Previous CAT Exam Papers

CAT previous year test papers are released every year by IIMs since 2017. These CAT previous question papers with answer keys for last few years are brought to you with detailed solution by MBAUniverse.com.

The CAT 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017 Question Papers are given here with easy accessibility and in readable format. The previous CAT exam test papers are followed by answers and detailed solutions. This will help you to very well understand the latest and exact CAT exam pattern as well as recent changes in CAT question paper over the years. You can test your preparation level with the help of these previous year actual CAT question papers which are made available free for CAT aspirants. 

CAT Previous Year Papers are the best guide to know the exact CAT exam & question pattern. By attempting more and more CAT Previous Years (Past) Solved Question Papers, your CAT preparation comes to a final stage and you are well aware about the topics and question pattern according to which you should approach the test paper on CAT exam day.  

Latest CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions
CAT Previous Years (Past) Solved Question Papers are shared below. These are the latest CAT Previous Year Question Papers Pdf With Answers and were downloaded to help candidates to assess their performance. Since 2015 many changes have been introduced in CAT test papers. Last two years CAT question papers witnessed many changes from the earlier pattern which existed from 2015 to 2019. Following is the comparison table among the expected CAT 2022 question paper and actual composition of CAT previous test papers:

CAT Exam Components	CAT 2022 Expected question paper	CAT question paper composition from 2015 to 2019
Test duration	2 hrs	3 hrs
Test sessions	3	2
Total questions	66	100
Total score	198	300
Total questions in VARC Section	24	34
Total Questions in DILR section	20	32
Total Questions in QA section	22	34

Year-wise CAT Question Papers PDF
CAT 2022 exam will be held on November 27, 2022 by IIM Bangalore. Last year it was conducted on November 28, 202a by IIM Ahmedabad in a changed pattern. Below is shared the year wise detail of CAT Question Papers Pdf  and cut offs:

CAT 2022 Question paper
Below is shared the likely composition of CAT 2022 question paper as per the Pattern announced by IIMs

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total no of Qns	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	19	5	24	72	Check CAT Analysis by MBAU
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	15	5	20	60	Check CAT  Analysis by MBAU
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	14	8	22	66	Check CAT  Analysis by MBAU
Total	48	18	66	198	—

CAT 2021 Question paper
IIM Ahmedabad conducted CAT exam 2021 on November 28, 2021 in following pattern

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total no of Qns	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	18	8	26	78	Check CAT 2021 Analysis by MBAU
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	18	6	24	72	Check CAT 2021 Analysis by MBAU
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	18	8	26	78	Check CAT 2021 Analysis by MBAU
Total	54	22	76	228	—

CAT 2020 Question pattern & Cut off percentile
The CAT question paper 2020 was held on November 29, 2020. The composition was as under:

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total no of Qns	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	18	8	26	78	35-40
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	18	6	24	72	24-30
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	18	8	26	78	37-42
Total	54	22	76	228	96-112

CAT 2019 Question pattern & Cut off percentile
The CAT question paper 2019 was held on November 24, 2019. The composition was as under:

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total no of Qns	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	10	34	102	58-60
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	24	8	32	96	30-32
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	23	11	34	102	50-52
Total	71	29	100	300	145-147

CAT 2018 Question pattern & Cut off percentile
The CAT question paper 2018 was held on November 25, 2018. The composition was as under:

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total no of Qns	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	27	7	34	102	57-59
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	24	8	32	96	29-31
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	23	11	34	102	55-57
Total	74	26	100	300	142-145

CAT Previous Year Question Papers Book
Top CAT preparation experts and coaching institutes have also released CAT Previous Year Question Papers Book with year wise CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions

Actual CAT questions from CAT 2018 slot-1 Question Paper
You can attempt actual CAT question paper as appeared on November 25, 2018. A few questions from VARC and Quant sections with answers are given below. DILR questions and all other questions in CAT previous year question paper can be attempted by clicking on the link given below the following questions: 

Actual CAT questions from CAT 2018 slot-1 Question Paper
You can attempt actual CAT question paper as appeared on November 25, 2018. A few questions from VARC and Quant sections with answers are given below. DILR questions and all other questions in CAT previous year question paper can be attempted by clicking on the link given below the following questions:  

Section: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Question 1:

Direction: The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author‘s position.

Artificial embryo twinning is a relatively low-tech way to make clones. As the name suggests, this technique mimics the natural process that creates identical twins. In nature, twins form very early in development when the embryo splits in two. Twinning happens in the first days after egg and sperm join, while the embryo is made of just a small number of unspecialized calls. Each half of the embryo continues dividing on its own, ultiately developing into separate, complete individuals. Since they developed from the same fertilized egg, the resultingindividuals are genetically identical. 

