CAT 2023 exam Analysis: Check Slot 1, 2 & 3 Paper Analysis

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The CAT 2023 Exam Analysis is very important in getting a better idea of the attempt made by an aspirant along with the level of difficulty faced in each section. The CAT 2023 exam was successfully conducted today in 3 slots. The conducting body for the exam was IIM Lucknow. The marking scheme also remained the same: +3/-1 for MCQs, and +3/0 for non-MCQs. Mentioned below is the detailed slot-wise analysis for CAT 2023.

CAT 2023 Exam Analysis - Overview

CAT 2023 was not outrightly different from 2022 but did have a slightly higher level of difficulty compared to previous years. The overall cut-offs may see a slight drop this year too. VARC was more or less similar across slots. DILR was difficult for the first 2 slots but students reported more attempts in slot 3. Quant was a question mark for many students with a higher number of algebra questions.

CAT Analysis Slot 1
CAT Analysis Slot 2
CAT Analysis Slot 3

CAT 2023 Exam Analysis- Slot 1

The sections contained the following segmentation for Slot 1:

Section Name	Total No. of Ques.	No. of Multiple Choice Ques.	Number of Non-MCQs (TITA Ques.)
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	24	20	4
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	20	12	8
Quantitative Ability	22	14	8
TOTAL	66	46	20

Slot 1 of CAT 2023 seems to be more or less in line with last year. However, students did find Quant to be a bit more challenging.

Overall an attempt of 38-48 may be required for 99%ile.

CAT 2023 Exam Analysis: Section-wise Review

Verbal Ability

In terms of the level of difficulty, the verbal section can be labelled as moderate. As usual, accuracy will be the key to a good score.

There were Four RC passages of medium length (350-450 words) of 4 questions each. The topics of RC passages were as advised below:

Original affluent society essay – questions based on main point from essay and from author perspective
Post Colonialism literature
Indian Ocean
Work culture

Breakdown of CAT 2023 VARC Questions:

Topic	No. of Questions (MCQ/non-MCQ)	Level of Difficulty
Reading Comprehension	16 (4+4+4+4)	Easy to Moderate
Parajumbles	2	Easy
Odd Sentence	2	Difficult
Para completion	2	Easy

General feedback is that while the passages were easy to read, the questions were a bit tricky.

There were a total of 4 TITA questions. There were no TITA questions in RC.

Based on our CAT analysis, an Overall attempt of 15-19 with high accuracy will fetch 99%ile

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

As with this section last year, the section was most difficult. There were a total of 4 sets - 5 questions each. Students were generally able to do max 2 sets.

Topic	No of Questions	Level of difficulty
Restaurant and waiters rating (Mean Median Mode)	5	Moderate to Difficult
Visa application time slots (time & sequence)	5	Moderate to difficult
Professors and voting (elections)	5	Moderate - Difficult
Houses and connected roads	5	Moderate - Difficult

An attempt of 8-10 questions with good accuracy will fetch 99%ile

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CAT 2023 Question Paper (Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3)	Click here
CAT 2023 Answer Key (Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3)	Click here

Quantitative Aptitude

The Quant section was moderate to difficult compared to last year. The last 5 ques of the section were all TITA. While the overall attempts seem to have gone down, students with high accuracy will stand to benefit.

Topic	No of Questions	Level of difficulty
Number & System-related	1	Easy to Moderate
Algebra-Functions, Roots, Tangent, Mode	8	Moderate- Difficult
Arithmetic, Ratio, Allegation Profit/Loss etc	8	Easy-Moderate
Logs & others	3	Easy
Geometry	2	Moderate to difficult

An attempt of 13-17 questions with a good accuracy level will fetch 99%ile

Score and Expected percentile

Overall Attempt	VA & RC Attempt	DI & LR Attempt	QA Attempt	Probable Score	Expected Percentile
52+	17-21	9-13	15-20	100	99.5
46-52	15-19	8-10	13-17	85	99
38-46	13-17	5-8	11-16	75	97
31-38	11-15	4-7	10-14	63	95
22-31	8-12	3-6	8-12	48	90
15-22	6-10	2-5	6-10	35	80

CAT 2023 Exam Analysis- Slot 2

The sections contained the following segmentation for Slot 2:

Section Name	Total No. of Ques.	No. of Multiple Choice Ques.	Number of Non-MCQs (TITA Ques.)
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	24	20	4
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	20	12	8
Quantitative Ability	22	14	8
TOTAL	66	46	20

Slot 2 had a similar structure as Slot 1 but could add 4-5 points to the score given that the students were able to attempt more questions in DI and VARC. Quant continued to pose challenges for the students.

Based on our CAT analysis, an overall attempt of 38-46 may be required for 99%ile.

Section-wise Review

Verbal Ability

In terms of the level of difficulty, the verbal section can again be labelled as moderate. As usual, accuracy will be the key to a good score. Surprisingly there was one mandatory “ Odd One Out” question in the section which was unusual.

There were Four RC passages of medium length (350-500 words) of 4 questions each. The topics of RC passages were as advised below:

Liberalism – Author’s criticism of liberalism and then some support at the end
Impact of Netflix on European culture
History – facts may not always speak the truth and need more reference
Environmental Science – Why buying new clothes is detrimental to environment and why people should buy second hand clothes instead.

