CAT 2016 Pattern, Syllabus, Expected Questions Guide: Dont study old exam pattern, check new

CAT exam 2016 on December 4, proposes to have slightly changed paper pattern although number of questions will remain the same as that of last year CAT exam. Till October 25 the shape and expected type of questions in CAT exam 2016 were not revealed by IIM Bangalore who is convening CAT 2016.

CAT 2016 Mock Test released by IIM Bangalore brought with it the key information about the changed exam pattern, number of total questions and their sectional composition. Now, the CAT 2016 aspirants need to crack CAT 2016 in accordance with the announced changes in CAT 2016 exam pattern. So, dont study old CAT exam pattern, but check new pattern in this article, and make the best use of last few days to CAT.

CAT 2016 Pattern, Topics & Syllabus
CAT 2016 aspirants are worried as regards to the exact nature of the CAT 2016 exam, its sectional composition, division of MCQs and Non-MCQs and key changes in the exam pattern across the 3 sections.
Now with the release of CAT 2016 official mock test, the exact CAT 2016 exam pattern has been made clear. There will be 100 questions in CAT 2016 exam divided in 3 sections beginning with VARC with 34 questions; DILR with 32 questions and Quant with 34 questions. Total allotted time to complete the test will be 180 minutes.

You will not be allowed to move to and from between the sections unless the allotted time of 60 minutes for that section is over. All MCQs will carry a penalty of 1/3rd negative marking while there will be No Negative marking for Non-MCQs
Section-1: VARC with 34 questions
CAT 2016 has placed the VARC section as the first section in the exam. Earlier the first section used to be on Quant section. Now Quant will be the last section of CAT 2015 among the 3 sections.
Out of 34 total questions in VARC there are 24 questions based only on 5 RC passages. While 2 RC passages are followed by 3 questions each, the other 3 RC passages are followed by 6 questions each. The other 10 questions in Non-MCQ format are based on jumbled paragraphs , picking odd sentence out of jumbled paragraph and para summary.
Section-2: DILR with 32 questions
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) is the 2nd section in CAT exam 2016. It will consist of 32 questions divided equally between DI and LR parts making 16 questions allotted to each part.
CAT exam 2016 proposes to place 8 non-MCQ type questions without any penalty of negative marking for wrong answer in this section.
There would be 4 sets of DI questions and each set will consist of 4 questions. Questions on LR will be individual as well as in sets.
Section-3: Quant with 34 questions
Quantitative Ability (QA) will be the 3rd and last section in CAT exam 2016. The section will contain 34 questions divided in MCQs and Non-MCQs. CAT 2016 proposes to place 10 Non-MCQs in Quant section.

Important Changes
CAT exam pattern has changed since it got computerized format in 2009. The brunt of changes in CAT 2016 exam pattern has fallen on VARC section while the questions in DILR and QA sections remain more or less unchanged except the fact that they are divided in MCQs and Non MCQs.

CAT 2016 test takers will find a totally transformed VARC section in CAT 2016 exam since the scope of changes in source topics, question pattern, type and formation of questions is always more in Verbal Ability section.
Although it is not necessary that questions with similar content may be found in the actual examination but you cannot rule out to find the questions of similar type in the actual CAT 2016 According to Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal Ability expert, candidates will miss the questions on Vocabulary usage; Completion of paragraph; Last sentence of paragraph in CAT 2016 exam. These types of questions did not appear in CAT 2015 also, confirms Prof Agarwal.

Entire VARC section on 4 topics only
It is again VARC section of CAT 2016 exam which will have revamped face with questions on different topics increasing or reducing their weight. Following are the key 4 topics on which questions are proposed to be asked in VARC section in CAT 2016 exam

RC: 70% questions
Reading Comprehension in CAT 2016 exam will command 70% weightage in VARC section and 24% weight to overall CAT 2016 exam. Out of 34 questions, there will be 24 questions based on RC passages. The composition of questions is proposed as follows-

Sl No.
Type of RC Passage
Number of questions
Type of questions

Passage - 1
Short with 500-600 words
3
MCQs

Passage - 2
Short with 500-600 words
3
MCQs

Passage - 3
Long with 900-1000 words
6
MCQs

Passage - 4
Long with 900-1000 words
6
MCQs

Passage 5
Long with 900-1000 words
6
MCQs

Para summary: 3 Non-MCQs
There would be 3 Non-MCQ type questions on summarizing a small paragraph of 40-50 words in a single line answer in VARC section. While the answer options for such questions will be present, CAT 2016 exam takers will have to type the answer option in the given space instead of clicking on it.

Jumbled Paragraph: 4 Non-MCQs
4 non-MCQ type questions could be there on random type of Jumbled sentences in CAT 2016 exam. Again you will have to type the answer in the given space on the computer screen after forming the coherent paragraph.

Picking the Odd sentence out: 3 Non MCQs
This type of question to pick the out of context sentence after forming a coherent paragraph from the jumbled sentences was introduced in CAT in 2013. Number of such questions has now increased from 1 to 3 in CAT 2016.
Again this will be a Non-MCQ type question and CAT 2016 test taker will have to form a coherent paragraph first and then will be able to pick the odd sentence out. The correct answer will need to be typed in the given space on computer screen.

MCQs & Non-MCQs: Scoring pattern
All the MCQs will carry maximum 3 core marks with a penalty of -1 mark for each wrong answer. However, there is no provision of negative marking for Non-MCQs whether you attempt it wrong or do not attempt it.With 28 Non-MCQs present in CAT 2016, if you can crack 8 correct and 16 wrong, you will get rewarded for 8 correct answers but will not be penalized for 16 wrong answers a win-win situation.

At present there are 20 IIMs apart from other top B-schools like FMS Delhi, Great Lakes, IMI Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, LIBA, MDI Gurgaon, NITIE Mumbai, SPJIMR Mumbai, JBIMS Mumbai, TAPMI Manipal, XIM Bhubaneshwar among others that will offer admission to MBA/PGDM 2017-19 on the basis of CAT 2016 exam scores.