The CAT syllabus,
weighed by what actually gets asked.
The IIMs never publish a syllabus. So we built one from the papers. Every topic across all 15 slots of CAT 2021-2025, counted exactly, ranked by priority, and marked with where it is heading.
Updated 6 August 2026 · based on CAT 2021-2025 official papers- Exam Date29 Nov 2026Sunday · 3 slots
- Questions68204 marks
- Duration120 min40 min per section
- Registration3 Aug - 15 Sepiimcat.ac.in
Three sections. Fixed order. No going back.
Sections appear in a fixed order and each is locked to 40 minutes. Once a section closes you cannot return to it, so section-level pacing matters as much as topic knowledge.
- VARCVerbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
- Questions24
- Marks72
- Non-MCQ2-4
- Suggested split28 min RC / 12 min VA
- DILRData Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
- Questions22 · 4-5 sets
- Marks66
- Non-MCQ~10-11
- Suggested split5 min scan / 3 sets
- QAQuantitative Ability
- Questions22
- Marks66
- Non-MCQ~7-8
- Suggested split3 passes, easiest first
Marking Scheme+3Every correct answer-1Wrong MCQ0Wrong non-MCQ (TITA)0Unattempted
Why this mattersRoughly a third of the paper carries no negative marking. On TITA questions a considered guess costs nothing, which changes how you should spend the last five minutes of every section.
If you only had eight weeks, start here.
Four areas, ordered by return on time. Between them they account for roughly half of every CAT paper of the last five years, and none of them are the hard part of the syllabus.
- 01Reading ComprehensionThe single largest block on the paper and the most stable. Four passages every slot, without exception, for five years.16 of 24 VARC questions · 48 of 204 marks
- 02ArithmeticThe most predictable group in Quant and the least conceptually demanding. Ratios, averages, time-speed-distance and profit-loss carry it.~8 questions per slot · 39% of Quant
- 03Equations & ProgressionsAlgebra's two workhorses. Equations & Polynomials has been the most-asked Quant topic three years running.~4 questions per slot combined
- 04Logic-based DI setsThe fastest-growing thing on the paper. One set in 2021, six in 2025. Most prep material has not caught up.~1 set per slot · rising sharply
Safe to leave for laterThese appeared in fewer than one slot in three across CAT 2021-2025. Worth a revision pass, never worth your first month.
MensurationBase ConversionHCF & LCMPie ChartsPipes, Cisterns & ClocksCoordinate GeometrySet TheoryPolitics passages
Three shifts most prep material hasn't caught up to.
Comparing CAT 2024-25 against CAT 2021-22. The paper has moved, and a topic list on its own will never tell you that.
- ▲ RisingLogic-based DI1 set in 2021 to 6 sets in 20251'211'222'234'246'25
- ▲ RisingLogarithms & Exponents4 questions in '21-22 to 14 in '24-253'211'222'238'246'25
- ▼ FadingChart & table DI5 sets in 2021 to none in 20255'212'223'235'240'25
Every topic, with the actual numbers.
Each section below lists its complete topic map. Nothing is hidden — topics that never appeared in five years are still shown, because knowing what to skip is half the syllabus.
04.1 / Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
VARC
24 questions40 min · 72 marks
Two-thirds of this section is reading, and it has been for five straight years. Verbal Ability is a fixed, small, entirely learnable set of four question types.
Reading Comprehension
4 passagesper slot
67% of section · 10 topics
Verbal Ability
8 questionsper slot
33% of section · 4 topics
Cell shows the exact count for that year, shaded by size▲ rising▼ falling- steadyTrend compares 2024-25 against 2021-22
Topic5-year weightPriority20212022202320242025Per slotTrend
Reading Comprehension
16 Qs per slot · 4 passages x 4 questionsPassage themes rotate, so no theme is worth 'preparing'. What repeats is the question type: inference, main idea and author's tone carry the section.
Verbal Ability
8 Qs per slot · Four fixed question typesOnly four formats have appeared in five years. Three of the four are non-MCQ in most slots, which means no negative marking on them.
14 topics mapped · every row links to practice questions for that topic.
04.2 / Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
DILR
22 questions40 min · 4-5 sets · 66 marks
The most volatile section, and the one where topic names help least. You get four or five sets and time for three. Choosing correctly is the whole skill.
Logical Reasoning
2.4 setsper slot
55% of section · 9 topics
Data Interpretation
2 setsper slot
45% of section · 5 topics
Cell shows the exact count for that year, shaded by size▲ rising▼ falling- steadyTrend compares 2024-25 against 2021-22
Topic5-year weightPriority20212022202320242025Per slotTrend
Logical Reasoning
2-3 sets per slot · Counted in setsLabels here are loose by design. A single CAT set often mixes arrangement, constraints and arithmetic in one place. Train on set structure, not on topic tags.
Data Interpretation
~2 sets per slot · Counted in setsPure chart reading is being retired. Logic-based sets took 6 of the 7 DI slots in 2025. If your DI practice is still bar graphs and pie charts, it is five years out of date.
14 topics mapped · every row links to practice questions for that topic.
04.3 / Quantitative Ability
Quant
22 questions40 min · 66 marks
The most predictable section on the paper. Arithmetic and Algebra alone have supplied roughly seven of every ten Quant questions in each of the last five years.
Arithmetic
8 questionsper slot
39% of section · 9 topics
Algebra
7 questionsper slot
34% of section · 5 topics
Geometry & Mensuration
3 questionsper slot
15% of section · 6 topics
Number Systems
2 questionsper slot
8% of section · 7 topics
Modern Math
1 questionper slot
5% of section · 3 topics
Cell shows the exact count for that year, shaded by size▲ rising▼ falling- steadyTrend compares 2024-25 against 2021-22
Topic5-year weightPriority20212022202320242025Per slotTrend
Arithmetic
~8 Qs per slot · Heaviest group in QuantNothing exotic, and nothing you can skip. Arithmetic is where a strong Quant score is built, and it rewards accuracy over cleverness.
Algebra
~7 Qs per slot · Second heaviestEquations & Polynomials has been the single most-asked Quant topic three years running. Logarithms went from filler to fixture in 2024 and stayed there.
Geometry & Mensuration
~3 Qs per slot · Steady, formula-heavyLow volume, high leverage. Triangles and circles carry the group, and most questions resolve to a handful of standard results.
Number Systems
~2 Qs per slot · Low volume, spikyThe spikiest group in Quant. A topic can go from zero to five in a single year, so cover the basics broadly rather than mastering any one sub-topic.
Modern Math
~1 Q per slot · Smallest groupOne question a slot, sometimes none. Worth knowing, never worth prioritising ahead of Arithmetic or Algebra.
30 topics mapped · every row links to practice questions for that topic.
Things people ask before they start.
No. The IIMs do not publish a topic list. They specify the three sections, the number of questions and the timing, and nothing more. Every syllabus you see anywhere, including this one, is reverse-engineered from past papers. That is exactly why the counts on this page matter more than the topic names.