CAT 2025 Analysis: DILR More Difficult Than Last Year; Overall Paper Moderately Challenging with Slot 3 QA Toughest
The CAT 2025 exam, conducted by IIM Kozhikode in three slots, was moderately difficult, with DILR and QA sections being more challenging than CAT 2024. Expert analysis and good attempts.
Overall Assessment: CAT 2025 Slightly More Challenging Than Last Year
The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025, conducted by IIM Kozhikode in three slots on November 30, was overall assessed as moderately difficult, with a slight increase in challenge compared to CAT 2024. The structure remained consistent with 68 questions across three sections—Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA).
The key takeaway from expert and student feedback is that selection of questions was paramount, as the DILR and QA sections saw an elevated difficulty level.
Section-Wise Difficulty Breakdown
The difficulty level varied across the three slots, with DILR consistently emerging as the 'make or break' section.
| Section | Slot 1 Difficulty | Slot 2 Difficulty | Slot 3 Difficulty | Good Attempts (Net Correct) for 99%ile |
| VARC | Moderate | Moderate | Easy to Moderate | $12-14$ Questions |
| DILR | Moderate to Difficult | Moderate to Difficult | Moderate to Difficult | $8-9$ Questions |
| QA | Moderately Difficult | Moderate | Difficult (Toughest of the day) | $10-12$ Questions |
| Overall | Moderate to Difficult | Moderate to Difficult | Moderate to Difficult | $25-27$ Questions |
1. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
The VARC section was rated easy to moderate across all slots, maintaining a similar pattern to CAT 2024.
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Pattern: 24 questions (16 RC questions from 4 passages, 8 Verbal Ability questions).
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Key Insight: While passages were often described as dense, the questions largely focused on the central idea and structure, making the section relatively scoring for candidates with strong reading habits. The section also saw the reintroduction of Parajumbles as TITA (Type in the Answer) questions.
2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
The DILR section was the major differentiating factor, with a consensus among experts that it was marginally more difficult than CAT 2024.
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Pattern: 22 questions across 5 sets (typically a mix of 4-question and 5-question sets).
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Key Insight: The section leaned heavily towards Logical Reasoning (LR) over pure Data Interpretation (DI), with a focus on tricky, time-consuming caselets like network diagrams, arrangement puzzles, and logic games. Identifying and solving at least two high-accuracy sets (8-9 net correct attempts) was crucial for a competitive percentile.
3. Quantitative Ability (QA)
The QA section maintained its focus on core topics but required high calculation accuracy.
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Pattern: 22 questions (a mix of MCQ and TITA).
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Topic Focus: Arithmetic and Algebra dominated the section, with a comparatively lower weightage given to Geometry and Modern Maths.
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Slot Variation: Slot 3 of the QA section was considered the toughest of the day, featuring questions that were calculation-heavy and conceptually deep, leading to a projected lower cut-off for that session compared to Slots 1 and 2.
Expected Score for 99th Percentile
Initial estimates from various coaching institutes suggest that an overall net correct attempt of $25$ to $27$ questions (corresponding to a score in the $85-90$ marks range out of $204$) with high accuracy is likely to secure the 99th percentile in CAT 2025. This prediction is contingent upon the final normalisation process used by IIM Kozhikode to balance the marginal difficulty variations across the three slots.
