CAT Exam 2022 is expected to be held on November 27, 2022, as every year one of 20 IIMs conducts the examination on the last Sunday of November. CAT 2022 official notification will be released in the last week of July and soon after that CAT 2022 Registration process will begin. In the 2021 examination, the eligibility criteria had been relaxed for the 2020 & 2021 session pass-outs, and for final year candidates. Further changes in CAT 2022 Eligibility criteria will be released with official notification. 

• CAT Registration fee had also been increased to INR 2200 for GN and INR 1100 for SC/ST/PwD candidates in the 2021 session and is expected to remain the same for 2022 application process. 
• CAT Exam Pattern has been revised and as per the new pattern, the paper will have a total of 76 questions of 228 marks that need to be done in 2 hours' time. 
• CAT Syllabus is not prescribed by the exam conducting body therefore candidates are advised to download previous year's question papers to get an idea about the topics from where questions can be asked in paper. Download CAT Question Papers

What is CAT Exam? CAT is a Common Admission Test conducted for admission in 20 IIMs and other participating institutes. Candidates qualifying CAT Cut Off will be offered admission in around 5000+ seats. Based on the previous year’s trends, candidates with 90+ Percentiles can apply for the admission process of IIMs. Read the article to know more about CAT 2022 preparation plan, study notes, pattern, syllabus, important dates, and much more.

CAT Exam 2022 Highlights

CAT 2022 Exam Dates

CAT 2022 Official Notification

Every year one of the IIMs releases the official notification in the last week of July. Therefore, CAT 2022 official notification can also be expected in the 4^th week of July. All the important details related to exam dates, eligibility, pattern, etc will be mentioned in the official notice. Candidates can take a look at the previous year's official notice released by IIM. 

Changes Introduced in CAT

In the last few years, various changes had been introduced in CAT. In the 2021 examination also, the conducting body had introduced changes in eligibility, pattern, registration fees, etc. The important changes are mentioned below: 

• Application Fees Revised – CAT application fee has been increased to INR 2200 from 2000 for GN and to INR 1100 from 1000 for SC/ST/PwD candidates. 
• Reduction in Total Number of Questions – Based on the new exam pattern, there will be a total of 76 questions in the exam. 
• Reduction in Section & Overall Time Limit  – Since the total number of questions has been reduced the sectional time limit has also been reduced to 40 minutes for each section and the overall time limit has also been reduced to 2 hours. 
• Changes in Eligibility Criteria – Due to COVID-19, a few changes had been introduced in CAT eligibility criteria which enables the 2020, 2021 passout candidates to appear for the exam without fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria.  

CAT 2022 Eligibility and Reservation Criteria

There are certain criteria that need to be met by the candidates for applying for CAT 2022 examination are mentioned below:

• Candidates must have a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from a recognized institution or institute in any field.
• The candidates must have an average score of 50% marks (45% for SC/ ST/ PWD category candidates) or equivalent in the respective exam.
• Candidates who are appearing for the final year of Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed their final examination and are awaiting results can also apply.
• Applicants with a professional degree (CA, CS, or ICWA) are also eligible.

CAT Reservation Criteria

As per the legal necessity, CAT 2022 have the reservation on the basis of different category such as:

CAT 2022 Registration Process

All the registration processes will begin online. Candidates can register themselves for CAT 2022 on the official website. The candidates will have to provide the required details while filling up the form. Documents required for filling up the CAT 2022 Application Form are mentione below: 

Steps to Fill CAT 2022 Registration Form

• Step 1: CAT 2022 Registration: Visit the official website for CAT 2022. Enter your name, date of birth, email address, phone number, and country of origin. A user ID and password will be sent to the candidate's registered email address and mobile number after verification. To access the application form, log in again using your CAT 2022 user ID and password
• Step 2: Filling out the Application Form: The candidates have to fill up their personal details such as name, father’s name, date of birth, gender, nationality, category, mobile number, email Id, address. The candidates have to select the IIMs of their preference and the course they want to take. The candidate can choose up to six cities as an examination centre.
• Step 3: Payment of Application Fee for CAT 2022: After all the required personal details, the candidates have to pay for the application form by Debit/credit card/Internet Banking or any other money wallet.

