Is CAT Exam tough? If it is a yes, how, and why CAT exam is tough? The CAT exam is challenging exam with a strict two-hour time limit and increasing competition, securing a seat in prestigious institutions is not a cakewalk.
However, with right approach and disciplined practice, excelling in CAT and securing seat in esteemed institutions is an achievable task. Explore more to understand is CAT Exam Tough and reasons why CAT is tough and look upon the 5 Ways to Make It Easy.
Is CAT Exam Tough? Understand The Exam Better
To understand if CAT exam is tough or not it is important to understand the most important details about the exam. Before jumping onto its difficulty level, first have a look on the most important particulars:
| CAT EXAM PARTICULARS | CAT EXAM DETAILS |
|---|---|
|
CAT FULL FORM
|
Common Admission Test
|
|
CONDUTING BODY |
IIMs |
|
DATE OF EXAM |
Last Sunday of November
|
|
FREQUENCY OF EXAM |
Once in a year
|
|
COURSES OFFERED |
MBA/PGDM |
|
TIME LIMIT |
120 Minutes
40 Minutes (each section)
|
Is CAT Exam Tough? What Makes CAT Exam More Tough
Let us understand why CAT is considered to be the one of the most challenging national level exams. The exam tests the candidates decision-making skills, problem solving and time management skills.
- Evolving Exam structure
- The structure and format of exam changes frequently.
- The type and level of questions vary each year. From recent years, the difficulty level has been increased making it unpredictable to judge the pattern of exam.
2. Challenging and rigorous complexity
- Complex and rigorous questions across all sections.
- It needs thorough preparation, conceptual understanding, and deep subject knowledge.
- To ace the exam high analytical skills, problem solving ability and decision-making skills are required.
3. Negative marking in CAT
- For each wrong answer in MCQ type question, it deducts -1 marks.
- It requires high precision and accuracy to answer each question.
- Avoid guesswork as it will lead to reduction of marks.
4. High and challenging level of difficulty
- The CAT exam requires strong analytical, comprehension and mathematical skills.
- The candidates overcome challenging and complex questions across all the three sections.
5. Time constraints (sectional time limit)
- The exam is of 120 minutes with 40 minutes of sectional time limit.
- Candidates must have proper speed and accuracy.
- Quick problem solving and decision-making skills are highly necessary.
6. Tough competition and large competitors
- Over 3 lakh aspirants take exam every year.
- Top B-schools have high percentile range of 95-99.5+
- Only the top percentile scorers will get top tier schools.
Also read, CAT Exam Syllabus 2025, Section Wise to Important Topics with Weightage
Is CAT Tougher Than Other Competitive Exams?
- The CAT is recognized as one of the toughest exams in India, primarily due to its high level of competition, surprisingly/ unexpected question types and pattern, and sectional time constraints.
- CAT exams main motive is not only to check the ability of the students in answering all the three sections i.e. VARC, DILR, and QA but it measures the candidates problem-solving, analytical, decision-making and time management skills.
- The difficulty level is further amplified by percentile-based ranking system, where a minor mistake can lead to drop scores.
- While other competitive exams like, UPSC, NEET, JEE have their own level of difficulty, CAT stands out for being speed-based problem-solving approach and strategic preparation to crack.
