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CAT 2025 saw 86% attendance, with students finding Slot 1 tricky, Slot 2 moderate, and Slot 3 toughest. Check slot-wise paper analysis here.
CAT 2025 difficulty level higher than last year? here’s the complete slot-wise review.
The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025 was conducted on Sunday, 30 November 2025, at 339 examination centres across 170 cities in India. Around 2.58 lakh candidates appeared for the test out of 2.95 lakh registered eligible applicants, resulting in an attendance of nearly 86%. The exam duration was 120 minutes, with PwD candidates receiving 160 minutes. As in previous years, the paper consisted of 68 questions divided across three sections — VARC, DILR and QA — with 40 minutes allotted per section.
Slot 1: Manageable But Tricky
The first slot, which concluded at 10:30 AM, was reported by test takers to be manageable but slightly more difficult than CAT 2024 Slot 1.
- VARC: Similar to last year, dense passages but questions based on central ideas; 24 questions.
- DILR: Marginally more difficult; 22 questions with several TITA; around 10 attempts considered good.
- QA: Similar to last year, with several number-based questions; 10+ doable, while 11–12 strong attempts could boost scores.
Experts described Slot 1 as “quite tricky,” and somewhat more challenging than the previous year’s paper.
Slot 2: Moderate Difficulty With Mixed Reactions
Slot 2, ending at 02:30 PM, drew mixed responses but was broadly seen as moderate in difficulty. Candidates said it was on par with Slot 1 in terms of toughness and harder than CAT 2024, comparable to CAT 2022 and CAT 2023.
- VARC: Moderate difficulty; 10–12 doable questions.
- DILR: Moderate to difficult; 8–9 doable questions.
- QA: Moderately difficult; candidates needed 6–7 correct answers for around 90 percentile, while 10–11 could reach 99 percentile.
Slot 3: Toughest QA Of The Day
The final slot, ending at 6:30 PM, was seen as moderate to difficult overall, with the QA section considered the toughest of all slots.
- VARC: Easy to moderate; 8–9 questions likely correct for 90 percentile.
- DILR: Moderate to difficult; only around 5–6 questions considered comfortably doable.
- QA: Difficult, and widely regarded as the toughest QA set of CAT 2025; 5–6 correct attempts estimated for 90 percentile.
Overall, those with 25–27 net correct answers in Slot 3 may expect to reach the 99 percentile range.
ALSO READ: School Holiday News: Are Chennai Schools Closed Today?
Final Impression And Difficulty Summary
Across all three slots of CAT 2025:
- VARC was similar to last year, though slightly easier overall.
- DILR was considerably more difficult than CAT 2024.
- QA was similar to last year but marginally on the tougher side in comparison.
As CAT remains the premier gateway to 21 IIMs and several other top management institutes, this year’s paper has once again tested speed, comprehension and analytical skill at a challenging benchmark.
(With inputs from Gautam Puri Co-Founder & MD, Career Launcher)
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December 01, 2025, 09:31 IST
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