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The CAT 2025 difficulty level will play a major role in shaping candidates’ overall performance, percentile outcomes, and section‑wise strategies. Although the exact level can only be confirmed once all slots are over, early live feedback suggests a mix of moderate to challenging questions across VARC, DILR, and Quant sections.
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The CAT 2025 Slot 1 paper is now concluded, and the early feedback indicates that this session was decidedly tougher than CAT 2024, despite no major changes in the overall pattern. Minor tweaks in the Verbal Ability section were observed, but the overall difficulty is estimated to fall between the levels seen in CAT 2022 and CAT 2023. This will influence scores, attempts, and percentile outcomes.
Key Takeaways from Slot 1:
Overall Paper Difficulty: Tougher than 2024, with a challenging mix across VARC, DILR, and Quant. Candidates may need to focus on accuracy and time management.
Score vs Percentile (Expected):
99 percentile → ~78–82 marks (lower than last year by ~15 marks, indicating a tougher paper)
95 percentile → ~56–58 marks
90 percentile → ~45–48 marks
80 percentile → ~40–42 marks
This shows that even a modest attempt can yield a strong percentile if accuracy is maintained.
Slightly tougher than 2024 due to minor changes in VA questions
RCs remain the main scoring area
Fewer time-consuming or ambiguous questions
Attempts may be slightly lower than last year due to increased difficulty
More challenging than CAT 2024, but manageable with logical set selection
Candidates are advised to focus on 2–3 sets with high accuracy
Balanced mix of MCQs and TITA questions continues
Moderate to difficult, but fundamentals remain key
Strong emphasis on Arithmetic, followed by Algebra, Geometry, and Numbers
At least 4–6 direct, high-scoring questions for quick attempts
Candidates should prioritize accuracy over attempting all questions
With CAT 2025 Slot 2 now concluded, the first round of expert feedback suggests that the paper was slightly easier than Slot 1, but still clearly tougher than CAT 2024. Overall, the difficulty level again appears to fall between CAT 2022 and CAT 2023, with small variations across sections influencing score versus percentile trends.
Compared to Slot 1, Slot 2 candidates may need 3–6 extra marks to achieve the same percentile range. This is primarily due to an easier Quant section and slightly lighter difficulty in Verbal Ability. However, aspirants should note that final percentiles will be decided after normalization, and raw-score differences may be scaled accordingly.
The Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section in Slot 2 was marginally easier than Slot 1.
What students reported:
The DILR section was reported to be very similar to Slot 1, with some students finding it marginally tougher.
Quantitative Aptitude in Slot 2 was easier than Slot 1, primarily due to increased weightage of Arithmetic.
Key observations:
Two extra questions from Arithmetic made the paper more approachable
Arithmetic being the most comfortable area for most students worked in their favour
Candidates could attempt 1 extra question compared to Slot 1
Because of this, percentile cutoffs in Slot 2 are expected to be slightly higher
To be updated as soon as Slot 3 concludes.
Bookmark this page and stay tuned for the Slot 2 and Slot 3 analysis. Early insights from Slot 1 suggest that careful attempts, time management, and accuracy can lead to excellent percentile outcomes, even in a tough paper.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The CAT 2025 difficulty level is expected to be moderate, based on the pattern seen in CAT 2024. VARC may stay readable, DILR may continue with approachable sets, and QA will likely focus on basics.
Traditionally, DILR is considered the toughest section, but in 2024, it became more approachable. For CAT 2025, DILR is still expected to be the trickiest, while QA and VARC may remain moderate.
If CAT repeats the 2024 pattern, the exam may not be tougher. CAT 2024 was slightly easier than previous years, so 2025 may follow a similar approach. Still, CAT is unpredictable, and difficulty can vary across slots.
On Question asked by student community
Hello,
Here are some top colleges accepting XAT and CAT exams :
Top colleges accepting CAT:
IIMs (All Indian Institutes of Management)
FMS Delhi
SPJIMR Mumbai
MDI Gurgaon
IIT Bombay (SJMSOM)
IIT Delhi (DMS)
IIFT
IMT Ghaziabad
JBIMS Mumbai
Top colleges accepting XAT:
XLRI Jamshedpur
XIMB Bhubaneswar
IMT Ghaziabad
Great
Hi there,
A female candidate with a CAT percentile of 67.97 and low sectional scores should target private and tier-2/3 B-schools that accept overall CAT scores in the 60–70 percentile range and have flexible sectional criteria.
Some suitable options include AIMS Institute Bangalore, Doon Business School Dehradun, Christ Institute of
Hi there,
Yes, you are eligible for XISS Ranchi with a CAT percentile of 67.60.
According to recent admission trends, the CAT cutoff for the PGDM in Human Resource Management for the general category has been around 60 percentile. For other programs such as Marketing, Finance, and Rural Management, the
Hi there,
Careers360 offers a wide range of eBooks and study materials to assist with CAT preparation. You can access past CAT question papers with solutions to understand the exam pattern and difficulty level. Additionally, there are quantitative aptitude handbooks, cheat sheets, and section-specific practice sets for arithmetic, algebra, and
Hi there,
The minimum eligibility criteria for a general candidate to receive a call from IIM Sambalpur are as follows:
VARC: 65%ile
QUANTS: 65%ile
LRDI: 65%ile
Overall: 90%tile
Keep practising and aim to improve your score. You can also focus on other management exams where you may secure a strong
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