CAT 2019 – Registration, Exam Date, Syllabus, Exam Pattern

CAT 2019 – CAT 2019 Exam is going to be conducted by IIM Kozhikode on November 24, 2019. CAT is one of the most competitive tests in India, which is taken by around two lakh candidates every year. This test is conducted by IIMs every year on a rotational basis so that candidates can get their admission in 20 IIMs and more than 100 Business Schools in the country. These 20 IIMs offer around 4,000 seats to the candidates.

The notification for CAT 2019 has been released on 28th of July. The CAT 2019 registration process will be started from 7th of August, 2019 .

In 2017, an international B-school from Singapore, Singapore Management University, joined as one of the CAT participating institutes. It has been the first time in history that CAT scores were accepted by an international B-School.

CAT 2019: An Overview

Name of Test Common Admission Test (CAT)
Purpose of Test Qualifying test to get admission in post-graduate management programs
Conducted by IIM Kozhikode
Exam Type National level
Periodicity Once in a year
Score or Grade Validity One Year
Annual Number of Test Takers 2,40,338 according to CAT, 2018
Pattern of Test MCQs and Non-MCQs
Number of Questions 100
Test Duration 3 hours
Negative Marking -1 for each incorrect answer in MCQs, No negative marking for Non-MCQs or TITA
Conducted by Questions from VARC, QA and DI & LR
Mode of Conduct Computer-based (Online test)
CAT 2019 Convener Prof. Shibhasis Dey
Application Fee Rs. 1900 for General/NC-OBC category; Rs. 950 for SC/ST/PWD/DA category
Reservation of seats in IIMs and B-schools As per the Government of India regulations
CAT 2019 Official Website iimcat
Score or Grade Used by IIMs and various B-schools in India

CAT 2019 Exam Dates

The exact dates of CAT 2018 has been declared by IIM Kozhikode. However, mentioned herein below schedule.

CAT 2019 Events CAT 2019 Important Dates
CAT 2019 Notification Released 28th July, 2019
Application Form Commencement 7th August, 2019
Application Form Last Date 18th September, 2019
Application Form Correction 23rd September, 2019
Admit Card Release 23rd October, 2019
CAT Mock Test 28th October, 2019
CAT 2019 Exam Date 24th November, 2019
Answer Key Release 2nd Week of December, 2019
CAT Result Declaration 2nd Week of January, 2019

CAT 2019 Registration Started Now (Click Here)

CAT 2019 Eligibility Criteria

  • To apply for CAT, candidates need to have a Bachelor’s Degree from any University or institute in any discipline.
  • General and OBC category candidates need to have a minimum of 50% marks in graduation, while the SC/ST candidates need to have minimum of 45% marks or equivalent CGPA.
  • The duration of graduation period should be minimum three years.
  • Students in their final year of graduation can also apply for CAT, provided they complete their graduation within the stipulated period of time.
  • There is no minimum age of candidates to apply for CAT.

CAT 2019 Registration

The process of CAT 2019 registration is completely online. Candidates have to visit the official site of CAT and click on to the “Registration” button. They will have to fill in the form with basic details which include name, email address and mobile number; they will receive the credentials to login their email address. The application form of CAT 2019 will be available 7th August, 2019.

Steps to Fill CAT 2019 Application Form

The first step to fill CAT 2019 application form is to visit the page of application in the official website of CAT. Upon visiting the page, candidates have to fill in the form with correct information which include Personal Details, Contact Details, Academic Details and Work Experience. Then they can select the IIMs they want to apply for and also select the Test Centres as well as Interview Cities. Once all the required information are filled in properly, candidates have to click on to “Save & Next” button. They also have to upload their recent colour passport size photograph and signature in the space provided. The last step includes paying the application fee through different modes like Credit/Debit Card or Net Banking.

Application Fee:

Candidates falling under General category will have to pay a fee of Rs.1900, while candidates falling under SC/ST/PWD category will have to pay a fee of Rs.950, in order to apply for CAT 2019. The application fee has to be paid through Credit/Debit Card or Net Banking.

Tips on Preparing for CAT 2019

  • Candidates must make it a point that they go through the entire syllabus of the particular CAT paper that they are going to take test of.
  • A day-to-day time table should be prepared.
  • Candidates will benefit by practising previous years’ question papers as well as sample papers.
  • They must take as many mock tests as possible as it will help them know the real feel of the actual exam.
  • Referring to CAT books which cover the entire syllabus is a prudent idea.

