Analysis of VARC in CAT - Past 3 years

CAT 2021 is going to be held in November 2021 in 2 slots. It is time to gear up and start preparing for the exam. We bring to you the detailed analysis of the CAT exam section wise held in the last 3 years so that it helps you understand what to expect and what not to.CAT is famous for giving surprise. In this article, we discuss the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Section (VARC).

Exam Details Analysis

CAT 2015 was the first time when the CAT exam was held in 1 day over 2 slots ever since it became an online test in 2009. Also, it was the first year when Non-MCQs and sectional time limit were introduced. 

CAT Details	CAT 2015	CAT 2016	CAT 2017
Exam Date	29th November 2015	4th December 2016	26th November 2017
Exam Duration	180 minutes	180 minutes	180 minutes
Total Questions	100	100	100
Conducting Authority	IIM-A	IIM-B	IIM-L
Exam Mode	CBT	CBT	CBT
Marking Scheme	Correct : +3 Incorrect: -1	Correct : +3* Incorrect: -1*	Correct : +3 Incorrect: -1
Total Marks	300	300	300

*There was a technical glitch w.r.t marking scheme for CAT 2016 as exam showed +1 and -.33. Students are advised to only keep in mind that 1/3^rd marks will be deducted for incorrect answer from the overall credit score.

VARC Questions and Time Analysis

VARC raw score is calculated out of 102 marks. The overall questions and sectional time limit details for VARC are:

The breakup of VARC questions are:

Note: There were no MCQs 2015 and 2016.

RC Questions Analysis

1. Similarities observed in 2015, 2016, and 2017 were:
   1. There 5 RC passages.
   2. 2 RCs has 3 questions each. The word limit was 300+ words
   3. 3 RCs has 6 questions each. The word limit was 500-650+ words
2. Differences observed in 2015, 2016, and 2017 were:

Details	2017	2016	2015
Overall	Easier than 2016 with common  topics ranging from Economy, Culture, Technology, Business, Finance	Easy vocabulary but lengthy passages with few tricky questions. Topics were mostly Economics, Environment and  Linguistic Studies	Simple Content with Tough and Tricky Questions and Options. It was a surprise since it did not have Grammar and Vocabulary questions
Word Limit	300 - 650	300 - 650	600 - 800
Question Break up	Moderate : 8 Easy :16	Tough: 2-3 Moderate: 8-9 Easy: 14-15	Moderate: 8-10 Easy: 14-15
Overall Difficulty	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

VA Questions Analysis

The overall questions were divided into 3 areas only:

Details	2017	2016	2015
Para-Jumbles	Tricky and Time Consuming	1 - Easy ; 3 Tough	Tough
Summary	Tough	2 - Easy; 1 - Tough	Moderate
Out of Context	Easy	Easy	Moderate
Overall	Tough	Easy - Moderate	Tough- Moderate

If we see the breakup of type of questions, 2017 was different since it had a mix of MCQs and Non-MCQs, unlike 2015 and 2016.

Time Spent on VARC Section

 To do well in this section a candidate should ideally spend

1. 35-40 minutes on RC
2. 10-12 minutes on VA

Always make sure you have at least 5 minutes for revision.

Overall Percentile

In order to get a good 97-98 percentile a candidate must make sure he/she has a minimum number of attempts such as:

Good Number of Attempts	2017	2016	2015
VA	18-21	17-18	20-22
RC	8-9	5-6	7-8
Overall	27-29	22-24	27-30

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