1. Artificial embryo twinning is low-tech unlike the natural development of identical twins from the embryo after fertilization.
2. Artificial embryo twinning is low-tech and is close to the natural development of twins where the embryo splits into two identical twins.
3. Artificial embryo twinning is low-tech and mimetic of the natural development of genetically identical twins from the embryo after fertilization.
4. Artificial embryo twinning is just like the natural development of twins, where during fertilization twins are formed.

Question 2:

Direction: The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author‘s position.

Production and legitimation of scientific knowledge can be approached from a number of perspectives. To study knowledge production from the sociology of professions perspective would mean a focus on the institutionalization of a body of knowledge. The professions-approach informed earlier research on managerial occupation, business schools and management knowledge. It however tends to reify institutional power structures in its understanding of the links between knowledge and authority. Knowledge production is restricted in the perspective to the selected members of the professional community, most notably to the university faculties and professional colleges. Power is understood as a negative mechanism, which prevents the nonprofessional actors from offering their ideas and information as legitimate knowledge.

1. Professions-approach aims at the institutionalization of knowledge but restricts knowledge production as a function of a select few.
2. Professions-approach focuses on the creation of institutions of higher education and disciplines to promote knowledge production
3. The study of knowledge production can be done through many perspectives.
4. The professions-approach has been one of the most relied upon perspective in the study of management knowledge production. 

Section: Quantitative Ability (QA)

Question 1:

Train T leaves station X for station Y at 3 pm. Train S, traveling at three quarters of the speed of T, leaves Y for X at 4 pm. The two trains pass each other at a station Z, where the distance between X and Z is three-fifths of that between X and Y. How many hours does train T take for its journey from X to Y?

A)    10                          B) 17               C) 15                           D) 20

Question 2:

Point P lies between points A and B such that the length of BP is thrice that of AP. Car 1 starts from A and moves towards B. Simultaneously, car 2 starts from B and moves towards A. Car 2 reaches P one hour after car 1 reaches P. If the speed of car 2 is half that of car 1, then the time, in minutes, taken by car 1 in reaching P from A is

A)    12                          B) 11               C) 9                             D) 13 

VARC

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	3	1

QUANT

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	C	A

CAT Previous Year Paper-2: CAT 2018 Slot-2 Question pattern & Cut off percentile
The slot-2 CAT question paper 2018 was held in afternoon session on November 25, 2018 from 2.30 PM to 5.30 PM. Reporting time for the exam was 1 PM

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total Questions	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	27	7	34	102	58-60
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	24	8	32	96	30-32
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	22	12	34	102	57-59
Total	73	27	100	300	142-145

Actual CAT Questions from CAT 2018  Slot-2 Question Paper
You can attempt actual CAT question paper as appeared in Slot-2 on November 25, 2018. A few questions from VARC and Quant sections with answers are given below. DILR questions and all other questions in CAT previous year question paper can be attempted by clicking on the link given below the following questions: 

Section: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Question 1:
Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

1. Much has been recently discovered about the development of songs in birds.
2. Some species are restricted to a single song learned by all individuals, others have a range of songs.
3. The most important auditory stimuli for the birds are the sounds of other birds.
4. For all bird species there is a prescribed path to development of the final song,
5. A bird begins with the subsong, passes through plastic song, until it achieves the species song.

Q.02   

Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out. Choose its number as your answer and key the number in:

1. Our smartphones can now track our diets, our biological cycles, even our digestive systems and sleep-patterns.
2. Researchers have even coin ed a new term, ―orthosomnia‖, to describe the insomnia brought on by paying too much attention to smartphones and sleep-tracking apps.
3. Sleep, nature‘s soft nurse, is a blissful, untroubled state all too easily disturbed b y earthly worries or a guilty conscience.
4. The existence of a market for such ap ps is unsurprising: shift work, a long-hours culture and blue light from screens have conspired to rob many of us of sufficient rest.
5. A new threat to a good night‘s rest has emerged – smart-phones, with sleep-tracking apps.

Section: Quantitative Ability (QA)

Question 1:

On a long stretch of east-west road, A and B are two points such that B is 350 km west of A. One car starts from A and another from B at the same time. If they move towards each other, then they meet after 1 hour. If they both move towards east, then they meet in 7 hrs. The difference between their speeds, in km per hour, is

A)    45              B) 50                           C) 55               D) 60

Question 2:

Points A and B are 150 km apart. Cars 1 and 2 travel from A to B, but car 2 starts from A when car 1 is already 20 km away from A. Each car travels at a speed of 100 kmph for the first 50 km, at50 kmph for the next 50 km, and at 25 kmph for the last 50 km. The distance, in km, between car 2 and B when car 1 reaches B is