CAT 2019 Exam Pattern

As per the CAT 2019 exam pattern, it is going to be a completely computer based test. The duration of the exam will be three hours and the test should carry 100 objective types multiple choice (MCQs) and non-multiple choice type questions (non-MCQs). The areas that will be covered in CAT 2019 include Quantitative Ability (QA), Verbal ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR).  Candidates will get three marks for answering each correct question, while -1 will be deducted for every wrong question. There will not be any negative marking for non-MCQs or TITA.

CAT 2019 Syllabus

There is no particular syllabus for CAT 2019. However, based on previous years’ syllabus, the experts have come up with the syllabus mentioned herein below:

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR): Case lets and Tables, Bar Graphs and Column Graphs, Venn Diagrams, Line Charts & Pie Chart, Combination of two or more types linked to each other, Number and Letter Series, Calendars, Cubes and Clocks, Binary Logic, Seating Arrangement, Syllogism, Logical, Matching, Logical Sequence, Logical, Connectives, Blood Relations, etc.

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC): Synonyms Antonyms (Vocabulary Based), Grammar or English Usage, Correction in Sentence, Fill in the blanks, Jumbled Paragraph and Close Passage, Analogies and Reverse Analogies, Meaning/Usage Match, Verbal Reasoning, Summary Questions, Reading Comprehension, Facts Inferences Judgements, etc.

Quantitative Ability (QA): Number Systems, LCM & HCF, Profit, Loss & Discount, Percentages, Speed, Time & Distance, Time & Work, Simple & Compound Interest, Ratio & Proportion, Averages, Quadratic & Linear Equations, Complex Numbers, Logarithm, Binomial Theorem, Sequences & Series, Surds & Indices, Inequalities, Probability, Permutation and Combination, Set Theory, Functions & Geometry, Mixtures & Allegations, Trigonometry, Coordinate Geometry & Mensuration, etc.

CAT 2019 Mock Test

Candidates must note that they should unfailingly take maximum numbers of mock tests. The mock test will be released by IIMs in the 28th October, 2019. However, candidates should know that the questions in the mock test will no way be similar to the ones that they will get in the real exam.

CAT 2019 Admit Card

The CAT 2019 admit card has been released candidates can be downloaded online from the official website from 23rd  October, 2019. Candidates need to know that only downloading option will be available to them and they will not receive the hall ticket by post or through email. They must take a print of the admit card and carry it to the examination hall. They must keep it even after the exam is over. They can use their credentials that they had received at the time registration, to download the admit card.

CAT 2019 Exam Centres

The centres for CAT 2019 will as usually be located in 156 cities instead of 147 cities in the country. However, it is expected that the CAT exam centres will be increased this year in order to make it easier for the candidates to take test. While filling up the application, candidates will require selecting three preferred exam centres, though the centre will be allotted by the IIMs. Candidates will be able to see their centre in their admit card.

The exam centres, state-wise are mentioned herein below:

State Cities
Andaman and Nicobar Islands Port Blair
Andhra Pradesh Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Chittoor, Kurnool, Nellore
Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar
Assam Guwahati, Dibrugarh
Bihar Muzaffarpur, Patna, Purnea, Aurangabad, Gaya
Chandigarh Chandigarh
Chattisgarh Bhillai, Raipur
Delhi New Delhi
Goa Verna, Madgaon
Gujarat Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Anand, Gandhinagar
Haryana Palwal, Panipath, Rohtak, Sonipath, Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon
Himachal Pradesh Shimla
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu
Jharkhand Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad
Karnataka Mysore, Ramnagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Davanagere, Hasan, Kolar, Mandya, Mangalore, Belgaum, Bengaluru, Bidar, Chikballapur
Kerala Malappuram, Thrissur, Trivandrum, Kasaragod, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kollam
Madhya Pradesh Jabalpur, Sagar, Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior
Maharashtra Pune, Ratnagiri, Satara, Solapur, Thane, Ahmednagar, Amravati, Aurangabad, Nanded, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nagpur
Meghalaya Shillong
Odisha Rourkela, Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Berhampur
Puducherry Puducherry
Punjab Patiala, Ropar, Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana
Rajasthan Kota, Sikar, Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer, Alwar
Tamil Nadu Karim Nagar, Khammam, Hyderabad Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelvelli, Chennai, Madurai, Namakkal, Thanjavur, Coimbatore
Tamil Nadu Karim Nagar, Khammam, Hyderabad
Uttar Pradesh Meerut, Noida, Varanasi, Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur
Uttarakhand Roorkee, Dehradun
West Bengal Kalyani, Kolkata, Siliguri, Durgapur, Hooghly, Howrah, Asansol, Burdwan

