CAT 2023 Application Form, Eligibility, Exam Dates, Pattern, Syllabus

CAT 2023 or the Common Admission Test is an examination conducted at a national level for selecting eligible candidates for admission into various postgraduate management programs taught across IIMs in India. There are about 20 IIMs imparting quality education to eligible bachelor degree holders aspiring to pursue a management course in one of the reputed institutes. The institutes in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirapalli, Udaipur, and Vishakapatnam mandate the candidate to appear for two phases of CAT tests. The first phase is the written examination namely the CAT Exam 2023, conducted on November 2023. According to the candidate preference for IIMs, the institutes choose eligible candidates and intimate them for the second phase of examination grouped into different sections like the Written Ability Test, Group Discussions, Personal Interview, etc., according to the management criteria of the IIM conducting the test.

CAT 2023 Notification:

• CAT 2023 Notification will be released in July 2023.

CAT 2023: Highlights

Name of the Exam	CAT 2023
Full-Form	Common Admission Test
Conducting Body	Indian Institute Of Management
Application Mode	Online Mode
Exam Mode	Online Mode
CAT Exam Purpose	Admission to the top management colleges of India.
CAT Exam Level	National Level
Exam Frequency	Annual
Category	Management Entrance Exams
Official Website	iimcat.ac.in

CAT 2023 Exam Date:

The CAT 2023 Exam will be conducted on November 2023. The candidate may download the admit card from October 2023 to be able to appear for the examination at the respective centers. The center of examination is decided as per the availability of the seats and on a first come first serve basis. A candidate is required to choose any four test centers from the given choices during the registration process. These choices must be different and unique. A candidate is allotted the test center in any one of the chosen cities. There are also cases where the candidate is not allotted to the chosen city. In such a situation, the applicant is allotted the nearest city to the chosen one.

Events	Exam Date
CAT Exam 2023 Notification Release Date	July 2023
CAT 2023 Registration	August 2023
Last date of Online Application form	September 2023
Application Correction start	September 2023
Admit Card Available	October 2023
CAT 2023 Exam Date	November 2023
Answer Key Release Date	December 2023
Last date to submit an objection	December 2023
Result Announced	January 2024

CAT Exam 2023 Registration:

Before the CAT Exam 2023 Registration, a candidate must have in readiness the scanned copies of the caste and candidate information certificates in required legal formats with visible legal attestations, bachelor and master degree marks certificates, and provisional certificates if any, scanned photograph and signature images. The photograph must be on a white background and not older than 6 months.

CAT 2023 Application Form:

The advertisement seeking eligible candidates to register for the application form is expected to be out from July 2023. The registration has been started in August 2023.

• A candidate must register with valid and correct personal and communication details before enrolling for the examination. The enrollment is via online application form only.
• There are no other kiosks or offline modes of application for CAT 2023.
• The official website www.iimcat.ac.in showcases important dates for CAT 2023 once the advertisement is released.
• The candidate is advised to read all the documents uploaded for registration, eligibility, selection, scoring & disclaimers about the CAT 2023 from the official website to avoid confusion.
• The candidate may also take a mock test, once he/she is registered and has been communicated with login credentials.

CAT Exam 2023 Application fee:

Those who wish to take admission to the courses commence by CAT 2023. Candidates need to make a payment of Rs.2200/- for all the categories and Rs.1100/- for those who belong to categories such as ST, SC, and PWD. Make sure to pay the fee by the online process includes credit card, debit card, and net banking.

The candidate needs to pay the registration fees only once, irrespective of the number of institutes he/she is applying for. Fees once paid cannot be refunded under any circumstances.

Steps to Edit CAT 2023 Application Form:

• Visit the official website of CAT i.e, https://iimcat.ac.in
• Then login by using the User ID and password.
• Now, the Application form will be displayed on the screen.
• Click on the edit option and make the required changes.
• After you have edited the form, click on Save and then Submit.

Eligibility Criteria:

• A candidate must hold a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum aggregate of 50% or its equivalent CGPA score.
• For the reserved category, this aggregate is reduced to 45%. Candidates who have appeared for their final year graduation paper and are awaiting their results are also eligible to appear for the exam.
• Students who are scheduled to sit for their final year exams can also apply for the CAT 2023 examination.
• Candidates who have completed the Master’s program may also apply with relevant work experiences.
• Reservations to the candidates according to Caste, and PWD certificate is as dictated by the Central Government list and provision act.
• A candidate is required to apply with necessarily scanned copies of the caste certificate recognized in a legal format as mentioned in the certificates and performance section on the official website of the CAT 2023.