A)    5                B) 10                           C) 15               D) 20 

Answers

VARC

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	3	1

QUANT

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	B	A

CAT Previous Year Paper-3: CAT 2017 Question pattern & Cut off percentile
The slot-1 CAT question paper 2017 was held in morning session on November 26, 2017 from 9.00 AM to 12.00 noon. Reporting time for the exam was 7.30 AM

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total no of Qns	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	27	7	34	102	57-59
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	24	8	32	96	29-31
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	23	11	34	102	55-57
Total	74	26	100	300	142-145

Actual CAT Questions from CAT 2017 Slot-1 Question Paper
Now you can attempt actual CAT question paper as appeared in Slot-1 on November 26, 2017. A few questions from VARC and Quant sections with answers are given below. DILR questions and all other questions in CAT previous year question paper can be attempted by clicking on the link given below the following questions:  

Section: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Question 1:

DIRECTIONS for the question: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out. Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

1. Neuroscientists have just begun studying exercise’s impact within brain cells — on the genes themselves.
2. Even there, in the roots of our biology, they’ve found signs of the body’s influence on the mind.
3. It turns out that moving our muscles produces proteins that travel through the bloodstream a nd into the brain, where they play pivotal roles in the mechanisms of our highest thought processes.
4. In today’s technology-driven, plasma-screened-in world, it’s easy to forget that we are born movers — animals, in fact — because we’ve engineered movement right out of our lives.
5. It’s only in the past few years that neuroscientists have begun to describe these factors and how they work, and each new discovery adds awe-inspiring depth to the picture

A) 4                 B) 3                             C) 2                             D)1

Question 2:

DIRECTIONS for the question: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out. Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

1. The water that made up ancient lakes and perhaps an ocean was lost.
2. Particles from the Sun collided with molecules in the atmosphere, kno cking them into space or giving them an electric charge that caused them to be swept away by the solar wind.
3. Most of the planet’s remaining water is now frozen or buried, but clues over the past decade suggested that some liquid water, a presumed necessity for life, might survive in underground aquifers.
4. Data from NASA’s MAVEN orbiter show that solar storms stripped away m ost of Mars’s once-thick atmosphere.
5. A recent study reveals how Mars lost much of its early water, while another indicates that some liquid water rem ains.

A)    1                                  B) 2                             C) 3                             D) 5

Section: Quantitative Ability (QA)

DIRECTIONS for the question: Solve the following question and mark the best possible option.

Question No. : 1

Arun’s present age in years is 40% of Barun’s. In another few years, Arun’s age will be half of Barun’s. By what percentage will Barun’s age increase during this period?

A) 20               B)15                C) 10              D) 5

DIRECTIONS for the question: Solve the following question and mark the best possible option.

Question No. : 2

A person can complete a job in 120 days. He works alone on Day 1. On Day 2, he is joined by another person who also can complete the job in exactly 120 days. On Day 3, they are joined by another person of equal efficiency. Like this, everyday a new person with the same efficiency joins the work. How many days are required to complete the job?

A)    15                    B) 20               C) 25                           D)10

Answers

VARC

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	A	A

QUANT

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	A	A

CAT Previous Year Paper-4: CAT 2017 Slot-2 Question Pattern  & Cut off percentile

The slot-2 CAT question paper 2017 was held in afternoon session on November 26, 2017 from 2.30 PM to 5.30 PM. Reporting time for the exam was 1.00 PM

Section	No. of MCQs	No. of non-MCQs	Total Questions	Total Marks	Score Cut off for 95%
Section I – Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	27	7	34	102	58-60
Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	24	8	32	96	30-32
Section III – Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	23	11	34	102	57-59
Total	74	26	100	300	142-145

Actual CAT Questions from CAT 2017 Slot-2 Question Paper
You can attempt actual CAT question paper as appeared in Slot-2 on November 26, 2018. A few questions from VARC and Quant sections with answers are given below. DILR questions and all other questions in CAT previous year question paper can be attempted by clicking on the link given below the following questions:  

Section: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Question 1:

1. Over the past fortnight, one of its finest champions managed to pull off a similar impression.
2. Wimbledon’s greatest illusion is the sense of timelessness it evokes.
3. At 35 years and 342 days, Roger Federer became the oldest man to win the singles title in the Open Era – a full 14 years after he first claimed the title as a scruffy, pony-tailed upstart.
4. Once he had survived the opening week, the second w eek witnessed the range of a rested Federer’s genius.
5. Given that his method isn’t reliant on explosive athleticism or muscular ball-striking, both vulnerable to deca y, there is cause to believe that Federer will continue to enchant for a while longer.

