CAT Paper Analysis Series; Check 2021 exam analysis, difficulty level, and weightage details

Get the complete CAT 2021 paper analysis for all three slots held on November 28, 2021. Check section-wise difficulty level, question distribution, and topic weightage for VARC, DILR, and Quant to understand how the CAT 2021 exam was structured.

CAT Paper Analysis 2021

CAT 2021 paper analysis shows that the exam was moderately difficult. The exam had a total of 66 questions across three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) with 24 questions, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) with 20 questions, and Quantitative Ability (QA) with 22 questions. The overall time limit was 120 minutes, where every section had a fixed 40-minute duration.

In the VARC part, most students felt the level was easy to moderate, with common question types like reading comprehension passages, para jumbles, para summary questions, and odd-sentence-out items. However, the DILR analysis showed this section to be the toughest, as the sets needed higher logical thinking and good analytical capability, which made it feel moderately difficult. The QA section, on the other hand, ranged from moderate to tough. It included a lot of arithmetic and algebra, making the section slightly tricky for many test-takers.

According to performance estimates, a raw score close to 97-99 could be equivalent to around 99 percentile in the CAT exam. Even though the CAT difficulty level in 2021 was slightly easier compared to CAT 2020, it matched closely with CAT 2022 in terms of overall challenge. The number of questions was also reduced from 76 in CAT 2020 to 66 in CAT 2021, and this format continued in CAT 2022 as well.

Also Read: CAT 2025 Important Tips to Use On-Screen Calculator Effectively

CAT 2021 Slot 1 Analysis

Slot 1 had a mix of moderate to difficult questions across all three sections. Here’s the full breakdown of the VARC, DILR, and Quant sections for Slot 1.

Section	Difficulty level	Total No. of Questions	Topic-Wise Weightage
VARC	Moderate-Difficult	24	Reading Comprehension: 4 RCs with 4 questions each Para Jumbles: 3 questions Out of Context: 2 questions Para Summary: 3 questions
DILR	Moderate-Difficult	20	Grouping/Arrangement: Professors and research papers: 6 questions Arrangement/Puzzle: Friends, acquaintances, and strangers: 6 questions Smoothies stalls and sales: 4 questions Horizontal bar graph on revenue: 4 questions
Quant	Easy-Moderate	22	Arithmetic: 10 questions Algebra: 5 questions Geometry: 3 questions Modern Math + Number Systems: 4 questions

CAT 2021 Slot 2 Analysis

Slot 2 kept the overall level moderate, but some sections felt slightly tougher. Check the complete section-wise weightage and difficulty details below.

Section	Difficulty level	Total No. of Questions	Topic-Wise Weightage
VARC	Moderate	24	Reading Comprehension: 4 sets with 4 questions each Parajumbles: 3 questions Parasummary: 3 questions Odd one out: 2 questions
DILR	Moderate to difficult	20	DI: 1 set of 4 questions LR: 1 set of 4 questions, 2 sets of 6 questions
Quants	Difficult	22	Arithmetic: 10 questions Algebra: 5 questions Geometry: 3 questions Modern Math: 2 questions Numbers: 2 questions

CAT 2021 Slot 3 Analysis

Slot 3 had a moderate pattern overall, though DILR was clearly more challenging. Here’s the full table with the section-wise analysis.

Section	Difficulty level	Total No. of Questions	Topic-Wise Weightage
VARC	Moderate	24	Reading Comprehension: 4 sets with 4 questions each Parajumbles: 3 questions Parasummary: 3 questions Odd one out: 2 questions
DILR	Difficult	20	DI: 1 set of 4 questions LR: 1 set of 4 questions, 2 sets of 6 questions
Quants	Moderate	22	Arithmetic: 10 questions Algebra: 6 questions Geometry: 4 questions Modern Math: 2 questions

Keep visiting CollegeDekho for the latest Education News on entrance exams, board exams and admissions. You can also write to us at our email ID news@collegedekho.com.