CAT 2024 exam is likely to be held on 24th November 2024, and CAT 2024 may be conducted by IIM Calcutta. This post comprises all the important information for CAT 2024 aspirants. Common Admission Test Cat 2024 exam will be held on 24 November 2024 in three slots. It will be a computer-based test in more than 170 cities. The CAT score is applicable in India for admission to 21 IIMs and other MBA colleges and business schools. One of the six top IIMs conducts this exam every year on a rotational basis. IIM Calcutta will conduct the CAT Exam 2024 in India. The official notification for the CAT Exam was made available on 28 July 2024. The application process for CAT exam 2024 began on 1 August 2024 at iimcat.ac.in and is scheduled to conclude on 13 September 2024. For this year also, the CAT exam fee has been increased.
CAT 2024 Exam Highlights
| Topics | Event |
| CAT Full Form | Common Admission Test (CAT) |
| Conducting Institute for 2024 | IIM Calcutta |
| Exam Level | National |
| Exam Frequency | Once a year |
| CAT 2024 Exam Date | November 24, 2024 |
| CAT Exam Timings | Session 1: 8:30 AM to 10:30 AMSession 2: 12:30 PM to 2:30 PMSession 3: 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM |
| CAT Exam Fees | INR 2,500 for (General category) and INR 1,25 for (Reserved category) |
| Number of Test Takers | 3.30 lakh (in 2023) |
| CAT exam mode | (CBT)Computer Based Test with MCQs and non-MCQs |
| No. of test cities | 170 |
Important Dates and Event
| EVENT | DATE |
| CAT 2024 notification release | 28-July-2024 |
| CAT exam 2024 registration dates | 01-Aug-2024 (10:00 AM) to 13-Sep-2024 (5:00 PM) |
| CAT form correction | Last week of September 2024 |
| CAT admit card 2024 | 05-Nov-2024 |
| CAT exam 2024 date | 24-Nov-2024 |
| CAT answer key release | First week of December 2024 |
| Answer key challenge process | First week of December 2024 |
| Declaration of CAT 2024 result | Last week of Dec 2024 or 1st week of Jan 2025 |
Eligibility Criteria
The candidate must fulfill the following criteria to appear in CAT 2024.
Have a bachelor’s degree with at least 50% aggregate or equivalent CGPA. 45% for SC, ST and PWD/DA category from a recognized university
Students in the final year of the bachelor’s degree or waiting for the results
Proficiency within the degree: CA/CS/ICWA/FCAI or whatever may be the case with the required percentile.
Syllabus
The syllabus of CAT encompasses :
| Topics | Questions | Level |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 24 | Moderate to High |
| Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI) | 20 | Easy to Moderate |
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) | 22 | Moderate to High |
| Total | 66 | Moderate |
Here are a few tips to score well in your CAT 2024 preparation:
Start early: at least nine months’ time.
Join any coaching institute or start preparing yourself through self-study.
Prepare the study schedule according to your strengths and weaknesses.
Identify a study strategy: Break down your syllabus into small fragments and phases of time you have available to prepare. Spend daily time for your CAT preparation and be consistent with the timing. It is important to ensure every section of the paper gets its due time.
Set a baseline: Identify your weak areas or those which you find relatively more challenging. Try to assign time to various topics of each section and set a baseline of your understanding at the beginning of the CAT preparations.
Choose the Mode of Preparation: You may go for coaching for CAT 2024 preparation, can get help from self-prep programs, or you may directly enroll in any of the CAT coaching programs. A coaching program would look after all the aspects of the preparation. But if you choose to prepare yourself, you have to make sure you have ample study materials along with the best books for CAT preparation.
Mock Tests: Regular practice with the help of mock tests to get used to the pattern of the exam and to manage time more effectively.
CAT Exam Pattern
The pattern for CAT 2024 is the same as followed in previous years. CAT Exam is a 120-minute or two-hour MCQ-based test. In the exam, candidates solve 66 questions from VARC, DILR, and QA. Following are some of the key highlights of the CAT 2024 exam pattern.
- The CAT 2024 exam will be divided into 3 slots
- Each slot will be of 120 minutes
- There will be a time limit in each section which is 40 minutes per section
- The whole exam of CAT will be divided into three sections- VARC, DILR and QA
- +3 marks for correct answer
- -1 mark deducted for wrong answer
- There will not be any negative marking for both the non-MCQs and also for skipping questions.
- Total questions 66
- Maximum marks 198
- Not necessary that all the questions must be attempted
- Result:
- From last week of December 2024 or first week of January 2025
- CAT Result 2024
- The CAT 2024 result would be announced at IIM CAT website within 20-30 days of the test.
- CAT scorecard will carry sectional and overall marks as percentiles.
Following is the procedure one may use for downloading the CAT 2024 result: Login to the CAT website, iimcat.ac.in. Click the tab for ‘CAT 2024 result/scorecard’. Give the application number for CAT and the password. Click on the scorecard section. Click on the link for Download & Save the PDF of CAT 2024 Scorecard