Is CAT Exam Tough: Section-wise Difficulty Level, Reasons

‘Is CAT exam tough?’ The answer is yes, the CAT exam is tough, and only a few thousand out of the lakhs of students who register for the exam are successful in cracking the exam. The Common Admission Test or CAT is conducted annually by one of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) on a rotational basis. CAT is a computer-based test that serves as a gateway for admission to various postgraduate management programs, primarily MBA (Master of Business Administration) , offered by top business schools in India, apart from the IIMs.

CAT 2025 will be conducted on November 30, 2025 . The CAT exam tests you on several sections, including Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA). Your language skills, analytical abilities, and mathematical abilities shall be assessed in these sections. CAT is known for its high difficulty level. That being said, the difficulty level can vary from year to year. Let us find out more about why CAT is considered tough !
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Is CAT the Toughest MBA Exam in India?

CAT is often considered the toughest MBA entrance exam in India. Compared to other popular MBA exams like XAT, SNAP, CMAT, MAT, etc., the CAT exam has a higher level of difficulty. Although the marking scheme for CAT is similar to other MBA entrance exams, the negative marking aspect makes scoring a high percentile score much more challenging.

Apart from the general structure of the CAT exam, there are several other factors that make MBA admission through the CAT tough. One of the biggest reasons why the CAT exam is so challenging is the sheer level of competition among candidates for MBA admissions to IIMs. Admission to IIMs is a herculean task, and you often need perfect scores on your academics and your CAT exam to secure admission to B-schools like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Bangalore, etc. Thus, it can be safely said that the CAT exam is the toughest MBA exam in India

CAT 2025 Exam Structure

The CAT exam pattern has not seen any changes for the last few years. You can refer to the CAT 2025 exam pattern given below for reference:

CAT Section-wise & Year-wise Difficulty Level

To understand why CAT is tough, you must also understand the difficulty level of the exam. The same can vary from year to year and is mostly determined by the composition of the test paper, the type of questions, or the overall competition. CAT is known for its unpredictability. The examination may appear to be more difficult in certain years when the harder questions are introduced, and perhaps easier in other years. The level of competition also plays a role, as does the percentile. Here are the section-wise difficulty levels of the CAT exam:

• Quantitative Ability (QA): Your mathematics and problem-solving skills will normally be tested in this section. With a focus on topics such as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and the theory of numbers, questions can range from relatively easy to very difficult.
• Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DI-LR): You are assessed for your ability to understand the data and make logical deductions in this section. The difficulty level of DI-LR sets can vary significantly, with some sets being manageable and others quite complex.
• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC): This section evaluates language skills, including reading comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar. The reading comprehension passages may vary in complexity, and vocabulary-based questions can be of moderate difficulty.

CAT Exam 2025 Marks Distribution

Based on the analysis of the CAT 2025 exam, we have mentioned the distribution of marks in the table below. You must be aware of last year's CAT marking distribution if you are going to appear in 2025 and prepare accordingly.

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Top Reasons that Make CAT Difficult

CAT is considered a tough test for several reasons, and it holds significant importance in the field of business education in India. Here are some important facts to note about why CAT is considered challenging:

Competition Level

The registration pool for CAT ranges from 2 to over 3 lakh students every year. This itself makes the exam competitive and harder to crack as compared to other MBA entrance exams in India.

Limited Seats

As per previous year analyses, only around 2-3% of CAT takers get through the IIM selection process. Moreover, the acceptance rate of the IIMs is known to be as low as 1-2%.

No Pre-Defined Syllabus

Is CAT exam tough also revolves around the fact that there is no pre-set syllabus for the same. IIMs have been infamous for not prescribing any CAT syllabus . Candidates are bound to analyze CAT previous year papers to guess what changes they can expect in the upcoming exam.

Pressure of Time

Each section of the CAT exam is allotted only 40 minutes, you can hardly allow more than three minutes for each question. If you spend too much time on a single question, you might end up losing the battle.

CAT Success Rate for Different Categories of Students

Success in the CAT exam is largely dependent on the level of preparation that aspirants have before the exam. However, some groups of students have a less challenging exam and admission experience than others. Check out the CAT success rate for different students right here!

Hope this article has answered 'is CAT exam tough?'. You must regularly assess their strengths and weaknesses, practice for the challenges you face as well, and seek advice on how to perform effectively in this competitive examination. Good Luck!

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For admission-related guidance, fill out our Common Admission Form or call the student helpline number 1800-572-9877 (toll-free). Our admission experts will be glad to help you out. If you have any other doubts about the CAT 2025 examination, you can ask questions in the Q&A zone . Stay tuned with us for more updates!