CAT 2026 Exam Pattern: Sections, TITA Questions, Marking and Slot Timings

CAT 2026 is on Sunday, 29 November 2026, in three sessions. IIM Indore is conducting it this year. This page separates what the IIMs have officially announced from what is carried over from CAT 2025, so you know which numbers are firm and which could change.

What is official for CAT 2026

The CAT 2026 press release, information bulletin and FAQ on iimcat.ac.in confirm these points:

• The test is computer-based and lasts 120 minutes.
• There are three sections, always in this order: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), then Quantitative Ability (QA).
• Each section gets exactly 40 minutes. You cannot switch to another section while one is running.
• There are two question types: multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and non-MCQs, which most aspirants call TITA (type in the answer).
• Every question carries the same marks.

What the IIMs do not announce in advance: the number of questions in each section and the number of TITA questions. The official FAQ says the number of non-MCQs "varies and cannot be disclosed".

CAT exam pattern 2026, section wise (as in CAT 2025)

Until the paper is out, last year's paper is the closest guide. This is the CAT 2025 structure, as reported in the slot-wise analyses by IMS. All three slots had the same split.

Inside the sections, IMS reported this for CAT 2025 Slot 1:

• VARC: 4 reading comprehension passages with 4 questions each (16 questions, all MCQ). The other 8 were verbal ability: 2 summaries and 2 paragraph completions (MCQ), and 2 odd-sentence-out and 2 para jumbles (TITA).
• DILR: 5 sets, two with 5 questions and three with 4.
• QA: 22 questions, 8 of them TITA.

Treat these as a likely shape, not a promise. Prepare so that a change of two or three questions in a section does not throw you.

Marking scheme and TITA questions

TITA questions have no options. You type the answer, usually a number or a sequence of sentence numbers. A wrong TITA answer costs nothing except the time you spent on it.

This changes how you should treat each type:

1. TITA: if you have worked out an answer, enter it. There is no penalty for being wrong.
2. MCQ, blind guess: CAT MCQs have four options. A blind guess gives 3 × ¼ − 1 × ¾ = 0 marks on average. It adds risk and nothing else.
3. MCQ, one option ruled out: the average becomes 3 × ⅓ − 1 × ⅔ = +0.33 marks. Worth taking if you have the time.
4. MCQ, two options ruled out: +1 mark on average. Take it.

Our negative marking guide has the same maths for other exams.

CAT 2026 slot timings

The official FAQ says CAT 2026 has a forenoon, an afternoon and an evening session. You cannot choose your session. It is allotted based on your test city, and your admit card shows the exact session and time.

The IIMs have not printed clock times for 2026 in the bulletin or FAQ. For the last two years they were:

The CAT 2024 times come from the IIMs' own scaled-score document. The CAT 2025 times are as reported by IMS. Several coaching sites list the same times for 2026, but go by your admit card. Reporting and gate-closing times are also printed on the admit card; the estimates circulating online are not official.

Key dates

• Registration: closed on 22 September 2026 (extended from 15 September).
• Admit card: available from 4 November 2026, 5:00 pm, until 29 November.
• Official mock test on iimcat.ac.in: available from 12 November 2026.
• Exam: Sunday, 29 November 2026.
• Result: likely by the first week of January 2027, as per the bulletin. The score is valid until 31 December 2027.

Exam-day rules from the official FAQ

• Admit card: print it and bring it. The photo you affix must be the same one you uploaded. Writing or doing rough work on the admit card counts as unfair means.
• Rough work: you get one scribble pad and a pen at the centre. You cannot bring your own paper, and you must hand the pad back at the end.
• Calculator: you cannot bring one. An on-screen calculator is available throughout the test.
• Identity checks: admit cards, photo IDs, photographs and biometrics are verified. You can sit only one session.
• Bio-breaks: not allowed except in an emergency or for a medical condition. If you take one, you are frisked again and the time is not given back.
• Technical problems: tell the invigilator. You are moved to a new system and the timer pauses during the shift.
• Medicines or other restricted items: only with prior permission, using the Authorization Form on the CAT website.

Practise the real format

The 40-40-40 structure is the part of CAT that most self-study misses. You cannot borrow time from VARC to finish a DILR set, and you cannot go back. RankVyuh's CAT mocks use three locked 40-minute sections in the official order, TITA questions with no negative marking, and an on-screen calculator. Start with the CAT Full Mock 1, free, then read the last-30-days plan for how to use the remaining weeks.