CAT Exam Full Form: What is Full Form of CAT?

What is CAT Full Form?

The CAT Exam Full Form is Common Admission Test. It is a computer-based online exam conducted by IIM every year, in the month of November to shortlist aspirants for MBA programs. It is a national-level MBA Entrance Exam and one of the most competitive exams in India. As per the official CAT Exam Pattern, there are three exam sections, including:

• VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension)
• QA(Quantitative Ability)
• DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning)

If you are preparing for CAT in the upcoming years, then you should all the details about eligibility to avoid cancellation of your candidature at a later stage of the selection process.

CAT Exam Full Form – Highlights

Check the table below to know more about the CAT Full Form and other basic information about this exam. It will clear your understanding of the exam.

Components	Particulars
CAT Full Form	Common Admission Test
Conducting Body	Indian Institute of Management (IIM)
CAT Registration Mode	Online
Exam Mode	Online (Computer-based test)
CAT Questions Paper	Both MCQs and TITA
Exam Sections	3 sections: VARC DILR QA
Eligibility	The candidates have to be graduated from any recognized university with 50% marks in aggregate (45% for reserved category)
Courses offered	MBA and PGDM

History of the CAT Exam

To gain a better insight into the CAT, the candidates must go through the history of this exam. Here, our experts have mentioned a brief history of the CAT exam. It was a pen and paper-based exam until 2009. So, all the candidates appeared for this exam in an offline mode.

• The first CBT mode for this exam was introduced on 1 May 2009.
• In 2011, the exam authority announced that both IITs and IISc would use CAT Result to shortlist the candidates for MBA admission despite JMET (Joint Management Entrance Test).
• However, the first online test was interfered with due to technical glitches. Two viruses, Conficker and W32 Nimda, slow down the web browsers, which was later investigated by the Investigation Team, Government of India.

Eligibility of CAT Exam

The candidates must fulfil the basic parameters of CAT Eligibility before applying for the exam. Here, we have listed the basic details, related to CAT exam eligibility in the section below.

• Candidates must be graduated or completed their bachelor’s degree in any stream with 50% in aggregate or its equivalent CGPA (45% in reserved category candidates).
• The final-year students are also eligible for this exam. But they must submit their proof of education at the time of the counselling process.
• There is no mention of work experience requirements to fill out the application form. But working professionals can also apply for this exam.

Exam Pattern and Duration

The CAT exam pattern has gone through several changes in the past few years. As per the latest updates, in 2022, a total of 66 questions were asked, which included both MCQs and TITA questions.

• The total exam duration is 120 minutes.
• It is a computer-based test, consisting of 3 sections, VARC, DILR and QA.
• There is a sectional time limit in CAT, which is 40 minutes for each section.
• As per the official CAT Negative Marking, -1 is deducted for every incorrect answer in the MCQ part, as the negative marking scheme is not applicable for TITA Questions and unattempted questions.