Topic	No. of questions	Level of Difficulty
Para Summary	2	Easy to moderate
Best fit	2	Easy
Para Jumbles	2	Easy to moderate
Reading Comprehension	16 (4+4+4+4)	Easy to Moderate
Total	24	Moderate

There were a total of 4 TITA questions. There were no TITA questions in RC.

Based on our CAT analysis, an overall attempt of 16-20 with high accuracy will fetch 99%ile

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

As with this section last year, the section was most difficult. There were a total of 4 sets - 5 questions each. Students were generally able to do max 2 sets.

Topic	No of Questions	Difficulty Level
Arrangement based questions	5	Moderate - Difficult
Median (9 Boxes, 3 Pouches, Coins)	5	Difficult
Scheduling (Amusement Park)	5	Easy to moderat
Missing Values Based Table→ Company Starting/ Closing Years	5	Easy - Moderate
Total	20	Moderate - Difficult

An attempt of 9-12 questions with good accuracy will fetch 99%ile

CAT 2023 Question Paper (Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3)	Click here
CAT 2023 Answer Key (Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3)	Click here

Quantitative Aptitude

The Quant section continues to surprise students with difficulty levels as many good students reported a drop in attempts. This may result in a minor dip in sectional scores.

Topic	Total Questions	Difficulty Level
Number System (Factors, Divisibility)	3	Easy
Algebra	7	Moderate- Difficult
Arithmetic	9	Easy- Moderate
Geometry & Mensuration	3	Moderate
Total	22	Difficult

An attempt of 13-17 questions with a good accuracy level will fetch 99%ile

Score and Expected Percentile

Overall Attempt	VA & RC Attempt	DI & LR Attempt	QA Attempt	Probable Score	Expected Percentile
52+	18-22	10-14	15-20	106	99.5
46-52	16-20	9-12	12-16	90	99
38-46	14-18	6-9	10-15	79	97
31-38	12-16	5-8	9-13	66	95
22-31	8-13	4-7	7-11	51	90
15-22	6-11	2-5	5-10	36	80

CAT 2023 Exam Analysis- Slot 3

The sections contained the following segmentation for Slot 3:

Section Name	Total No. of Ques.	No. of Multiple Choice Ques.	Number of Non-MCQs (TITA Ques.)
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	24	20	4
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	20	12	8
Quantitative Ability	22	14	8
TOTAL	66	46	20

Slot 3 seemed to be the highest scoring among the 3 slots with students reporting higher attempts in the DILR section. Quant continued to pose challenges for the students with a higher percentage of Algebra questions.

Based on our CAT analysis, an overall attempt of 40-48 may be required for 99%ile.

Section-wise Review

Verbal Ability

In terms of the level of difficulty, the verbal section can again be labelled as moderate to slightly difficult. As usual, accuracy will be the key to a good score.

There were Four RC passages of medium length (350-500 words) of 4 questions each. The topics of RC passages were as advised below:

Critical review of a book on rationality by Steven Pinker (moderate to difficult)
Advantages of patrimony laws on saving artifacts (moderate)
Critical analysis of Romanticism & aesthetics (difficult)
Review of a book on nutmeg curse by Ghosh challenging prevailing notions on climate change (difficult)

Question Type	No. of questions	Level of Difficult
Para Summary	2	Moderate to difficult
Misfit	2	Difficult
Sentence Rearrangement	2	Moderate
Best Fit	2	Moderate
Reading Comprehension	16 (4+4+4+4)	Moderate to difficult
Total	24

There were no TITA questions in RC.

Based on our CAT analysis, an overall an attempt of 16-20 with high accuracy will fetch 99%ile

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

As with this section last year, the section was most difficult. There were a total of 4 sets - 5 questions each. Students were generally able to do max 2 sets.

Topic	No of Questions	Difficulty Level
4 type of ACs	5	Difficult
Project, Test, Couple & Constraints	5	Moderate- Difficult
Registrations offline/online over 5 months	5	Easy to moderate
Network based on Police station	5	Easy - Moderate
Total	20	Moderate - Difficult

An attempt of 10-13 questions with good accuracy will fetch 99%ile

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CAT 2023 Question Paper (Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3)	Click here
CAT 2023 Answer Key (Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3)	Click here

Quantitative Aptitude Review

The Quant section continues to surprise students with difficulty. The predominance of Algebra questions at the beginning of the section led many students to spend too much time initially before finding doable questions.

Topic	Total Questions	Difficulty Level
Number System (Factors, Divisibility)	4	Easy
Algebra	7	Moderate- Difficult
Arithmetic	8	Easy- Moderate
Geometry & Mensuration	3	Moderate
Total	22	Difficult

An attempt of 12-16 questions with a good accuracy level will fetch 99%ile

Score and Expected Percentile

Overall Attempt	VA & RC Attempt	DI & LR Attempt	QA Attempt	Probable Score	Expected Percentile
52+	18-22	12-16	15-20	110	99.5
46-52	16-20	10-13	12-16	94	99
38-46	14-18	7-10	10-15	82	97
31-38	12-16	6-9	9-13	69	95
22-31	8-13	4-7	7-11	53	90
15-22	6-11	3-6	5-10	38	80