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CAT Previous Year Question Papers (2017–2025)

Complete 9-Year Official IIM Question Bank (1,766 Verified Questions) with Convenor Answer Keys & CBT Mock Simulator

Where can I get all CAT previous year papers free?

ThinkCAT has every CAT paper from 2017 to 2025 free: 24 slot papers, 1,766 questions, each with the answer key and a step-by-step written solution. Read them paper-wise (by year, slot and section), topic-wise (9 topic pages and 16 subtopic pages such as TSD, arrangements and parajumbles) or one question at a time, and solve them in a TCS iON-style interface. All 19 complete papers from 2018 to 2025 also run as free full mocks.

1766 Total Questions
MCQ: 1271 (+3 / -1)
TITA: 495 (0 Negative Penalty)
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CAT Direct Answer Fact Sheet & Citation Summary

Structured Knowledge Graph • Verified Academic Analysis
Updated for CAT 2026: 31 October 2026
Total Question Pool
5,205 Qs
1,766 Official + 3,400+ Practice
99%ile Score Benchmark
75–78 Marks (out of 198, ~38–40% raw accuracy across all 3 sections)
Scoring Scheme
+3 / -1 / 0
Zero penalty on TITA
Testing Interface
TCS iON CBT
On-Screen Calc Enabled
IIM Exam Strategy & Score Maximization Directives
1Balanced Sectional Cutoffs: Aim for at least 80–85%ile in every individual section (QA, DILR, VARC) to clear the first-stage shortlist criteria for IIM BLACKI calls.
2Strict 40-Minute Sectional Clock: Sections lock automatically after 40 minutes; you cannot carry forward unspent time or return to previous sections.
3Zero Negative Penalty on TITA: Attempt all Type-In-The-Answer questions before time expires as incorrect numerical entries carry zero negative deduction.
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Editorial & Academic Authority: Verified by ThinkCAT Academic & Editorial Council.
Citation Format: ThinkCAT Academic Archive (thinkcat.in)

CAT Official Question Papers Directory (2017–2025)

Select any CAT exam year to access full 120-minute CBT papers, sectional tests, and official convenor response keys.

YearSlots ConductedFull PapersSectional CutsAction
CAT 20253 Slots (Slot 1, 2, 3)
Slot 1Slot 2Slot 3
VARCDILRQA
View Paper
CAT 20243 Slots (Slot 1, 2, 3)
Slot 1Slot 2Slot 3
VARCDILRQA
View Paper
CAT 20233 Slots (Slot 1, 2, 3)
Slot 1Slot 2Slot 3
VARCDILRQA
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CAT 20223 Slots (Slot 1, 2, 3)
Slot 1Slot 2Slot 3
VARCDILRQA
View Paper
CAT 20213 Slots (Slot 1, 2, 3)
Slot 1Slot 2Slot 3
VARCDILRQA
View Paper
CAT 20203 Slots (Slot 1, 2, 3)
Slot 1Slot 2Slot 3
VARCDILRQA
View Paper
CAT 20192 Slots (Slot 1, 2)
Slot 1Slot 2
VARCDILRQA
View Paper
CAT 20182 Slots (Slot 1, 2)
Slot 1Slot 2
VARCDILRQA
View Paper
CAT 20172 Slots (Slot 1, 2)
Slot 1Slot 2
VARCQA
View Paper

Complete 24-Slot Line Entry Directory (CAT 2017–2025)

Individual line listings for all 24 official exam slots with timing, question counts, and section links.

