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CAT Papers : Test Pattern of CAT-2004,CAT-2005,CAT-2006,CAT-2007

By Contributor | August 27, 2008

CAT 2004

The IIMs introduced the concept of differential marking for the first time in 2004. The paper had just 123 questions in three sections with the following distribution: (the decimal numbers are marks allocated to each question)

* English - Total: 50 (10 * 0.5 + 5*2.0 + 35 * 1.0) Cutoff - approx 12
* Mathematics - Total: 35 (15*2.0 + 20*1.0) Cutoff - approx 12
* DI (Data Interpretation) and LR (Logical Reasoning) - Total: 38 (12*2.0 +26*1.0) Cutoff - approx 17

Overall 123 Questions : 10 of half marks + 32 of 2 marks and 81 of 1 mark each. The overall cutoff for the paper was nearly 51-52 marks.

CAT 2005

CAT 2005 was an even bigger surprise. There were just 90 questions - 30 in each section. Each section was further divided into two subsections:

* Math

* Section 1A -10Questions of 1 mark each
* Section 1B - 20 Questions of 2 mark each
* The final Cutoff for this section was nearly 11

* English

* Section 2A - 10 Questions of 1 mark each
* Section 2B - 20 Questions of 2 mark each
* The final Cutoff for this section was nearly 15

* Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

* Section 3A - 10 Questions of 1 mark each
* Section 3B - 20 Questions of 2 mark each
* The final Cutoff for this section was nearly 10

CAT 2006

CAT 2006, which was conducted on November 19, was a 2.5-hour exam instead of the traditional 2-hour exam. It is speculated that this change was made by the CAT exam committee to decrease the level of predictability of the exam and to relieve the stress caused to students in a two-hour time limit.

CAT 2006 had 75 questions, 25 questions per section and 4 marks per question, making it a 300-mark paper. There was a penalty of 1 mark for a wrong answer. The paper also proved to be a break from the previous pattern in that it had 5 answer options instead of the usual 4. The English section was generally perceived as very difficult, whereas the quantitative aptitude section was relatively much easier and basic than previous CATs as also in comparison to the other two sections.

CAT 2007

In 2007, the CAT exam was held on Sunday, November 18th. The exam had surprises for the past years for the changing pattern/number of questions etc. But this year the number of questions remained the same. There was 1 mark negative for each wrong answer. The duration of the test was 2.5 hours

Quantitative Ability

* 25 Questions each of 4 marks
* This is widely considered the toughest section this year

English

* 25 Questions each of 4 marks
* The reading comprehension part was tougher than that of last year

Data Interpretation

* 25 Questions each of 4 marks