CAT - known as Common Admission Test is all-India national level test conducted by IIMs as entrance

exam for admission to management programmes. Based on CAT percentile score, candidates are called
for next stage of selection rejection process which usually consists of Group Discussion, Essay and
Personal Interview (GDPI). CAT is multiple-choice based test with penalties for wrong answers.

CAT 2009 was Computer Based Test (CBT) with 60 questions. Duration of CAT 2009 was 2 hours and 15
minutes plus 15 minutes tutorial.

What is syllabus of CAT?

This is the most frequent question asked when one starts preparing for CAT. CAT is a test with no
predefined syllabus, however past trends suggest that CAT tests in general aptitude including Verbal
Ability (English), Quant Ability (Mathematics), Logical Resoning (LR) and Data Interpretation (DI) skills.

Similar to CAT, there are other admission tests - MAT, XAT, JMET and SNAP. There are some B-Schools
(like IIFT, IRMA, FMS Delhi) which conduct their own exam.

Verbal Ability (English)

1. Vocabulary Based

2. English Usage/Grammar

3. Verbal Reasoning

4. Reading Comprehension

Quant Ability (Maths)

1. Number Systems

2. Percentages

3. Profit and Loss

4. Interest

5. Speed, Time and Distance

6. Time and Work

7. Averages, Ratio and Proportion

8. Quadratic Equation

9. Logarithm

10. Progressions

11. Binomial Theorem

12. Inequalities

13. Permutation and Combination

14. Probability

15. Functions

16. Set Theory

17. Mixtures and Alligations

18. Geometry

19. Co-ordinate Geometry

20. Trigonometry

21. Mensuration