CAT Syllabus 2020

CAT 2020 Syllabus

The IIMs, which are responsible for conducting the CAT exam every year, have not fixed any syllabus for CAT. Experts and academicians have observed the exam pattern of CAT over the years and they have shared the tentative CAT 2020 syllabus accordingly. To know the syllabus, candidates should first carefully study the Exam Pattern of CAT 2020. You can also compare the CAT exam syllabus with other MBA entrance exam syllabus here.

Based on the sections of CAT examination, there are some very important topics that candidates must prepare in order to cover the maximum CAT syllabus 2020 and maximise their chances of scoring well. 

The syllabus of CAT 2020 is based on the exam's 3 sections – Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR) and Quantitative Ability (QA).

We bring to you the detailed CAT syllabus as well as the important topics under every section.

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Importance of CAT 2020 Syllabus

CAT syllabus 2020, as well as the CAT 2020 section-wise syllabus, will help the candidates during their preparatory stages for CAT 2020 entrance examination. Sometimes, even with all the preparation materials in their quiver, the aspirants are not able to start their preparation for the CAT exam because they lack the syllabus for CAT exam from their arsenal. It is thus recommended that the candidates must look to lay their hands on the syllabus for CAT 2020 as soon as possible to begin their CAT 2020 preparations.

The CAT 2020 syllabus is huge which is why the candidates must look to access the CAT syllabus for the year 2020 at the earliest so that their preparation does not suffer. CAT syllabus and preparation go hand in hand which aids the candidates in identifying the important topics. Check out the sections below for the detailed CAT 2020 syllabus.

CAT 2020 Syllabus PDF Download

Candidates can download the CAT 2020 PDF file available below.

CAT 2020 Syllabus for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

The detailed CAT 2020 syllabus for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) can be checked below. VARC is the first section of the CAT exam and has to be attempted first. It is further divided into 2 subparts - VA and RC. The sectional time limit for the VARC section is 60 minutes.

CAT 2020 Verbal Ability (VA) Key Points 

Listed below are some important points about CAT 2020 VA section

• The sectional weightage is 7-11 per cent 
• The number of questions asked range between 7-11
• No negative marking in VA
• Questions are all non-MCQs and candidates will have to type in the answer (TITA)
• The questions usually cover para-jumbles. error correction in a para, vocabulary usage, out of context sentence in a paragraph, analogies, sentence completion and critical reasoning

CAT 2020 Reading Comprehension (RC) Key Points

Some of the important points regarding CAT 2020 RC section are as follows:

• Sectional weightage of this section is between 24-48 per cent
• Negative marking of -1 as questions are MCQs
• This section includes a mix of RC passages and will have 3-4 long passages along with 2-3 short passages. Long passages will have 900 words usually and short passages will have 600 words usually
• RC topics will cover politics, history, society, literature, science, environment, abstract topics and mythology

CAT 2020 Syllabus for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR)

DILR is the second section of the CAT exam which has to be solved after the VARC section. This section is further divided into - DI and LR. The sectional time limit for this is 60 minutes. The detailed CAT 2020 syllabus for DI & LR can be checked below -

CAT 2020 Data Interpretation (DI) Key Points 

Some of the important points regarding CAT 2020 DI are as follows:

• The sectional weightage of this section is 16%
• The number of questions asked in DI is 16
• It comprises both MCQ and non-MCQ type questions
• The number of MCQ and non-MCQs can vary
• Number of MCQs and non-MCQs may vary
• There is negative marking for MCQs and no negative marking for non-MCQs

CAT 2020 Logical Reasoning (LR) Key Points 

Some of the key points for CAT 2020 LR section are as follows:

• The sectional weightage of this section is 16%
• The number of questions asked in LR is also 16
• LR includes MCQs and non-MCQs and the number of questions for both can vary 
• There is no negative marking for non-MCQs
• There is negative marking for MCQs

CAT 2020 Syllabus for Quantitative Ability (QA)

QA is the last section of the CAT question paper and has to be attempted in the last hour of the exam. Take a look at some of the important topics and some key points of the QA section of CAT 2020.

Now that you know what all you have to study for the CAT 2020 exam, you can easily prepare for the exam by covering all the given topics. However, you must not forget to take your preparation level a notch higher by taking mock tests or solving previous years' papers.

CAT 2020 Quantitative Aptitude (QA) Key Points

• The sectional weightage of the QA section is 34 per cent
• The number of questions asked in this section is 34
• It has MCQ as well as non-MCQ questions
• The number of MCQs and non-MCQs vary every year
• According to the past trends, the number of MCQs in this section range between 24-27 and non-MCQs range between 7-10.
• For MCQs, there is negative marking
• For non-MCQs, there is no negative marking

CAT 2020 Syllabus - Topic-Wise Weightage of QA/VARC/DILR

Candidates can check the section-wise weightage of topics in the CAT 2020 syllabus available here.

CAT 2020 QA Topics

CAT 2020 DILR Topics

CAT 2020 VARC Topics

Note: The number of questions mentioned against each topic is tentative. 

Important Points About CAT 2020 Syllabus

While no one can disregard the fact that a fair bit of knowledge about the CAT 2020 syllabus plays a positive role, but it is also important to be aware of certain facts and pointers regarding the syllabus for CAT 2020 which will explain to the candidates why the CAT syllabus is an important piece of information:

• CAT 2020 syllabus will consist of all the major topics 

• The CAT 2020 syllabus will be available in pdf format which can be downloaded by the CAT 2020 aspirants

• CAT 2020 syllabus will also determine the difficulty level of the CAT question paper

• Syllabus for CAT 2020 will also highlight the current structure of the CAT 2020 exam and the guidelines for the same

• The CAT syllabus for 2020 will also reflect the past tendencies

• If the CAT aspirants find the syllabus mentioned on this page as insufficient or worth questioning, then it is strongly recommended that they visit the official website once to cross-check the syllabus to avoid any confusion

• CAT syllabus for 2020 may differ from that of the previous year which is why the aspirants must only refer to the updated syllabus for CAT 2020.