We all know that the CAT 2020 notification came up with the surprise of reduced time - just 70 odd-days - before CAT. From the earlier duration of 3 hours, the test duration was reduced to 2 hours; with 40 minutes allotted to each section. However, what remained under speculation was the total number of questions in CAT 2020. As expected, reduced time calls for a reduced number of questions; and as predicted by Career Launcher, we expected the total number of questions to be around 75.
Based on the expectation, CAT aspirants had to face 76 questions in 2 hours. Section-wise distribution of questions was again, as expected; and had been discussed multiple times in Career Launcher's classes and open sessions. That is:
CAT 2020 VARC: 26 questions
CAT 2020 DILR: 24 questions
CAT 2020 QA: 26 questions
The marking scheme remained the same: +3/-1 for MCQs, and +3/0 for non-MCQs. The overall level of difficulty for CAT 2020 slot 1 was slightly higher than that of CAT 2019. In terms of section-wise level of difficulty, VARC was lengthy and slightly tricky. DILR went back to CAT 2016-18 levels after a short breather in CAT 2018. QA was slightly easier than CAT 2019, in terms of LOD.
An overall raw score of around 105-110 should fetch a 99%ile in CAT 2020.
CAT 2020 Paper Pattern & Section-wise expected score for 99%ile+
|
Section Name |
Total Questions |
Time Limit |
Marking Scheme |
Score for 99%ile |
|
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
26 |
40 Minutes |
+3/-1 (for MCQs) +3/0 (for non-MCQs) |
40-42 |
|
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) |
24 |
40 Minutes |
+3/-1 (for MCQs) +3/0 (for non-MCQs) |
32-34 |
|
Quantitative Ability (QA) |
26 |
40 Minutes |
+3/-1 (for MCQs) +3/0 (for non-MCQs) |
46-48 |
|
Total |
76 |
120 Minutes |
+3/-1 (for MCQs) +3/0 (for non-MCQs) |
105-110 |