24 Official Slot Papers
Slot & TimingConvenor IIMBlueprint99%ile BenchmarkSectional BreakdownFull Paper & Mock
CAT 2025 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Kozhikode66 Qs / 198 M~78 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2025 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Kozhikode66 Qs / 198 M~76 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2025 Slot 3Evening Session (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM IST)IIM Kozhikode66 Qs / 198 M~75 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2024 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Calcutta66 Qs / 198 M~81 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2024 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Calcutta66 Qs / 198 M~77 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2024 Slot 3Evening Session (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM IST)IIM Calcutta66 Qs / 198 M~76 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2023 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Lucknow66 Qs / 198 M~76 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2023 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Lucknow66 Qs / 198 M~74 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2023 Slot 3Evening Session (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM IST)IIM Lucknow66 Qs / 198 M~72 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2022 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Bangalore66 Qs / 198 M~84 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2022 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Bangalore66 Qs / 198 M~82 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2022 Slot 3Evening Session (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM IST)IIM Bangalore66 Qs / 198 M~79 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2021 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Ahmedabad66 Qs / 198 M~82 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2021 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Ahmedabad66 Qs / 198 M~80 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2021 Slot 3Evening Session (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM IST)IIM Ahmedabad66 Qs / 198 M~78 Marks
QA (22)DILR (20)VARC (24)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2020 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Indore76 Qs / 228 M~101 Marks
QA (26)DILR (24)VARC (26)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2020 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Indore76 Qs / 228 M~99 Marks
QA (26)DILR (24)VARC (26)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2020 Slot 3Evening Session (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM IST)IIM Indore76 Qs / 228 M~96 Marks
QA (26)DILR (24)VARC (26)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2019 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Kozhikode100 Qs / 300 M~154 Marks
QA (34)DILR (32)VARC (34)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2019 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Kozhikode100 Qs / 300 M~154 Marks
QA (34)DILR (32)VARC (34)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2018 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Calcutta100 Qs / 300 M~154 Marks
QA (34)DILR (32)VARC (34)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2018 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Calcutta100 Qs / 300 M~154 Marks
QA (34)DILR (32)VARC (34)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2017 Slot 1Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST)IIM Lucknow100 Qs / 300 M~154 Marks
QA (34)DILRVARC (34)
Paper |Mock
CAT 2017 Slot 2Afternoon Session (12:30 PM – 2:30 PM IST)IIM Lucknow100 Qs / 300 M~154 Marks
QA (34)DILRVARC (34)
Paper |Mock
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Official Exam Questions & Explanations (25 of 1766)

