Analysis of VARC in CAT - Past 3 years

Calender Icon CAT Notification: August 2023

Analysis of VARC in CAT - Past 3 years

Lavleen kaur kapoor

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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 1/3rd 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:

CAT VARC

The breakup of VARC questions are:

CAT Exam VARC Questions

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.

CAT Exam VA Questions

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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