The MICAT 2026 Phase 1 was successfully conducted on 6th December 2025. There is no negative marking in Sections I and II since they are subjective. However, Section III has a negative marking. For each incorrect answer in this section, the candidate is penalized with a negative mark of 0.25.
|
Section |
No. of Questions |
Question Type |
Time (Minutes) |
Difficulty Level |
Doable Questions |
|
Psychometric Test |
68 |
Questions based on real-life situations |
25 min |
||
|
Descriptive Test |
4 |
300-word explanations |
25 min |
|
|
|
Divergent & Convergent Thinking |
20 |
80 min |
Moderate |
10-12 |
|
|
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension |
20 |
Moderate |
12–13 |
||
|
Quantitative Ability & DI |
20 |
Moderate |
7-8 |
||
|
General Awareness |
10 |
Easy |
6–7 |
MICAT’s section-wise analysis gives a clear view of difficulty trends, question patterns, and doable attempts across Psychometric, Descriptive, DCT, VARC, QA-DI, and GK.
The RC section was moderately challenging, testing comprehension, reasoning, and critical interpretation. With careful reading, around 5-6 questions were reasonably doable.
|
S. No. |
Topic / Area |
No. of Questions |
Words |
Difficulty Level |
Description / Doable |
|
1 |
Recoding Intellectual Labour into Quantifiable Output |
2 |
85 |
Moderate-Diificult |
1 |
|
2 |
Kangaroo and Their Reproductive Ability – Embryonic Diapause |
3 |
150 |
Easy |
3 |
|
3 |
Urban Living, Café, Habermas's Concept of Public Sphere |
5 |
650 |
Difficult |
2 |
In the verbal Ability section, it was noted that the overall difficulty level was tougher when compared to MICAT 2024. The VA topics were moderate to difficult with only 1 doable question in fill in the blank.
|
S. No. |
Topic / Area |
No. of Questions |
Difficulty Level |
Description / Doable |
|
1 |
FIB |
3 |
Difficult |
1 |
|
2 |
Word Substitution |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
3 |
Error Identification |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
4 |
Analogy |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
5 |
Odd Sentence Out |
2 |
Moderate–Difficult |
1 |
|
6 |
Para Completion |
1 |
Moderate-Difficult |
1 |
|
7 |
Para Summary |
1 |
Moderate-Difficult |
1 |
|
10 |
Moderate-Difficult |
1 |
DCT featured a diverse set of reasoning questions, such as analogy, coding-decoding, data sufficiency, and logical conclusions. With mixed difficulty levels, strategic selection was key, allowing candidates to attempt the more approachable questions comfortably
|
S. No. |
Topic / Area |
No. of Questions |
Difficulty Level |
Description / Doable |
|
1 |
Number Analogy |
1 |
Moderate |
Doable |
|
2 |
Coding–Decoding |
1 |
Easy |
Doable |
|
3 |
Data Sufficiency |
2 |
Moderate |
Doable |
|
4 |
Word Association |
3 |
Difficult |
1 |
|
5 |
Blood Relation |
1 |
Easy |
Doable |
|
6 |
Paper Folding |
1 |
Moderate |
Not Doable |
|
7 |
Direction Sense |
1 |
Easy |
Doable |
|
8 |
Linear Arrangement |
1 |
Difficult |
Doable |
|
9 |
Statement–Reason |
1 |
Easy |
Doable |
|
10 |
Logical Conclusion |
2 |
Difficult |
1 |
|
11 |
Miscellaneous |
1 |
Difficult |
Doable |
|
Total |
– |
20 |
MICAT quant section was considered lengthy and time-consuming. While the overall difficulty can be considered moderate, the questions consumed a lot of time and had to be worked out.
|
S. No. |
Topic / Area |
No. of Questions |
Difficulty Level |
Description / Doable |
|
1 |
Arithmetic: Profit & Loss |
2 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
2 |
Arithmetic: Mixtures |
1 |
Moderate |
0 |
|
3 |
Arithmetic: Averages |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
4 |
Arithmetic: TSD |
1 |
Moderate |
0 |
|
5 |
Arithmetic: Time & Work |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
6 |
Algebra: Linear Equation |
1 |
Difficult |
0 |
|
7 |
Numbers |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
8 |
Geometry: Quadrilaterals |
2 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
9 |
Modern Math: Set Theory |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
10 |
Modern Math: Probability |
2 |
Moderate |
0 |
|
11 |
Modern Math: Set Progression |
1 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
12 |
Table – 4 IT Companies (PQRS) Recruit 4500 Employees |
2 |
Moderate |
1 |
|
13 |
Pie Chart / Bar Graph – First Language |
4 |
Moderate |
2 |
|
Total |
– |
20 |
This section tested brand awareness, corporate knowledge, and popular culture through simple, direct questions. The overall difficulty was easy, making 6–7 questions easily doable for most aspirants.
|
S. No. |
Topic / Area |
No. of Questions |
Difficulty Level |
Description / Doable |
|
1 |
Company Logos |
2 |
Easy |
1 |
|
2 |
Coach – Games |
1 |
Easy |
1 |
|
3 |
Tagline |
1 |
Easy |
1 |
|
4 |
Corporate |
1 |
Easy |
1 |
|
5 |
Entertainment |
1 |
Easy |
1 |
|
6 |
Endorsement |
2 |
Easy |
1 |
|
7 |
Miscellaneous |
2 |
Easy |
1 |
|
Total |
– |
10 |
Easy |
6–7 |
The MICAT paper this year was more time-consuming compared to the previous edition, with several sections being slightly harder than last year. While most questions were approachable, many required careful thought and systematic working to arrive at the correct answers. Overall, the test demanded a balance of speed, reasoning depth, and smart question selection.
