CAT 2020 Overview

ExamType	Format	Language
National Level	Online/CBT, Offline/PBT	English

Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national level management entrance exam held every year across major cities of the country. On the basis of CAT score and percentile, admissions are granted to the post graduate courses and fellow programmes in Management offered by IIMs and other Management Institutes of India. At present, 20 IIMs and over 100 Management Institutes accept the score of CAT exam for granting admission to various MBA, PGDM, Part-time MBA, Executive and Fellow Management Programs. This year, CAT is being conducted by IIM Lucknow after a gap of 7 years. One of the IIM is given the responsibility of conducting CAT exam every year, mostly the old IIMs are entrusted with this responsibility. 

CAT 2020 is scheduled to be held on November 26, 2020. This computer based test will be conducted on a single day in two sessions, forenoon and afternoon. CAT exam will be conducted this year across 140 cities and the candidates have the option of filling 4 preferred test cities in the CAT application form. The online CAT exam 2020 registration commenced form August 9 and it was supposed to end on September 20., 2020. However, the registration deadline extended by 5 days, till September 25, 2020. The last date to register for CAT exam is being extended from the past 4 years and since past years, the registration deadline gets extended by 5 days. The reason behin this extension has somewhat been the technical issues faced by the applicants but majorly, it is the IIMs belief that the registration count remains the highest during this extended tenure. Also, the CAT registration stats have favoured the believe of the IIMs till now.

CAT exam registration can be processed in online mode only. The form is available on CAT 2020 official website, www.iimcat.ac.in. Also, for hassle-free submission of CAT exam application form, the candidates can access the link given here below. Last year, more than 2.32 lakh candidates registered for this exam and out of it, around 1.98 lakh actually appeared. This year too, more than 2 lakh aspirants are expected to apply for IIM CAT exam.

CAT 2020 Registration Extended till September 25 - Apply Here

This year, CAT exam notification was released on July 29, 2020 and it carried no surprises. However, the only thing which was disturbing for the candidates was the CAT exam date, which was clashing with exam date of IIFT 2018 MBA (IB) entrance test. But on August 3, 2020, the IIFT 2018 and CAT 2020 exam date clash issue was resolved by IIFT as it decided to postpone the exam date to December 3 from November 26. The exam pattern of CAT has remained similar to that of last years, no changes in the registration or eligibility norms either. It is expected that CAT 2020 exam difficulty level will also remain similat to that of past 2 years CAT exam. 

 

 

CAT 2020 Eligibility Criteria

The candidate must be a graduate, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons with Disability (PWD)/Differently Abled (DA) category).

The percentage of marks obtained by the candidate in the bachelor’s degree would be calculated based on the practice followed by the university/institution from where the candidate has obtained the degree.

In the absence of any percentage conversion scheme, candidate’s CGPA will be divided by maximum possible CGPA and be multiplying the result with 100.

Candidates appearing for the final year of bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting results can also apply.

Detailed Information about CAT 2020 Eligibility Criteria

CAT 2020 Application Details

CAT exam application form must be filled and submitted in one sitting having a duration of 30 minutes. Though, you can revisit CAT 2020 online registration portal several times but the login session expires in half an hour.

Follow the steps given below to access and fill the application form of CAT 2020 - 

1. Candidates can apply to CAT by clicking on the link given on this page. 

2. They will have to fill certain basic details in CAT registration form 2020 to create a profile. These details are Name, Mobile Number and Email ID. The candidates must note that these details cannot be edited later on so these must be filled very carefully.

4. On creating a profile, a system generated CAT 2020 User Id will be sent by email and the Password shall be sent to the registered mobile number of the applicants.

5. Using these login credentials, login as existing user to access the CAT application form.

6. Fill valid details in the application form correctly. The details requred to be filled are personal, educational, course to be pursued, exam cities, work experience, list of IIMs where you wish to apply and more. Verify the filled details and make changes if required.

7. Lastly, pay the requisite application fee using the available online payment gateways.

Candidates will not be able to make changes in the form once the application fee will be paid. However, the CAT 2020 exam conducting authority will provide the opportunity to make changes in some of the details of the form.

CAT Exam Application Correction Details
Details which can be corrected	1.       Percentage of Marks scored 2.       Work Experience 3.       Programs Selected
Details which cannot be corrected(These details can only be viewed and printed)	1.       Personal Details section 2.       Academics section 3.       Exam Centre City Preference

 

 

Application fees detail

Category of Applicants	Amount of Application Fee	Mode of Payment (Online Only)
General and NC-OBC	Rs. 1800	Credit Card / Debit Card / Internet Banking / Cash Card & Wallet
SC/ST/PWD	Rs. 950

 

Exam Pattern

CAT Exam Pattern

CAT 2020 Counselling/Interview

List of the candidates who qualify CAT 2020 result will be shortlisted for the next level of selection will be made available on the individual IIM websites. Each IIM will send out call letters to the shortlisted candidates directly. The admission criteria for different IIMs are different. Candidates should visit the official websites of IIMs for other updates.

Counselling procedure for other institutes accepting CAT 2020 score is different for each. Hence, candidates are requested to visit the official website of the college they are applying to.

Interpret your CAT Score

CAT Score Validity

CAT Cut-off Top Management Colleges

List of the candidates who qualify CAT 2020 result will be shortlisted for the next level of selection will be made available on the individual IIM websites. Each IIM will send out call letters to the shortlisted candidates directly. The admission criteria for different IIMs are different. Candidates should visit the official websites of IIMs for other updates.

Counselling procedure for other institutes accepting CAT 2020 score is different for each. Hence, candidates are requested to visit the official website of the college they are applying to.

Interpret your CAT Score

CAT Score Validity

CAT 2020 Exam Syllabus

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension:

Reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, syllogisms, analogies, antonyms, and synonyms, fill in the blanks, sentence correction, idioms, etc.

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning:

Data interpretation and analysis of data based on text, tables, graphs (line, area), charts (column, bar, pie), venn diagram, clocks, calendars, binary logic, seating arrangement, blood relations, logical sequence, assumption, premise, conclusion, linear and matrix arrangement, etc.

Quantitative Ability:

Number systems, geometry, trigonometry, probability, permutation combination, algebra, mensuration, time and work, averages, percentages, profit and loss, quadratic and linear equations, etc.

CAT 2020 Syllabus

Reference Books

Best Books for Verbal and Reading Comprehension

Nishit Sinha’s The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

How to Prepare for the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay

Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

Barron’s Pocket Guide to Vocabulary

Best Books for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning

Arun Sharma’s How to Prepare for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning for CAT

Trishna's Verbal Ability And Logical Reasoning For The CAT And Other MBA

Best books for Quantitatve Ability

Arun Sharma’s ‘How to prepare for Quantitative Ability for CAT Published by Tata McGraw Hill.

Arun Sharma’s The Complete CAT Digest, by Tata McGraw-Hill.

How to Prepare for the CAT Common Admissions Test by Muhamed Muneer, published by Om Books.

How to Prepare for the CAT Common Admissions Test by Muhamed Muneer, published by Om Books.

Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha and Published by Tata McGraw-Hill

CAT 2020 Exam Centers

 

CAT 2020 Contact Details

For all CAT related queries, please contact:

Help Desk Number: 18002660207 (Monday to Saturday 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM;
Not available on National/Public Holidays).