CAT Test Duration and Pattern

CAT is normally conducted every year during a 20 day testing window in the months of October and November. A candidate can appear for CAT only once during the 20-day testing window. The test score is valid for admission to the forthcoming academic year only. The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a Computer Based Test in Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.

There will be two separately timed sections in the test. Once a section ends, candidates can no longer go back to it. The sections are (a) Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (b) Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning. Each of the sections will have 30 questions with duration of 1 hour and 10 minutes. Including a 15-minute tutorial before the start of the test which candidates are advised to go through, the total duration of the test will be 2 hours and 35 minutes.

CAT Scoring

The CAT, like virtually all large-scale exams, utilises multiple forms, or versions, of the test. Hence there are two types of scores involved viz. raw score and scaled score.

The raw score is calculated for each section based on the number of questions one answered correctly, incorrectly, or omitted. Candidates are given +3 points for each correct answer and -1 point for each incorrect answer. There are no points for questions that are not answered. The raw scores are then adjusted, as necessary, through a process called equating. Equated raw scores are then placed on a common scale or metric to ensure appropriate interpretation of the scores. This process is called scaling.

Three scaled scores will be presented for each candidate: an overall scaled score and two separate scaled scores for each section. As the two sections evaluate distinct sets of knowledge and skills, scores do not correlate across sections. A high score in one section does not guarantee a high score in another section. Percentile rankings are provided for each individual section as well as for the overall exam score.