The main aim of the CAT previous year question papers is to give you a clear picture of the pattern of the exam. By attempting CAT previous year papers, you can check your progress and analyzing your performance in different topics. It is highly recommended for CAT aspirants to solve past question papers, sample papers, and mock tests to get a thorough understanding of the exam pattern and types of questions in various sections. The best part about solving previous papers is the variety of questions you get to see in one go.
In this article, you can go through the actual CAT papers of the last ten years and beyond. Also, you will learn about the CAT exam pattern of the past few years along with the cut-off scores.
CAT Previous Year Question Papers: An Overview
The pattern of CAT Previous Year Question papers of 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 has been different from the past CAT exams. The composition of CAT 2020 Question Paper was as mentioned below:
| Number of Sections |
3 |
| Total Number of Questions |
76 |
| Number of choices per question (MCQs) |
4 |
| Marks per question |
+3 |
| Negative Marking |
-1 |
| Negative marking for Non-MCQ’s |
NIL |
CAT Qualifying Cut-off Score
While the admission cut-off percentile varies from college to college, the candidates need to clear a certain qualifying score to pass the CAT exam. From 2016 onwards, the qualifying cut-off has remained around 80 percentile. However, the corresponding cut-off score/marks may differ slightly from one slot to another due to variation in questions. Below is a glimpse of the overall and sectional CAT qualifying score of the past three years:
CAT 2020 Question Pattern & Cut-off
| Sections |
No. of MCQs |
No. of Non-MCQs |
Total number of Questions |
Total Marks |
Cut-off Score |
| VARC |
18 |
8 |
26 |
78 |
25-27 |
| DILR |
18 |
6 |
24 |
72 |
16-17 |
| QA |
18 |
8 |
26 |
78 |
17-19 |
| Total |
54 |
22 |
76 |
228 |
54-57 |
CAT 2019 Question Pattern & Cut-off
| Sections |
No. of MCQs |
No. of Non-MCQs |
Total number of Questions |
Total Marks |
Cut-off Marks |
| VARC |
24 |
10 |
34 |
102 |
58-60 |
| DILR |
24 |
8 |
32 |
96 |
30-32 |
| QA |
23 |
11 |
34 |
102 |
50-52 |
| Total |
71 |
29 |
100 |
300 |
145-147 |
CAT 2018 Question Pattern & Cut-off
| Sections |
No. of MCQs |
No. of Non-MCQs |
Total number of Questions |
Total Marks |
Cut-off Marks |
| VARC |
27 |
7 |
34 |
102 |
57-59 |
| DILR |
24 |
8 |
32 |
96 |
29-31 |
| QA |
23 |
11 |
34 |
102 |
55-57 |
| Total |
71 |
29 |
100 |
300 |
142-145 |
CAT Previous Year Question Papers: Key Features
The previous years papers are extremely beneficial for students aspiring to get admission in a top B-school. Listed below are the different ways in which these papers will guide you in your exam preparation.
- They help in the understanding the question pattern in complete detail.
- By solving previous year question papers, you can strategize your preparation and manage time.
- You get an idea of the type of questions and level of difficulty. This widens the scope of your study material, boosts your confidence, and enhances your test performance.
- It helps you in identifying the important topics and knows which of the topics have been repeated. Also, you will know about your weak areas and focus on making them your strength so as to secure a good percentile.
- You get to the feel of a real exam experience provided you solve them in a given time restraint.
- Also with practice, you develop new problem-solving techniques. Since the papers are accompanied by solutions, you also learn some new and smarter ways to solve different questions.
Here, you can access the actual CAT papers of last decade and more.
Actual CAT Question Papers
Solving CAT Previous Year Question Papers will strengthen your preparation for CAT 2021. After solving the paper, remember to go through its solutions and analysis. It is important to reflect on your performance so as to improve further and attain a good score in the exam.
