CAT 2020 - Changes, Dates, Eligibility, Registration, Admit card, Paper pattern, Syllabus, Answer key, Result

 

CAT 2020 – COMMON ADMISSION TEST

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What is CAT Exam?

The Common Admission Test or CAT exam is a computer-based test for getting admission into a business school in India. The exam is conducted every year by one of the older Indian institutes of Management (IIMs) based on a policy of rotation as a prerequisite for admission to various management programs of IIMs. Apart from the IIMs, the exam is also accepted by other prestigious b-schools like FMS, SPJIMR, MDI, IITs, NITIE, IMI, IMT and hundreds of other MBA colleges.

Also check the list of Top 50 MBA colleges in India based on placements.

Changes in CAT 2020

CAT 2020 is going to be conducted by IIM Indore which has announced some major changes in the exam this year due to the Covid-19 crisis.

 Here are the four major changes in CAT 2020 –

 1. Exam duration reduced to 2 hours – This is an important thing to remember that the revised duration of the test will be only 120 minutes instead of 180 minutes. Therefore, there will be only 40 minutes given for each section. However the number of questions is yet to be announced.

 2. Number of session – CAT 2020 will be conducted on 29^th November (SUNDAY) in three slots instead of two. So there will be an extra slot this year to maintain the social distancing norms. The timing of the slots is as follows:

 3. Number of choice in exam center – Till last year, there was an option of choosing up to four cities for allotment of CAT exam center whereas this year, the candidate can select up to six cities.

 4. Increase in Application fee – CAT application fee has been increased by Rs.50 for SC/ST/PwD and Rs.100 for others which mean General/EWS/OBC category students have to pay Rs.2000 and SC/ST/PwD category students have to pay Rs.1000.         

In addition to these changes, IIM Indore has said that due to Covid-19 related disruptions, CAT 2020 may undergo more changes in future and the information provided by the CAT website is contingent upon the decisions and directions issued from time to time by the Central & State governments and IIMs.

Candidates are advised to check the website regularly for further information. You can check the CAT website from here – iimcat.ac.in

CAT 2020 Important Dates

CAT 2020 Eligibility Criteria

Candidates must check the eligibility criteria before applying for CAT 2020. Candidates applying for CAT 2020 should fulfill any one of the following condition:

 1. Candidate must hold a bachelor degree with at least 50% or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of the candidates belonging to SC/ST/Pwd)  from a university or educational institution recognized by the Government of India.

2. Candidates with professional degrees only like CA/CS/ICWA with required percentage are also eligible to appear for CAT 2020.

3. Candidates who are in the final year of graduation or are awaiting results can also apply for the CAT exam. However, the admission for such candidates will be on the provisional basis.

There is also no age limit in the CAT Exam.

To know more about the eligibility criteria, Click Here

CAT 2020 Registration cum Application Process

Candidates must know that CAT is a complete online process wherein they have to fill the registration and application form online and then pay the requisite fees to complete the process. The process has started from 5^th August, 2020 and the last date to apply for the exam is 23^rd September, 2020.

1. Online registration form – Candidates have to register for the CAT exam by filling up the Name, Date of Birth, Email address, Mobile number, Country. Then they have to generate the OTP which will be sent to the registered Mobile number on successful registration. After verification, candidates will get their unique User-ID and Password via registered email and mobile number.

2. Application Form – After registration, candidates have to login using the same User-ID and Password to fill up the application form.

The application form is divided into six different pages –

• Personal Details – In this page, the candidates are required to enter the Name, Date of birth, Father’s and Mother’s name, Gender, Category, Address, Nationality, etc.
• Academics – Candidates have to enter their class 10^th and 12^th and Graduation details along with professional degree details (if any). Candidates can also enter their Master’s degree details if they have any.
• Work Experience – This page is only for the candidates who have a relevant work experience wherein they need to enter the name of the company, years, duration, etc.
• Programs – Candidates will get the option of choosing the IIMs and their programs as per their preference. Candidates can also choose all the IIMs.
• Test City – Candidates can choose up to six cities from the drop-down menu as per their preferences for the CAT exam centers.
• Payment – This is the last part of the application form where candidates have to make the payments through anyone of the following – Debit/Credit Cards, Net banking, Paytm, Wallets, UPI.

3. Payment of Fees – After completing the first five pages, the candidates will have to complete the procedure by paying the requisite fees.

Check out the list of Test Cities where CAT 2020 exam will be held. 

CAT Admit Card

CAT 2020 Admit Card is going to be released on October 28, 2020. Only registered candidates will be able to download the Admit card which will be displayed on the CAT website. Candidates will need their CAT-ID and Password to download their Admit Card without which they will not be entered in the exam center. The candidates must make sure that they carry two copies of CAT 2020 Admit Card and Photo-ID issued by the Government of India properly which will be like entry tickets for the exam.

CAT 2020 Paper Pattern and Syllabus

IIM Indore has brought changes in CAT 2020 exam pattern wherein the CAT exam will be of only 2 hours and sectional duration will be of 40 minutes. There will be three sections in the CAT exam – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Logical reasoning and Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude. Candidates will not be permitted to switch/change the sections even if they complete the section before time.

Total number of questions is yet to be announced for CAT 2020 but it is expected to reduce with the given time period. There will be two types of questions in the exam- MCQs and Non MCQs. In MCQ’s type questions, there will be four options among which only one option will be right and in Non-MCQ’s questions, students need to directly type in the answer in the given box. There will be 3 marks awarded for every right answer and a penalty of -1 will be given for every wrong answer in the MCQ’s types question and there will be no negative marking for Non-MCQs questions.

To check the complete details of exam paper pattern and syllabus, Click Here.

CAT 2020 Answer Key

CAT 2020 Answer Key will be released before the declaration of results. Generally the answer key is released after the 2-3 days of the CAT exam so this year, it is expected to get released in the first week of December. Candidates can download the answer key by using their CAT-ID and Password. Through answer key, Candidates can check their performance and anticipate their scores in the exam. The candidates can also raise objection if they think that any answer is incorrect. However, they will get only three days right after the answer key gets released for raising the objection and a fee of Rs.1200 will be charged for every single question. The fee is to be paid online and is not refundable.

CAT 2020 Result

IIMs will announce the CAT Result in the first week of January 2021. Candidates can download the scorecard by using their CAT-ID and Password. The CAT 2020 Result cum scorecard will contain each candidate’s scaled scores and percentile in both sectional and overall. The same result will be valid for the admission to the MBA batch of 2021-2023.

If you have any questions, Please comment below