CAT 2022 Registration Fees

There has been an increase in the CAT application fee. The fees now charged to complete the application form is mentioned in the table below: 

CAT 2022 Admit Card & Exam Centers

CAT 2022 admit card will be available on the official  website. Candidates who will successfully submitt the application form will be able to access their admit cards. 

• To the exam centre, the candidate must bring a printout of your admit card as well as a valid photo ID.
• The important details related to exam center, exam timings etc will be mentioned in your admit card. 

CAT 2022 Exam Center

For the 2021 session, a total of 425 test centers across 159 exam cities had been allotted by the conducting body. The details regarding the exam centers for CAT 2022 will be released with official notification. 

CAT 2022 Preparation Plan

CAT is a competitive examination for which almost every year 2,27,835 candidates appear. So, the aspirants have to prepare well to crack the examination. The aspirants can develop strategies that would help them in scoring well.

• Start off with making a schedule or routine which would help the candidate keep track of their progress with time. Make a routine as per your convenience and stick to it.
• Try and figure out your weaker and stronger sections. Give more time to the sections you feel you are weak and call for more attention. Prepare the ones easy for you first.
• Practice Verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, /Data interpretation, Mathematics, and more. The more you will practice, the more you will gain confidence.
• One should remember mnemonics. It is helpful to study smartly.
• Clearance of concept. CAT is all about the applicability of common sense. One should have clarity while studying for CAT.
• Make sure to not indulge in social media or phone. It will cost the aspirants their precious time.
• Some Subject Wise Tips to be followed while preparing for CAT 2022 are mentioned below.

CAT Quant Preparation Tips

• Start from the basic concepts of Maths. 
• Learn shortcut tricks to solve the questions faster. 
• Maintain one Formula Book and keep on adding new formulas in that book for revisions. 
• Learn Square Roots, Cube Roots, Conversion formulas etc to solve the questions easily.

CAT VARC Preparation Tips

• Spend 2-3 hours in reading activity to improve reading and understanding of passage speed. 
• Start VARC preparation from the basic concepts of grammar. 
• VA and RC questions will be different from each other. Try to identify the questions during the time of preparation and prepare accordingly. 
• Solve maximum number of set type questions.

CAT DILR Preparation Tips

• DI and LR are different but will be asked in Set type questions and cracking one set will help you in solving 4-5 questions. 
• LR questions will be based on puzzles, seating arrangements.
• DI questions will be based on graphs, pie charts.
• A few formulas like percentage. profit & loss etc can be used in DI questions. 

CAT Question Papers PDFs for Preparation

CAT previous year's questions are helpful in understanding the type of questions and difficulty level of the paper. Other than that, regular practice of solving 1-2 question papers will help you in improving the speed and accuracy level of answering the questions. 

Subject Wise CAT Question Papers PDFs:

Year Wise CAT Question Paper PDFs:

CAT Coaching Centers for Preparation

Aspirants planning to appear for CAT 2022 can also opt for a coaching institute to prepare for the exam. CAT coaching centers will help you in preparing for the exam by providing the study notes, practice papers, mock tests, practice sessions, etc. While selecting the coaching center you can take one demo session with a few institutes. Some of the city-wise coaching centers are provided in the table below:

CAT Exam Pattern & Syllabus 2022

CAT Exam Pattern 2022

• CAT consists of three sections:
  • Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
  • Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
  • Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR).
• The detailed CAT Exam Pattern is provided in the table below:

CAT Syllabus 2022

• As per trends, CAT Syllabus is derived from 10th -12th standard chapters and largely remains undefined. 
• Also, every year conducting IIM releases a CAT Mock Test which highlights question types and syllabus.

Important Topics in CAT Syllabus

Best Books for CAT 2022 Preparation

Candidates planning to appear for CAT 2022, can refer to the following books during the days of preparation. These books will help you in getting a better understanding of topics.

CAT Cut off 2022

The qualifying CAT 2022 cut off for admission in the 2023-25 batch will be released by the respective IIMs. To become eligible for the admission process candidates will have to clear the sectional as well as overall cut off decided by the institutes. Candidates can check the table below to get an idea about the overall and section cut off of top IIMs.