Cat 2021 was conducted on 28th November in two (2) -9am to 12 pm and 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm -slots.
Cat 2021 has 3 sections ordered as VA-RC, DI+LR and QA each having 24, 20, and 22 questions respectively. There was a mix of MCQ (multiple choice questions) and TITA (type in the answer type) questions throughout the paper. TITA comprised approximately 25% of the questions.
Question papers across the two slots were very similar in difficulty level across both the slots with overall difficulty slightly less than that of CAT 2020’s.
On the whole VA-RC section was more difficult compared to last year’s section and DILR & QA was slightly easier compared to last year’s.
Expected cutoffs for cat 2020-
| Section | Number of questions | Number of non-mcq questions | Difficulty level | attempts for 95 %ile (78-80%accuracy) | attempts for 99 %ile (78-80%accuracy) |
| VARC | 24 | 5 | Moderate -Difficult | 23-25 | 26-28 |
| DI LR | 20 | 5 | Easy-Moderate | 14-16 | 18-20 |
| QA | 22 | 6 | Easy -Moderate | 18-20 | 24-26 |
| Total | 66 | 26 | 60 | 65 |
Given Cat 2020 scaled core against percentile, there was 99% ile at roughly 152 marks, Cat 2021 is expected to produce 99%ile at 158-160 marks.