CAT 2019 Question Paper

It is expected that the question paper for CAT 2019 will be released in the first week of December, 2019. Candidates who are going to appear for the test must download the question paper so as to have an idea of the type of questions as well as topics they can expect to come across in the test.

CAT 2019 Answer Key

The conducting IIM last year released answer key, and this year also it is expected that IIM Kozhikode will release answer key. However, candidates must know that the answer keys are available after the actual test is over.  The answer key is helpful to the candidates in a way to check if they have answered every question correctly and how much marks they may secure in the test.

CAT 2019 Result

As the CAT 2019 exam will be held in 24th November, the result is expected to be announced in the second week of January, 2020. The result will be available in the form of a score card which will consist of sectional and overall scaled scores and percentiles. Candidates will not receive any hard copy or even soft copy of their result by post or through email. They will have to visit the official site of CAT and login with the User ID and password that they received during registration. They have to take a print of the score card and keep it at least till the time their admission process is not over.

CAT 2019 Normalization Process

The test will be held in multiple slots in a single day. It is required to normalize the test takers’ marks from both the slots. The scaled scores for each of the section along with percentile will be declared during result. The normalization process is done to compare the scores and to make sure that none of the candidates from any of the slot are in an advantaged or disadvantaged position.

CAT 2019 Cut-off Score

The cut-off marks vary from one institute to the other. Candidates must note that the leading B-schools have the higher range of CAT cut-off marks. The cut-off marks largely depend on the factors including complexity level of the exam, numbers of test takers and a number of seats, etc.

CAT 2019 Selection Procedure

As the selection process of CAT 2019 is concerned, the admission process is conducted by each of the institutes separately. The candidates are shortlisted on the basis of CAT cut-off. Once the candidates are shortlisted, they will have to appear for the further selection rounds which include Group Discussion (GD) or Writing Ability Test (WAT) or both and Personal Interview (PI) rounds. Common Admission Process (CAP) is conducted by all the new IIMs where in candidates who are shortlisted by all participating IIMs will have to appear for WAT and PI rounds. According to the CAT selection process, a separate merit list is released by each of the IIMs. The factors based on which the final selection process is done include performance in CAT, GD/WAT & PI rounds and past academic records as well as work experience. However, the parameters vary from one institute to the other.

Reservation Criteria in CAT 2019

A certain reservation criteria are followed by all IIMs in which seats are reserved category wise. Taking an instance, for PWD (Person with Disability) the percentage is 3, for ST (Scheduled Tribe) it is 7.50 percentage, for SC (Scheduled Caste) it is 15 percentage and 27 percentage for OBC-NC (Other Backward Class – Non-Creamy Layer).

CAT 2019 Participating Institutes

The CAT scores are accepted by a total of 115 B-schools, among which 114 are from India and one is from Singapore. It is being estimated that over 100 Indian as well as foreign B-schools will be CAT 2019 participating institutes. Among all, 20 are IIMs. Both public and private institutes are among the participating institutes. Some of the noted public participating institutes include IITs, NITs, MANAGE Hyderabad, FMS Delhi, IISc Bangalore, among others. The leading private participating institutes are MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, IMT Ghaziabad, etc.

CAT 2019 FAQs

Q: Do I have to submit the overall graduation marks according to my University standards?

A: Yes, you need submit the percentage as per your University standards.

Q: I am still in my final year of graduation. How do I apply for it?

A: You need to provide an aggregate percentage of the last marks statement that you have received from the University.

Q: I am a working professional. Can I apply for CAT 2019?

A: Yes you can apply for the test.

Q: What is the age limit to appear for the test?

A: There is no age limit to take the test. However, you need to have done your graduation with required marks.

Q: Can I finalize my preferred CAT centre?

A: No. The centre will be finalized by IIMs.