CAT 2022: Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Application Form, Dates

Posted On: May 3, 2019
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Candidates aspiring for admission in MBA programme offered by top B-schools of the country need to apply for CAT 2022. The exam will be conducted by IIM for admission in different PG and fellow management courses offered by the IIMs located across the country. Candidates can apply for the exam by filling the online application form. The registration for CAT exam will typically begin from the 2^nd week of August 2022. The exam will be held in computer-based mode and candidates will get a total duration of 3 hours to complete the test. CAT scores are considered by a majority of B-schools in India. Candidates can apply for admission based on the scores obtained in CAT exam.

CAT 2022 Major Highlights

The application form for CAT can only be filled through online mode. No printed applications will be provided by the authority in this regard.
Candidates should submit their form on or before the due date specified by the authority to avoid the last-minute rush or technical error.
The registration fee for exam has to be paid only once despite the number of institutions a candidate wishes to apply for.
If at any stage, the information provided by the candidates is found to be misleading, then the candidates will be disqualified from taking the exam and won’t be allowed to apply for the exam in future too.
For all kind of communication, the authority will use the medium of email and contact number to reach out to the candidates.
Mere fulfillment of eligibility criteria does not confer the rights to get shortlisted by IIMs for admission.
Shortlisted candidates will get interview letter from the IIMs directly. Candidates should note that the selection criteria might vary in different IIMs.

CAT 2022 Important dates

The tentative schedule of CAT 2022 exam is as follows-

Events	Dates (Expected)
Beginning of registration	2^nd week of August 2022
Last date to register for CAT exam	4^th week of September 2022
Admit card downloading	4^th week of October 2022
Test date	4^th week of November 2022
Result declaration	1^st week of January 2023

CAT 2022 Exam pattern

Candidates can get an idea of the structure of the exam with the help of exam pattern given below-

Exam mode: Online
Duration: 3 hours
Medium of instructions: English only
Type of questions: MCQ and Non-MCQ type
Total number of questions: 100 questions
Marking scheme: 3 marks will be given for each right response
Negative marking: For MCQs, 1 mark will be deducted for incorrect response and no negative marking for Non-MCQ questions.

Subject	Number of questions	Maximum marks	Duration
Verbal ability and reading comprehension	34	102	1 hour
Data interpretation and logical reasoning	32	96	1 hour
Quantitative ability	34	102	1 hour
Total	100	300	3 hours

Syllabus

Given below is the syllabus of CAT 2022 exam-

Data interpretation and logical reasoning: Tables, pie chart, caselets, seating arrangement, logical sequence, line graph, clocks, Venn diagrams, cubes, blood relation, direction sense, binary logic, calendars etc.
Verbal ability and reading comprehension: Reading comprehension, fill in the blanks, sentence correction, cloze test, word-meaning, English grammar and usage, analogy, vocabulary based questions etc.
Quantitative ability: Time and work, ration and proportions, simplification, quadratic equation, LCM and HCF, profit, loss and discount, simple and compound interest, percentage, average, sequence and series, inequalities, set theory and function etc.

Recommended books

Candidates can take a look at some of the notable reference books for CAT preparation-

Quantitative aptitude: RS Aggarwal, Arun Sharma.
Verbal reasoning: Meenakshi Upadhaya, RS Aggarwal, Pearson publication.
English: Word power made easy by Norman Lewis, English grammar by Wren and Martin.

CAT 2022 Application form

To fill the application form for CAT exam, candidates need to possess a valid email id and phone number. They need to register themselves on the official website and fill the application form using the login credentials created at the time of registration. Candidates need to keep their documents including the scanned photograph and signature handy while filling the form.

The form will include the personal, educational, bank and other relevant details. Candidates need to make sure that they provide correct information. Applicants won’t be able to change their details once they have submitted the application form. They must pay the application fee for the exam otherwise their form will be rejected by the authority. The printout of the filled-in application form should be kept safe till the admission process is finished.

Application fee

Category	Application fee to be paid
SC/ ST/ PWD candidates	Rs. 950/-
Other candidates	Rs. 1900/-

Mode of payment: Payment of the above-stated application fee can be made through credit card, debit card, net banking, Paytm wallet, cash card, and other wallets.

CAT 2022 Eligibility criteria

Applicants should go through the given eligibility criteria to check if they can take the exam or not-

Candidates should have completed a bachelor’s degree programme in any discipline with minimum 50% marks (45% marks in case of SC/ ST/ PWD candidates) in aggregate from a recognized university.
Those appearing in the final year of their bachelor’s degree programme or are awaiting their result are also eligible to apply for the exam.
Those who have completed professional courses of CS/ CA/ ICWA can also apply for the exam provided that they should have obtained at least 50% aggregate marks.

Admit card

To download the admit card of CAT 2022 exam, candidates need to login into the official website using the credentials created at the time of registration.
Applicants should retain the printout copy of the hall ticket for further use.
They must bring the admit card to the exam venue along with a valid govt. id proof such as voter id card, passport, Aadhar card, Pan card.
Those who do not possess the admit card will not be permitted to appear in the exam.
Applicants should cross-check the details printed on their hall ticket and report the discrepancies to the authority if any is found.

Result and selection

The result of CAT exam can be checked from the official website in the 1^st week of January 2023.
CAT 2022 score will only be valid till December 2024.
Candidates can apply to B-schools based on the marks secured by them in CAT exam. IIMs will send the interview letter to the candidates directly as per their discretion.
For selection in IIM, different IIMs have different process for shortlisting the candidates for admission in programs offered by them. Some might consider the academic performance of the candidates, relative work experience, academic diversity etc for selecting the candidates. The process varies accordingly. Therefore, candidates should not only rely on their eligibility status or CAT score only for guaranteed admission in IIM.