Reservations for CAT Exam 2023:

Indian Government Policy for CAT 2023 split into 4 categories which are as follows:

• Scheduled Caste, the total number of seats reserve 15%.
• Scheduled Tribe, the total number of seats reserve 7.5%.
• Backward Classes (OBC, NC), the total number of seat reserve is 27%
• PWD Differently Able candidates, the total number of seat reserve is 3%

Exam Pattern:

• The CAT 2023 Exam will be conducted online i.e, Computer Based Test (CBT).
• The duration of the exam will be 180 minutes.
• The exam paper will consist of 100 questions.
• Every correct answer candidates get 3 marks and wrong answer candidates 1 mark will deduct.

Candidates can find below tables Total Number of Question, Exam Time Duration, Maximum Marks, etc:

Sections	Subjects	Exam Duration	No. Questions	Marks
I	Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning	1 Hour	32	96
II	Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension	1 Hour	34	102
III	Quantitative Ability	1 Hour	34	102
Total		3 Hours	100 Questions	300 Marks

CAT Syllabus:

The CAT 2023 is a computer-based test requiring the candidate to choose the correct answer for each question by clicking on the option. This should not be confused with the Internet-based test format. This test is available only on selected computer terminals allotted to each candidate at the examination center. A candidate is not allowed to carry any calculator to the examination. He/she is free to use the on-screen calculator. Hence, a candidate is advised to take mock tests from the CAT Exam 2023 websites to get the right kind of practice for the examination.

The paper is divided into three sections and each section will have a certain number of MCQs and non-MCQ questions to be answered by the candidate. All the MCQ type questions carry a negative marking of -1. A correct answer is awarded 3 marks. All the questions are awarded equal marks. There is no negative marking for the non-MCQ type questions.

• The CAT Syllabus 2023 is confined or described by the IIMs. Generally, the sections that test the candidate’s ability include Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability.
• CAT English/Verbal Ability: Reading comprehension, Fill in the blanks, syllogisms, analogies, sentence correction, Verbal reasoning, Idioms, Antonyms & Synonyms.
• Maths/Quant Ability: Mensuration, Percentages, Averages, Geometry, Profit & Loss, Time & Work, Permutation Combination, Trigonometry, probability, algebra, Number systems, quadratic and linear equations.
• CAT Data Interpretation: Charts (column, bar, pie), Venn diagram graphs (line, area), Tables, Interpretation and analysis of data based on text, etc.
• Logical Reasoning: Blood Relations, Clocks, Logical Sequence, Seating Arrangement, Calendars, Binary logic, premise, Conclusion, Assumption, Linear and matrix arrangement, etc.

CAT Exam 2023 Admit Card:

To avail of the admit card, use the online mode. You require for using the official website and soon collect the admit card. This card is required for use while moving to the examination center which consisted of details of name, address, exam center, date of exam and time, etc.

Steps to Download CAT Admit Card 2023:

• Visit the official website of CAT.
• Then click on ‘Login’
• After that enter the registration ID and password.
• The admit card window will open.
• Click on download & take a print out of the CAT 2023 admit card.

CAT 2023 Exam Centers:

The Exam for CAT 2023 will take place in 156 cities in India. Some of them are as follows:

Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, Blair, Purnea, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Rohtak, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rajkot, Gaya, Bahadurgarh, Anand, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Itanagar, Raipur, Sonipat, Palwal, Panipat, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Pune, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Jabalpur, Sagar, Gwalior, Indore, Ahmednagar, Nagpur, Nanded, Solapur, Thane, Shillong, Surat, Vadodara, Bhubaneswar, Madgaon, Amravati, Nashik, Gandhinagar Aurangabad, Navi Mumbai, Verna, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Bengaluru, Bidar, Bhopal, Kollam, Kolhapur, Chikballapur, Davanagere, Mangalore, Mysore, Trivandrum, Jalgaon, Ramnagara, Thrissur, Berhampur, Ambala, Ratnagiri, Satara, Belgaum, Hasan, Kolar, Mandya, Kasaragod, Cuttack, Kochi, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Jammu, Balasore, Rourkela & Sambalpur.

CAT Exam Related Post:

• How to Get a Good Score in CAT Exam 
• Best Reference Books for CAT
• CAT Mock Test
• How to Prepare for CAT Exam
• CAT Syllabus for English & Verbal Ability

Answer Key:

CAT 2023 answer key will be released in December 2023 at www.iimcat.ac.in. Candidates can check the slot 1, 2, 3 CAT 2023 official answer key, with question paper, and response sheet by accessing the objection management tab. The last date to challenge the CAT answer key is December 2023.

Steps To Download CAT Answer Key 2023:

• First, visit the official site of CAT @ iimcat.ac.in.
• On the home page check, the Announcements with Important Dates.
• Then Click on the CAT Answer Key 2023.
• Click on the PDF link given.
• Download the Answer Key.

CAT Result 2023:

The result will be announced in the first week of January. candidate must download the result to check their score. Candidate can check their result using their login ID and password.