CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions (2015–2025): Download PDF Free; Practice Tests Online

CAT Previous Question Paper is the actual CAT paper released by the IIMs with answers. The CAT previous papers are the best guide to prepare for CAT exam.  The CAT previous papers are divided into same number of sections with same number of questions of actual CAT exam difficulty level. All the CAT toppers studying at IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Kozhikode found CAT previous papers the most important part of their preparation and have recommended to take more papers just like taking the actual exam and analysing mistakes in each paper. You can find CAT previous papers for last 10 years on MBAUniverse.com. 

CAT previous year question paper exam pattern varies slightly across years. Check CAT 2026 exam pattern (expected) below. 

For your benefit, MBAUniverse.com has prepared CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions series. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to ‘Previous Year Paper’ section and after free registration, you can attempt CAT previous year question papers for CAT 2024, CAT 2023 and older papers.

You can take CAT previous paper online on MBAUniverse.com. To take the CAT question paper, you need to take following simple steps:

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to ‘Previous Year Paper’ section
2. Complete free registration
3. You can take CAT previous year question papers online 

CAT toppers attach high importance to CAT previous question papers in their preparation strategy and found that they are the most important part of CAT preparation when it comes to assessing your preparation level and to find your strong and weak areas where you need improvement.

Rahul Gupta, CAT topper with 100 percentile and IIM Ahmedabad pass out says, “Mocks played a huge role in improving my performance as I got to know my strengths and weaknesses by analyzing my past performance and to work on my test strategy as well.”

Tanuj Ruia, CAT topper with 99.69 percentile and IIM Bangalore pass out took 30 Mocks before the exam and invested close to seven hours to analyse each of them to check his mistakes. Sharing how Mocks helped him to crack CAT, Tanuj says, “I used to attempt the mocks as if I was actually giving CAT. I gave close to 30 mocks.  After the mocks, I made it a point to analyse each and every question.”

Sruthy S Kumar, CAT topper with 97.71 percentile and IIM Lucknow pass out concentrated on taking as many mocks as possible. Sharing the importance of Mocks in CAT preparation, Sruthy says, “Everyone serious about CAT needs to take at least 20+ mocks. Initially, taking a mock test and reviewing it used to take me almost an entire day and gradually I was able to analyse in 3 hours or so.”

CAT 2025 question paper was conducted by IIM Kozhikode on November 30, 2025 across three slots. CAT 2025 paper saw 68 questions divided across three sections — Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. 

Solving the CAT 2025 question paper is one of the most effective ways to understand the exam pattern, difficulty level, and question types that appear in the actual CAT exam. Click on the link below to download CAT 2025 Question Paper PDF.

CAT 2024 exam was conducted by IIM Calcutta on November 24, 2024 across three slots. CAT 2024 paper saw 68 questions divided across three sections — Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. CAT Previous Year Question Papers with solutions PDF free download for CAT 2024 question paper is available from the link below.

CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions 2023: CAT 2023 exam was conducted by IIM Lucknow on November 26, 2023. CAT 2023 paper was divided across three sections — Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. CAT Previous Year Question Papers with solutions PDF download free for CAT 2023 question paper is available from the link below. 

CAT Previous year Question Papers PDF download: CAT 2022 was conducted by IIM Bangalore on November 27, 2022, in three separate sessions. CAT 2022 exam paper was divided across three sections — Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions PDF Download free for CAT 2022 question paper is available from the link below. 

Many CAT Previous Year Question Paper Books are also available. Here are two prominent books on this topic.  
Chapter-Wise Solved Previous Years Papers for CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay (4th Edition)
This book serves as a guide for CAT Examination and is a compilation of original question papers from 2001-2024. It is helpful in giving insights to the changing patterns of this examination.

OSWAAL CAT 25 Years’ Chapterwise & Topicwise Solved Papers (1993 - 2008 & 2017 – 2025) 
This book offers 2025 Papers (Shift 1 to 3) Fully Solved. It also offers 2400+ Chapter-wise Practice Questions & 3 Sample Question Papers. 

Read more about CAT 2026 Preparation Books.

CAT previous year papers are one of the most powerful preparation tools available to CAT aspirants. But simply solving them is not enough. How you use them determines how much you gain. Here is a structured approach to get maximum benefit from CAT previous year question papers:

• Timing is Key: Except for a one-off diagnostic test, go not attempt previous year papers in the first 2–3 months of preparation. Without conceptual foundation, you will solve papers mechanically without understanding errors. Complete at least one full round of all three sections before attempting your first paper.
• Simulate Real Exam Conditions: Attempt each paper in a single sitting of exactly 120 minutes. Follow strict 40-minute sectional timing — do not switch between sections. Take test online, not in pen and paper mode, to replicate the actual Computer Based Test experience. Treat every paper attempt as the real exam!
• Analyse More Than You Attempt: Spend at least double the time on analysis that you spent on attempting the paper. Analyse every wrong answer, every skipped question, and every correct answer that took too long. Maintain a dedicated error log notebook. Note the question type, topic, and reason for the error. Check for pattern in your errors. After 5–6 papers, your error log will reveal your most vulnerable topics. These should be the focus topics for your revision.
• Use Section-wise Before Full Paper: Attempt individual sections of previous year papers before attempting full papers. This builds section-specific speed and accuracy before combining all three under pressure. Start with your strongest section to build confidence, then move to weaker areas.
• Track Your Progress Year-wise: Start with older papers (2019–2021) when CAT exam patterns had 100 questions. Then, move to recent papers (2022–2025) which have 68 questions. Compare your scores across papers to track improvement objectively.

After attempting CAT 2025 and other previous year papers, the next step in your preparation is to take full-length CAT Mock Tests under exam conditions. While CAT Previous Year Papers help you understand the exam pattern and difficulty level, CAT Mock Tests take your preparation to the next level by simulating real exam conditions. CAT toppers consistently recommend attempting at least 30 to 40 full-length mock tests before the exam. MBAUniverse.com offers free high-quality Mock Tests. Click on the links below and start taking the test now. 

• CAT 2026 Mock Tests
• CAT 2026 Sample Papers 

CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Answers PDF: CAT Previous Year Question papers are one of the most important CAT preparation tools. For your benefit MBAUniverse.com has prepared series of CAT Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions. CAT past year papers series is completely free on sMBAUniverse.com. CAT Question Paper PDF Download is also available from links above.