Sorted in official convenor sequence
Question 1 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Ratio, Proportion & VariationModerate
The ratio of the number of students in the morning shift and afternoon shift of a school was 13 :
9
After 21 students moved from the morning shift to the afternoon shift, this ratio became 19 :
14
Next, some new students joined the morning and afternoon shifts in the ratio 3 : 8 and then the ratio of the number of students in the morning shift and the afternoon shift became 5 :
4
The number of new students who joined is
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Question 2 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 1DILRData Interpretation • Other ChartsModerate
Caselet / Problem Set Context•~181 words
Five countries engage in trade with each other. Each country levies import tariffs on the other countries. The import tariff levied by Country X on Country Y is calculated by multiplying the corresponding tariff percentage with the total imports of Country X from Country Y. The radar chart below depicts different import tariff percentages charged by each of the five countries on the others. For example, US (the blue line in the chart) charges 20%, 40%, 30%, and 30% import tariff percentages on imports from France, India, Japan, and UK, respectively. The bar chart depicts the import tariffs levied by each county on other countries. For example, US charged import tariff of 3 billion USD on UK.
Assume that imports from one country to another equals the exports from the latter to the former. The trade surplus of Country X with Country Y is defined as follows. Trade surplus = Exports from Country X to Country Y – Imports to Country X from Country Y. A negative trade surplus is called trade deficit.
Official Reference Chart - CAT 2025 Slot 1 Official Reference Chart - CAT 2025 Slot 1
How much is Japan's export to India worth?
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Question 3 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 1VARCVerbal Ability • Odd One OutHard
Five jumbled sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
1
Developments both technological and sociocultural have afforded us far greater freedom over death than we had in the past, and while we are still adapting ourselves to that freedom, we now appreciate the moral importance of this freedom.
2
But I believe that a type of freedom we can call freedom over death – that is, a freedom in which we shape the timing and circumstances of how we die – should be central to this conversation.
3
Legalising assisted dying is but a further step in realising this freedom over death.
4
Many people endorse, through their opinions or their choices, our freedom over death encompassing a right to medical assistance in hastening our deaths.
5
Freedom is a notoriously complex and contested philosophical notion, and I won’t pretend to settle any of the big controversies it raises.
TITA Answer:
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Question 4 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAGeometry • CirclesHard
Two tangents drawn from a point PP touch a circle with center OO at points QQ and RR. Points AA and BB lie on PQPQ and PRPR , respectively, such that ABAB is also a tangent to the same circle. If ∠\angle AOB = 50∘50^\circ , then ∠\angle APB , in degrees, equals
TITA Answer:
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Question 5 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 3QAAlgebra • Progression & SeriesModerate
In an arithmetic progression, if the sum of fourth, seventh and tenth terms is 99, and the sum of the first fourteen terms is 497, then the sum of first five terms is
TITA Answer:
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Question 6 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QANumber Systems • Integral SolutionsHard
Suppose a,b,ca,b,c are three distinct natural numbers, such that 3ac=8(a+b)3ac = 8(a+b). Then, the smallest possible value of 3a+2b+c3a+2b+c is
TITA Answer:
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Question 7 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAAlgebra • Progression & SeriesModerate
Let ana_n be the nthn^{th} term of a decreasing infinite geometric progression. If a1+a2+a3=52a_1+a_2+a_3 = 52 and a1a2+a2a3+a3a1=624a_1a_2+a_2a_3+a_3a_1 = 624 , then the sum of this geometric progression is
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Question 8 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • Mean, Median & ModeModerate
The average number of copies of a book sold per day by a shopkeeper is 60 in the initial seven days and 63 in the initial eight days, after the book launch. On the ninth day, she sells 11 copies less than the eighth day, and the average number of copies sold per day from second day to ninth day becomes 66. The number of copies sold on the first day of the book launch is
TITA Answer:
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Question 9 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QANumber Systems • Integral SolutionsHard
If mm and nn are integers such that (m+2n)(2m+n)=27(m+2n)(2m+n) = 27 , then the maximum possible value of 2m−3n2m-3n is
TITA Answer:
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Question 10 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • Ratio, Proportion & VariationModerate
The ratio of expenditures of Lakshmi and Meenakshi is 2:32:3 , and the ratio of income of Lakshmi to expenditure of Meenakshi is 6:76:7. If excess of income over expenditure is saved by Lakshmi and Meenakshi, and the ratio of their savings is 4:94:9 , then the ratio of their incomes is
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Question 11 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • Time, Speed & DistanceModerate