Let’s know how CAT is different from other exams. The details are being outlined below:
| PARTICULARS | CAT | JEE | NEET | UPSC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
PURPOSE
|
MBA/PGDM programs
|
BTech/B. E Programs
|
MBBS, BDS programs
|
Civil Service (IAS, IPS, IFS etc)
|
|
SECTIONS |
VARC, DILR, QA
|
Maths, Physics and Chemistry
|
Physics, Chemistry and Biology
|
2 papers in prelims (GS, CSAT). Mains (9 papers) and interview
|
|
DIFFICULTY |
Moderate-High
|
Very high
|
Moderate-High
|
Very high
|
|
COMPETITION |
Over 3 lakh candidates
|
Over 1.5 million
|
Over 1.5 million
|
Over a million
|
|
SCORING |
Percentile based |
Rank based
|
Rank based
|
Prelims, mains, and interview scores
|
|
NATURE
|
High, unpredictable
|
Focus on main subjects and static
|
Focus on main subjects and static
|
Changes yearly and comprehensive
|
|
FORMAT |
Computer Based Test (CBT)
|
Computer Based Test (CBT)
|
Pen and paper mode (OMR sheet)
|
Pen and paper test
|
|
NO. OF QUESTIONS
|
76-100
|
75-90
|
180 in total (45 in each section)
|
180 prelims, subjective 9 essays in mains
|
|
TYPE OF QUESTIONS |
MCQ, Non-MCQ (TITA)
|
MCQs |
MCQs |
MCQs and subjective in mains
|
|
MARKING SCHEME |
+3 for correct answer, -1 for incorrect answer
|
+4 for correct, -1 for incorrect |
+4 for correct, -1 for incorrect
|
|
|
NEGATIVE MARKS |
Yes, for MCQs |
Yes, for MCQs |
Yes, for MCQs |
Yes |
|
DURATION OF EXAM |
2 hours, 120 minutes
|
3 hours for both JEE mains and advanced
|
3 hours
|
2 hours for prelims and various time duration for mains
|
|
CALCULATOR |
On-screen available
|
Yes, for specific sections
|
No |
|
|
EXAM MODE |
Online (CBT) |
Online (CBT) |
Offline (Pen and paper mode)
|
|
Is CAT Tougher Than Other Competitive Exams FAQs
Generally, the difficulty range of UPSC stands much higher because of its vast syllabus and several rounds selection process which includes prelims, mains, interview. The syllabus is quite wide and vast whereas CAT is an exam which measures candidates’ aptitude, problem solving and analytical skills. Although CAT exam difficulty ranges from moderate to high, but it is lower in range in terms of difficulty than UPSC.
Both CAT and NEET are entrance examination with high competition. The range of difficulty for both the exams range from moderate-high. It is hard to compare the level of difficulty. A student who finds difficulty in logic and maths can find CAT tougher whereas if a student struggle in science, theories and physics concepts may find NEET to be tougher.
Both CAT and JEE are highly challenging and competitive with difficulty level ranging from moderate-high. But still CAT is much on higher level for its highly complex logical reasoning, verbal skills, and analytical skills whereas JEE is much into in-depth subject knowledge of physics, maths, and chemistry.
Does Time Limit Makes CAT tougher?
CAT exam is set up in such a manner that it does not ask the candidates to attempt all the questions. The exam is framed in such a manner that candidates are required to use their strong decision-making skills to identify the questions they can choose and solve with accuracy with the time limit. Students often waste their time in solving tough questions or the questions they are weak in struggling to get the correct answer and losing time which is completely a wrong practice.
Especially in competitive exams like CAT, students should develop strong decision-making ability to choose the questions they are confident about and score high.
Is CAT Tough? Know The Minimum Marks Required To Get Into IIMs
CAT is considered to be tough due to its competitive nature and high time constraints, but an effective preparation can make a huge difference. A candidates percentile decides the IIMs they can be allotted to, older IIMs requiring 99+ percentile whereas the newer IIMs accept 85-95 percentile.
Let us explore the minimum marks required to get into IIMs:
| IIM | GENERAL |
|---|---|
|
IIM AHMEDABAD
|
80
|
|
IIM BANGLORE
|
85 |
|
IIM CALCUTTA |
85
|
|
IIM KOZHIKODE |
85
|
|
IIM MUMBAI |
85 |
|
IIM INDORE |
90
|
|
IIM RAIPUR |
94 |
|
IIM ROHTAK |
95 |
|
IIM KASHIPUR |
94 |
|
IIM UDAIPUR |
94 |
|
IIM RANCHI |
94 |
|
IIM TRICHY |
94 |
|
IIM VISHAKHAPATANAM |
80 |
|
IIM SHILLONG |
75 |
|
IIM NAGPUR |
94 |
|
IIM JAMMU |
94 |
|
IIM SIRMAUR |
94 |
|
IIM SAMABALPUR |
94 |
|
IIM BODHGAYA |
94 |
|
IIM AMRITSAR |
88 |
Is CAT Exam Tough? Let’s Understand Sectional Wise Difficulty Level
The CAT 2025 Syllabus includes 3 sections:
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
- Data Interpretation and logical reasoning
- Quantitative Aptitude
Understanding the difficulty level of CAT exams varying sections will help students to get to know about the key challenging insights and prepare strategically. Have a brief look on the sectional difficulty level of CAT and what makes CAT a demanding yet achievable exam.
- Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (VARC)
Reading Comprehension
- Passages are lengthy and dense, covering diverse topics like social sciences, philosophy, or literature.
- Requires analytical reading skills, inference, and comprehension.
Verbal Ability
- Includes para-summary, odd-one out and para-jumbles
- Measures grammar, vocabulary, and sentence arrangements logical based.
Challenge
- Time management is a challenging.
- Needs balanced based reading and comprehension with time constraints
2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
Logical Reasoning (LR)
- The nature of questions is quite dynamic.
- Unpredictability in questions types and patterns adds to the challenge.
Data Interpretation
- Highly analytical skills and quick calculations are needed.
- Requires graphs, pie, and charts.
Challenge
- Smart selection of questions
- Difficulty level and challenging questions, varies yearly
3. Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
- Covers Algebra, Geometry, arithmetic, number system and modern maths.
- Questions are based on multiple concepts, problem-skills and require analytical skills.
- Some problems are quite tricky which is based on deep conceptual understanding.
Challenge
- Strong fundamental and conceptual testing
5 Reason Why CAT Is Tough?
- High Competition
- Over 3 lakh students compete for limited seats in top IIMs, IITs and FMS.
- Scoring 99 percentile wont guarantee admission due to rigorous selection process.
2. Unpredictable exam pattern
- CAT does not follow a fixed exam pattern; the difficulty level varies across each year.
- Sometime new topics are raised surprisingly or trends change unexpectedly
3. Time constraints
- Each section gives only 40 minutes time limit which restricts the ability to switch between doable and difficult question.
- Quick decision making and problem-solving skills are demanded.
4. Conceptual questions
- QA section requires high conceptual clarity to solve questions.
- DILR is considered to be the toughest section with tricky questions.
5. Complexity of verbal sections
- RC passages are quite lengthy and dense making it difficult to comprehend and solve.
- VA questions like para jumbles, para summary demand logical understanding.
Also read, What is the Purpose of CAT Exam: Check Benefits for CAT 2025 Success
5 Ways To Make CAT Easy
- Build strong foundation and conceptual understanding
- Focus on comprehension and critical skills for VARC
- Focus on fundamentals for QA
- Focus on logical reasoning tricks for DILR.
- Improve school level maths to get good conceptual clarity
- Refer NCERT Textbooks for improving base and practice questions.
2. Time management and accuracy
- Attempt mocks to face real exam environment to enhance speed and accuracy.
- Focus on selecting questions based on your strengths and confidence regarding attempting the questions.
3. Excel in sections
- DILR: Solve puzzles, past CAT sets and patterns.
- QA: Strengthen algebra and arithmetic as they are high weighted chapters.
- VARC: Read editorials, newspapers, and RCs daily.
4. Take mocks and analyse performance
- Regularly attempt mocks and analyse areas of improvement.
- Identify weak areas and improve them.
5. Stay consistent
- Follow a well-structured pattern if study routine
- Manage stress effectively through exercise or meditation.
If you are an aspiring MBA student, and aiming for 99+ percentile, Mindworkzz is here to support your preparation. Gain access to curated and structured study material for CAT 2025 preparation.
FAQs for IIM Mumbai Admission Criteria, Check Cut off, Fees, and Eligibility
CAT exam is considered to be tough because of many reasons like:
- High competition
- Time constraints
- Level of difficulty
- Complexity
- Conceptual based questions
CAT focuses on analytical skills, decision making skills whereas JEE is static and based on technical knowledge of physics, chemistry, and maths.
The UPSC exam is considered to be the exam that tests the knowledge of the candidates. The exam is prepared on vast GK whereas CAT focus on the aptitude and skills.
CAT being a tough exam, it is important to know the correct approach to crack the exam
- Build strong foundation and conceptual understanding
- Time management and accuracy
- Excel in sections
- Take mocks and analyse performance
- Stay consistent
CAT has a range of moderate to high difficulty level. CAT can be easy for the one who starts preparation early and practice all through the 3 sections strategically. If planned systematically and effectively, CAT can be cracked.
