CAT syllabus 2026
CAT has no official syllabus. The IIMs say so in the official FAQ. What students call the syllabus is a list of topics that showed up in earlier papers. Use it as a guide to what is likely, not as a promise of what will come.
What is the syllabus of CAT?
The official FAQ states that CAT does not have a defined syllabus. The exam has three sections: VARC, DILR and QA. The topic lists below come from coaching analyses and reproductions of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 slot papers. They are not official.
For the timing, marking and question counts, see the CAT exam pattern page.
Does the CAT syllabus change every year?
There is no syllabus to change, but the paper does move. The clearest example is VARC. Para jumbles were in the 2023 and 2025 papers and not in 2024, according to coaching analyses. The set count in DILR also moved, from 4 sets in 2023 to 5 in 2024 and 2025. So prepare the whole topic list, and expect some formats to appear or go missing.
What topics come in CAT VARC?
VARC has 24 questions: 16 from four reading comprehension passages (four questions each) and 8 verbal ability questions. Every RC question is an MCQ. The VA question types seen in the last three years are below. The counts are from coaching reproductions of the papers, and all three slots in a year had the same mix.
| VA question type | Format | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Para summary | MCQ | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Sentence placement (called para completion by some coaching sites) | MCQ | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Odd sentence out | TITA | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Para jumble | TITA | 2 | 0 | 2 |
The official 2026 mock has the 2024 mix: 3 summary, 3 sentence placement and 2 odd sentence out questions, and no para jumble. It says it is only indicative. Read more on the VARC page.
What topics come in CAT DILR?
DILR is made of sets, each with 4 or 5 questions. The sets seen in recent papers, from coaching analyses, were built around games and tournaments, circular arrangement, ranking, scheduling, bar, scatter and radar charts, trade data and currency exchange.
| Year | Sets | Questions per set |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 (all three slots) |
| 2024 | 5 | 4, 5, 4, 4, 5 (slot 1) |
| 2023 | 4 | 5, 5, 5, 5 (slot 1) |
The 2024 and 2023 set sizes come from one slot only and are not cross-checked. See the DILR page.
What topics come in CAT Quant?
QA has 22 questions, all standalone, in recent papers. They fall into five groups: arithmetic, algebra, geometry and mensuration, number system, and modern maths (permutation and combination, probability, sets and sequences).
How much weightage does each QA topic get?
Rough weightage from coaching analyses: arithmetic 35 to 40 percent, algebra 20 to 35 percent, geometry about 14 percent, number system 5 to 18 percent and modern maths 5 to 18 percent. Treat this as indicative only. The coaching sources disagree with each other by one to three questions per topic, and some of their own tables do not add up cleanly.
| Topic | 2025 slot 1 | 2025 slot 2 | 2025 slot 3 | 2024 slot 1 | 2023 slot 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arithmetic | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Algebra | 4 or 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| Geometry and mensuration | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Number system | 3 or 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Modern maths | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
The 2025 columns are from IMS. The 2024 and 2023 columns are from Career Launcher. The two sources count topics differently, so compare across years with care. More on the Quant page.
Where do I start?
Start with the section you fear most, but give each of the three a fixed weekly slot. Our CAT preparation page covers planning. To see where you stand, take the free sample mock and then try the percentile predictor.
Common questions
What is the CAT syllabus?
There is none. The official FAQ says CAT does not have a defined syllabus. The three sections are VARC, DILR and QA, and the topics in this guide come from what appeared in recent papers.
Does the CAT syllabus change every year?
Since no syllabus is published, nothing is formally changed. The paper does shift. Para jumbles were absent in 2024 and back in 2025, and DILR had 4 sets in 2023 and 5 in 2024 and 2025, according to coaching analyses.
What are the DILR topics in CAT?
Seen in recent papers: games and tournaments, circular arrangement, ranking, scheduling, bar, scatter and radar charts, trade data and currency exchange. These are from coaching analyses.
What is the CAT Quant syllabus and weightage?
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry and mensuration, number system and modern maths. Indicative weightage from coaching analyses is arithmetic 35 to 40 percent and algebra 20 to 35 percent, with the rest split across the other three.
Is the CAT syllabus the same as Class 10 maths?
We could not find an official statement on this. Coaching analyses place most QA questions in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, number system and modern maths, so school maths is a useful base, but CAT sets no official limit.
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Sources
- CAT official FAQ (iimcat.ac.in), Exam Q14
- Official CAT 2026 mock exam (TCS iON)
- IMS CAT 2025 analysis (coaching analysis)
- IMS CAT 2025 slot 1 analysis (coaching analysis)
- Career Launcher CAT 2024 slot 1 analysis (coaching analysis)
- Career Launcher CAT 2023 slot 1 analysis (coaching analysis)
- Cracku CAT 2025 slot 1 DILR paper (coaching reproduction)
- Cracku CAT 2025 slot 1 VARC paper (coaching reproduction)
Last checked 8 Nov 2026. Found an error? Tell us and it goes on the errata page.