CAT 2023: Notification, Eligibility, Registration, Pattern, Syllabus, Preparation

CAT 2023: Introduction

CAT 2023: Notification



CAT 2023: Overview

CAT 2023: Eligibility Criteria

• Candidates with a bachelor's degree from a recognised institution in any field are eligible for the CAT exam.
• The final year students of graduation are also eligible for CAT 2023.
• The minimum percentage criteria (45% and 50% for Gen. and reserved categories, respectively) were removed from CAT eligibility.

CAT 2023: Registration

• Click on the “Register” link and register as a new candidate.
• Then, you need to enter your details, including Name, Contact Number, Email, DOB etc. and then click on the “Submit” to generate a User ID and Password.
• The newly generated User ID and Password will be sent to the contact details provided at the time of registration.

• The aspirants need to fill in the personal details in the application form. It includes DOB, Gender, category, nationality, address, contact details, etc.
• After this, academic details are to be provided by the students. The academic details include class 10th marks, class 12th marks, qualifying degree scores, etc.
• Candidates need to fill in the work experience details (optional).
• Candidates also need to choose the course preferences, the institute they wish to apply for and the city for the interview.
• Then, the candidate must choose six exam cities per their preference and convenience.
• Make online payment after filling in all the details in the application form.

• Class 10th, 12th Marksheets
• Bachelor’s degree/diploma and higher education.
• Work experience certificate, if applicable.
• Scanned images of passport size photo and signature are required. (The photo should have a white background and should not be 6 months old).
• Applicable Certificates are required to be uploaded.
• Fee payment instruments to pay CAT exam fee – Debit/Credit cards, Net banking, etc.
• Scanned image of passport size photo and the scanned image of the signature. Both the files should be in .jpg or .jpeg format, and the file size should not be more than 80 K.B. each. The image needs to be clear with a minimum resolution of 150px.

CAT 2023: Admit Card

• Log in with your CAT User ID and Password at the official website.
• Click on the ‘Download CAT Admit Card’ link. The link will display your hall; you can download and take a printout. Save its soft copy for reference.
• The admit card is mandatory to be carried to the test centre on exam day.

CAT 2023: Answer Key

• Log in with your user ID and password at iimcat.ac.in, the official CAT website.
• Look at the ‘Announcements’ with the ‘Important Dates’ section on the home page.
• Then select CAT Response Key 2023 from the menu.
• Go to the PDF link provided and open it.
• You will get the answer key here.
• Click on the 'CAT 2023 answer key' and choose to 'download'.

CAT 2023: Result

• On the official website, you will see a 'CAT scorecard/result' tab.
• Provide your related CAT application number and password.
• Choose the 'scorecard' section and download your CAT score report.

CAT 2023: Exam pattern

• Each University or Institute follows its pattern of assigning marks. Therefore, the percentage calculation is based on that.
• If the university has no method to convert marks/ CGPA to percentages, it is done through direct conversion. The achieved CGPA should be divided by the highest CGPA possible and multiplied by 100.
• If grades or CGPA are allotted instead of marks, the conversion method provided by the university should be used to convert the marks to percentages.

CAT 2023: Marking Scheme

CAT 2023: Syllabus

Study Material / Books For CAT 2023

1. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT'- by Arun Sharma & Meenakshi Upadhyay
2. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT by Nishit K Sinha
3. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension by Ajay Singh
4. Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

1. 'How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT' - by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill)
2. Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for CAT by Nishit K Sinha.
3. 'How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT' - by Arun Sharma
4. Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency - Ananta Ashisha

1. 'How to prepare for Quantitative for the CAT' - by Arun Sharma, published by MGH Education
2. Quant study modules by Arun Sharma
3. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT - Sharma and Upadhyay
4. PSC for VA for CAT - Nishit Sinha

CAT Online Coaching

CAT Exam: Slot Timings

• Morning session (8:30 am - 10:30 pm)
• Afternoon session (12:30 pm - 2:30 pm)
• Evening session (4:30 pm - 6:30 pm)

CAT Cut-Off 2023

• Total number of students who appear for CAT 2023
• The difficulty level of the CAT exam
• Total number of admission seats available at the B-school
• Ranking/reputation of the B-school

CAT 2023: Sample Papers

1. Time Management

2. Exam-like Environment

3. Provides New Questions

4. Great Skills in all the topics

5. Reference of exam papers

6. Self Assessment

7. Increased Accuracy and Speed

8. Helps in Devising a Strategy

Preparation Plan For CAT Exam

• Start your day by reading the newspaper, latest news and headlines.
• Prepare any topic of your choice from the sections and try to complete it within a day or two.
• Practice at least 30 questions on the topic.
• Take video references for your weak topics.
• Seek guidance from seniors or mentors who have given CAT.
• Make strategies according to the recommendations of your mentors.
• Candidates must solve the previous year's question papers daily as it will give you an exact idea of the questions asked in the exam.
• Mock tests will help you manage time and identify weak and strong areas.
• Make short notes of the important formulas of quant and revise them daily as it will be beneficial.
• Keep track of time while learning and even during practice.
• Frequent breaks are needed to maintain the concentration level.
• Make separate notes in a notebook for the video lectures.
• Work more on your weaker areas and practice your stronger topics.
• Always remember, "Practice makes a man perfect". 
• Revise all the topics you have learnt, as revision is very important.
• Switch off your phone, and avoid using social media platforms while studying.
• Please don't start with random topics. Work on the scheduled topics in a proper manner.
• Solve comprehension passages daily to enhance your reading skills.
• Try to be consistent and avoid any days off.

1. Mock Tests are the key to grammar and Verbal Ability preparation.

2. Enhance your vocabulary by learning new words from dictionaries, articles, newspapers etc.
3. Develop the habit of reading at least 1 passage daily.
4. Keep track of time to evaluate your time consumption while reading the passage.

1. Students can solve problems fast and accurately with the help of Vedic Maths.
2. Making assumptions can lead to mistakes; therefore, keep an eye on the details.
3. Seating Arrangements, Coding-Decoding, Team Formation, Clocks and Calendars, Venn Diagrams, and Bar Graphs are important topics of DI.
4. Lengthy questions should be answered using Venn diagrams.

1. Make notes of all the important formulae and concepts of mathematics.
2. Learning squares up to 30, cubes up to 20 and tables up to 40 will help you save time.
3. Try answering more quant questions in as much time as possible.

The official notification for CAT '23 is expected by July '23, and the registration will begin from August '23. You can apply from the first week of August till mid-September '23.

Yes, you can prepare well for CAT, in just about three months. However, you must stay disciplined and follow a proper study plan, covering concept-building and rigorous practice.

CAT score is valid for one year only.

To begin with, you must understand the pattern and syllabus of CAT, go through the previous year papers, and finally, come up with a preparation plan for each section.

There is no restriction on the number of attempts for CAT.

Yes, even a weak student can crack CAT, as it doesn't require knowledge of any particular subject. Nevertheless, the aspirant must prepare with utmost dedication and focus.

Yes, you can nail a percentile of 99 and above in CAT. Of the lakhs of candidates that appear for CAT, almost 20,000 achieve a percentile of 99+.

Yes, CAT can be aced in the first attempt! There is no dearth of toppers that bell the CAT in their first attempt.

Yes, several students rely on self-study to crack CAT with high scores. Since there are a variety of resources available online for free, so you can well utilise them for preparation. Alongside, the popular standard books are available in the market too.

CAT and GMAT are quite comparable in difficulty level. However, both of them require different preparation strategies, with verbal section being tougher in GMAT than in CAT, and quant being trickier in CAT than GMAT.