A) 4                 B) 3                 C) 2                             D) 1

Question 2:
DIRECTIONS for the question: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out. Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

1. Those geometric symbols and aerodynamic swooshes are more than just skin deep.
2. The Commonwealth Bank logo – a yellow diamond, with a black chunk sliced out in one corner – is so recognisable that the bank doesn’t even use its full name in its advertising.
3. It’s not just logos with hidden shapes; sometimes b rands will have meanings or stories within them that are deliberately vague or lost in time, urging you to delve deeper to solve the riddle.
4. Graphic designers embed cryptic references because it adds a stor y to the brand; they want people to spend more time with a brand and have that idea that they are an insider if they can understand the hidden message.
5. But the Comm Bank logo has more to it than meets the eye, as squirrelled away in that diamo nd is the Southern Cross constellation.

A)    1                                  B) 2                             C) 3                             D) 4

Section: Quantitative Ability (QA)

Question 1

DIRECTIONS for the question: Solve the following question and mark the best possible option.

The numbers 1, 2,…, 9 are arranged in a 3 X 3 square grid in such a way that each number occurs once and the entries along each column, each row, and each of the two diagonals add up to the same value.

If the top left and the top right entries of the grid are 6 and 2, respectively, then the bottom middle entry is

A) 3                 B) 5                 C) 8                 D) 6

DIRECTIONS for the question: Solve the following question and mark the best possible option. 

Question No: 2

In a 10 km race. A, B, and C, each running at uniform speed, get the gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. If A beats B by 1 km and B beats C by 1 km, then by how many metres does A beat C?

A) 1900                       B) 2000                                   C) 1800                       D) 1700

Answers

VARC

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	A	A

QUANT

Q No.	Q 1	Q 2
Correct Ans	A	A

With the help of CAT previous year papers, you can assess your CAT 2020 preparation as these CAT previous test papers are actual and are released by IIMs after the CAT exam is over. The CAT previous papers also guide you about the probable type of questions that you may face on CAT exam day 2020.  

The CAT previous papers pdf consists of different difficulty level actual CAT questions with answers.

CAT 2020 is the most prestigious MBA entrance exam and is the gateway to 20 IIMs, FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR, XIMB, IITs, NITIE, TAPMI among other top MBA colleges. CAT 2020 will be held on November 29, 2020 in two sessions – morning and afternoon. The CAT previous year papers can now help you gauge your preparation level and can help in checking out what should be your preparation strategy to crack the exam.  

You can attempt all the previous year CAT question papers free and practice on each free CAT previous paper as many times as you like.

CAT Previous Years Papers: 5 Key Benefits of Attempting Previous Papers

• CAT Exam previous paper lets you know about the latest CAT exam pattern and the expected trend in CAT 2020 Question Paper
• CAT previous year question papers help you to know how to approach the CAT questions without losing marks due to negative marking
• The CAT previous year question papers are followed by solutions. You can assess your performance and analyze your mistakes after attempting each CAT previous paper and can improve on them 
• CAT previous year Papers are free of cost
• You can take CAT previous year question papers as many times as you want

CAT Previous Year Questions Papers: Available Now
IIMs have now started to officially release the CAT Question Paper with Solution Pdf. So far, IIMs have released the actual CAT previous year question papers for the year 2017 and 2018. It is a big change as CAT previous year question papers with solutions were never released by IIMs earlier.

Download CAT Previous Year Question Paper: Practice to Excel
You can download CAT previous year question paper with solution and keep on practicing on them. Since they are the actual CAT previous test papers you can set the clock for 3 hours start by allotting 60 minutes to each of the 3 sections and later check the accurately attempted questions. With the help of solutions, you can analyze your errors that you made and arrive at the net score by allowing for negative marking. The scoring pattern is +3 for every correct answer and -1 for each wrong answer. 

Key Changes in CAT Exam paper
If we go through the Previous Question Papers for CAT with effect from CAT 2013 Question Paper, it is observed that all the subsequent CAT exam question papers are on changed pattern. The biggest change in CAT exam paper was introduced in the CAT 2015 Question Paper which was followed with minor changes in the CAT 2016, CAT 2017 & CAT 2018 Question Papers. CAT 2019 Question Paper also brought about many changes in the number and type of CAT questions in each section. CAT 2019 question paper Pdf Download was made available by IIM Kozhikode after a few days of the CAT exam. 

Prepare with CAT Previous Question papers
CAT question paper with solution PDF is great help for CAT 2021 test takers to know the exact CAT question paper, its topics and composition. With the CAT Previous Years Solved Question Papers, it has become possible also to understand how to approach CAT questions.

It is expected that CAT 2021 convening IIM Ahmedabad will also release the CAT 2021 question paper with solutions PDF after the CAT 2021 exam is over. Although the earlier CAT question papers with solution PDF prior to 2017, were not officially released by IIMs, but based on the memory and sectional questions, the CAT previous years solved question papers PDF with answers could be prepared and posted on web portals for the benefit of the candidates. You can assess your CAT 2021 preparation with the CAT previous year question papers PDF with answers and make changes in your CAT 2021 preparation strategy as per the CAT question