jumbles	3 to 4
Odd Sentences	1 to 2
Others (Fill in the blanks, Sentence Completion or Correction, Vocabulary based, etc.)	0 to 1
Total	20 Questions

Books to Prepare for CAT Examination

There is a wide range of books for CAT preparation available in the market. Candidates must take due care in selecting the right books to study. Here are some books recommended for CAT exam preparation.

For Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

• NCERT Mathematics Books (Class 9 to 10) – NCERT
• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations – Abhijit Guha
• How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT – Arun Sharma
• Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT – Sarvesh Sharma
• Quantitative Aptitude for CAT – Nishit Sinha​​​​​​

For Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

• How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT – Sharma and Upadhyay
• 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary Mass Market Paperback – Wilfred Funk & Norman Lewis/ Simon & Schuster
• How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT – Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay/ Arihant
• High School English Grammar & Composition – Wren & Martin

Books for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

• Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT – Nishit K Sinha
• Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency – Ananta Ashisha
• How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT – Arun Sharma
• CAT Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning – Gautam Puri

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