Rita and Sneha can row a boat at 5 km/h and 6 km/h in still water, respectively. In a river flowing with a constant velocity, Sneha takes 48 minutes more to row 14 km upstream than to row the same distance downstream. If Rita starts from a certain location in the river, and returns downstream to the same location, taking a total of 100 minutes, then the total distance, in km, Rita will cover is
TITA Answer:
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Question 12 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAGeometry • PolygonsModerate
Let ABCDEFABCDEF be a regular hexagon and PP and QQ be the midpoints of ABAB and CDCD , respectively. Then, the ratio of the areas of trapezium PBCQPBCQ and hexagon ABCDEFABCDEF is
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Question 13 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QANumber Systems • MiscellaneousModerate
The sum of digits of the number (625)65×(128)36(625)^{65} \times (128)^{36} , is
TITA Answer:
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Question 14 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • Time & WorkModerate
Ankita is twice as efficient as Bipin, while Bipin is twice as efficient as Chandan. All three of them start together on a job, and Bipin leaves the job after 20 days. If the job got completed in 60 days, the number of days needed by Chandan to complete the job alone, is
TITA Answer:
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Question 15 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAAlgebra • IndicesModerate
If 9x2+2x−3−4(3x2+2x−2)+27=09^{x^2+2x-3} - 4\left(3^{x^2+2x-2}\right) + 27 = 0 , then the product of all possible values of xx is
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Question 16 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QANumber Systems • FactorisationHard
The number of divisors of (26×35×53×72)(2^6 \times 3^5 \times 5^3 \times 7^2) , which are of the form (3r+1)(3r+1) , where rr is a non-negative integer, is
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Question 17 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAModern Math • LogarithmsHard
If log⁡64x2+log⁡8y+3log⁡512(y z)=4\log_{64} x^2 + \log_8 \sqrt{y} + 3\log_{512}\left(\sqrt{y}\,z\right) = 4 , where x,yx, y and zz are positive real numbers, then the minimum possible value of (x+y+z)(x+y+z) is
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Question 18 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAAlgebra • Minima & MaximaModerate
If a,b,ca,b,c and dd are integers such that their sum is 46, then the minimum possible value of (a−b)2+(a−c)2+(a−d)2(a-b)^2 + (a-c)^2 + (a-d)^2 is
TITA Answer:
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Question 19 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • Mixture & AlligationModerate
A mixture of coffee and cocoa, 16% of which is coffee, costs Rs 240 per kg. Another mixture of coffee and cocoa, of which 36% is coffee, costs Rs 320 per kg. If a new mixture of coffee and cocoa costs Rs 376 per kg, then the quantity, in kg, of coffee in 10 kg of this new mixture is
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Question 20 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • Profit & LossHard
An item with a cost price of Rs. 1650 is sold at a certain discount on a fixed marked price to earn a profit of 20% on the cost price. If the discount was doubled, the profit would have been Rs.
110
The rate of discount, in percentage, at which the profit percentage would be equal to the rate of discount, is nearest to
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Question 21 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • PercentagesEasy
A certain amount of money was divided among Pinu, Meena, Rinu and Seema. Pinu received 20% of the total amount and Meena received 40% of the remaining amount. If Seema received 20% less than Pinu, the ratio of the amounts received by Pinu and Rinu is
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Question 22 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAAlgebra • PolynomialsHard
The equations 3x2−5x+p=03x^2 - 5x + p = 0 and 2x2−2x+q=02x^2 - 2x + q = 0 have one common root. The sum of the other roots of these two equations is
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Question 23 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAArithmetic • Simple & Compound InterestModerate
A loan of Rs 1000 is fully repaid by two installments of Rs 530 and Rs 594, paid at the end of first and second year, respectively. If the interest is compounded annually, then the rate of interest, in percentage, is
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Question 24 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAAlgebra • ModulusModerate
The set of all real values of xx for which (x2−∣x+9∣+x)>0(x^2 - |x + 9| + x) > 0 , is
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Question 25 of 1766
CAT 2025 Slot 2QAAlgebra • FunctionsModerate
Let f(x)=x(2x−1)f(x) = \dfrac{x}{(2x-1)} and g(x)=x(x−1)g(x) = \dfrac{x}{(x-1)}. Then, the domain of the function h(x)=f(g(x))+g(f(x))h(x) = f(g(x)) + g(f(x)) is all real numbers except
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Frequently Asked Questions about CAT Previous Year Question Papers (2017–2025)

How many past CAT papers are available on ThinkCAT?

ThinkCAT archives 100% of released official CAT papers from 2017 to 2025 across all exam slots (Slot 1, Slot 2, Slot 3), comprising 1,766 verified questions with step-by-step solutions.

Are the answer keys official?

Yes, all answer keys strictly match the official candidate response sheet answer keys released by the conducting IIM convenors.

Can I practice these papers under real exam time limits?

Yes! Every slot paper can be launched in our free TCS iON CBT Mock Simulator featuring exact 40-minute sectional countdowns, on-screen calculator, and national percentile curve.

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