MICAT-I was conducted on December 7, 2024. The overall difficulty level of the paper was moderate-difficult. There is no negative marking in Sections I and II since they are subjective. However, Section III has a negative marking. For each incorrect answer in this section, the candidate is penalized with a negative mark of 0.25 marks.
MICAT -I was conducted on 2nd December 2023. The overall difficulty level of the paper was difficult. There is no negative marking in Sections I and II since they are subjective. However, Section III has a negative marking. For each incorrect answer in this section, the candidate is penalized with a negative mark of 0.25 marks.
MICAT -I was conducted on 3rd December 2022. The overall difficulty level of the paper was difficult. All questions were lengthy and difficult.
The overall exam analysis is expected to be under the same breath as previous year as far as the difficulty level, interpretation of result, score evaluation and shortlisting procedure is concerned. However, certain information regarding MICA’s cut off score or distributed weightage of MICAT and CAT and their contribution towards the final panel decision has not been declared yet and is therefore, tough to extrapolate this soon.
MICAT 1 2020 was, by and large, of a similar difficulty level as the previous MICAT Exams and this means that the cut offs are unlikely to shift. However this is no guarantee as the cut offs are dependent on the candidate pool just as much as the difficulty of the paper.
While deciding on the calls to be given, MICA Ahmedabad looks at the candidates who have qualified in the Psychometric section first (Candidates who fail this section are not considered). Following this, the candidates' MICAT Score and CAT Score are considered to form a preliminary list. From this list, the candidates who stand out in their descriptive essay section are called for the final selection procedures. This elaborate procedure means that it is difficult to estimate the cut off for MICAT 2020.
MICAT 2 was held on 9th February 2019 while MICAT 1 was held on 1st December 2018. It was held as a Computer Based Test as they have been since 2015. The paper pattern of MICAT 2020 is expected to be the same as the paper pattern of the MICAT 2019 Exam.
| Section Name | Number of Questions | Sectional Time Limit (min.) |
| Section 1: Psychometric Test | 27 | 25 |
| Psychometric Test | 27 | 25 |
| Section 2: Aptitude Test | 105 | 105 |
| Verbal Ability | 25 | No specific time limit |
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 25 | No specific time limit |
| General Awareness | 25 | No specific time limit |
| Divergent and Convergent Thinking | 30 | No specific time limit |
| Section 3: Descriptive Test | 4 | 35 |
| Total | 136 | 165 |
The MICAT Exam is slightly tricky because getting a high score in the Aptitude test does not guarantee you an interview call. All it does is ensuring that the candidate clears the cut off in that section. The Psychometric test as well as Descriptive Test is also evaluated before deciding the final list of candidates. Due to this, it is difficult to determine the MICAT Cut Off. With a good descriptive test, candidates with 44 marks also had calls while candidates with 50 did not get a call due to their descriptive test.
MICAT 2018 was held on 17th December 2017 and 17th February 2018. The number of questions in the Psychometric section was lower in MICAT 2018 compared to MICAT 2019. The MICAT 2018 paper pattern is given below:
| Section Name | Number of Questions | Sectional Time Limit (min.) |
| Section 1: Psychometric Test | 36 | 25 |
| Psychometric Test | 36 | 25 |
| Section 2: Aptitude Test | 105 | 105 |
| Verbal Ability | 25 | No specific time limit |
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 25 | No specific time limit |
| General Awareness | 25 | No specific time limit |
| Divergent and Convergent Thinking | 30 | No specific time limit |
| Section 3: Descriptive Test | 4 | 35 |
| Total | 145 | 165 |
Similar to MICAT 2019, the cut off is difficult to determine but candidates with scores over 50 would stand a good chance of getting a call as long as they did well in their descriptive test.
Read complete MICAT 2018 Exam AnalysisMICAT 2017 was held on 11th December 2016 and 12th February 2017. The MICAT Paper Pattern remained exactly the same as in MICAT 2018. The paper pattern is as follows:
| Section Name | Number of Questions | Sectional Time Limit (min.) |
| Section 1: Psychometric Test | 36 | 25 |
| Psychometric Test | 36 | 25 |
| Section 2: Aptitude Test | 105 | 105 |
| Verbal Ability | 25 | No specific time limit |
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 25 | No specific time limit |
| General Awareness | 25 | No specific time limit |
| Divergent and Convergent Thinking | 30 | No specific time limit |
| Section 3: Descriptive Test | 4 | 35 |
| Total | 145 | 165 |
Any candidate who receives over 50 in the MICAT Exam should be relatively confident of the getting the call for GE-PI if their descriptive test went well.
One of the most important things that each candidate needs to prepare for is the Descriptive test. MICAT puts quite a bit of emphasis on the creativity shown in this section and it can act as the deciding factor for candidates who have cleared the cut off. Based on the score in this section, the decision on whether the candidate will get a GE-PI call.