It’s Official: IIM Kozhikode to Conduct CAT 2025; Prof. Ram Kumar P. N Named Convener
  • It’s Official: IIM Kozhikode to Conduct CAT 2025; Prof. Ram Kumar P. N Named Convener

It’s Official: IIM Kozhikode to Conduct CAT 2025; Prof. Ram Kumar P. N Named Convener

Malvika ChawlaUpdated on 03 Jul 2025, 11:55 AM IST

CAT 2025 exam will be conducted by IIM Kozhikode. It has now been confirmed that the CAT 2025 Convenor is Professor Ram Kumar P.N. He is a senior faculty member from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode. The Prof. is known for his academic expertise in marketing and management, and brings significant experience in academic administration and oversight. CAT 2025 notification will be out in the last week of July. CAT exam date 2025 is November 30, and the registration for the same is likely to begin in the first week of August. Keep reading this article to find more information on the upcoming CAT 2025 Convenor how Prof. Ram Kumar’s leadership may impact the exam.

This Story also Contains

  1. What to Expect in CAT 2025? Comparison with the 2019 CAT Exam
  2. What is CAT Convenor?
  3. Who is Prof. Ram Kumar P.N?
  4. Past CAT Convenors
  5. CAT 2025 Exam: Highlights
It’s Official: IIM Kozhikode to Conduct CAT 2025; Prof. Ram Kumar P. N Named Convener
It’s Official: IIM Kozhikode to Conduct CAT 2025; Prof. Ram Kumar P. N Named Convener

The last time IIM Kozhikode conducted the CAT exam was in 2019, and the difficulty level was moderate to high. Similarly, candidates can expect the CAT 2025 exam to be in the range of moderate to high. In 2019, the CAT exam was 180 minutes long and had 100 questions. This year, it is expected that the CAT paper will be 120 minutes and have 66 questions, where the sectional time limit will be 40 minutes.

What to Expect in CAT 2025? Comparison with the 2019 CAT Exam

Take a look at this brief comparison of how the CAT 219 paper looked and what candidates can expect for CAT 2025.

CAT Section

CAT 2019 Difficulty

CAT 2025 Expected Difficulty

Key Differences

VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension)

Moderate

Moderate to Difficult

  • In 2019, RC’s were lengthy.
  • Recent papers focus more on inference-based questions.

DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning)

Difficult

Difficult

  • DILR remains the toughest section
  • However, newer CATs have introduced more logical puzzles with ambiguous structures.

QA (Quantitative Ability)

Moderate

Moderate to Difficult

  • CAT 2019 exam paper was a balanced mix
  • Recent CAT papers focus heavily on Arithmetic, with tricky framing but fewer questions.

What is CAT Convenor?

To answer this question, a CAT Convenor is a chief official responsible for conducting the Common Admission Test (CAT). Their role involves planning, execution and administration. The role of a CAT Convenor is crucial, as he/she will be the face of the exam. Each year, one of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) is appointed as the Convening IIM, and a senior faculty member from that IIM is appointed as the CAT Convenor.

What is the Role of CAT Convenor in CAT Exam?

Now that we are aware, what a CAT Convenor is, let us look at what the roles and responsibilities of Professor Ram Kumar P.N. will look like.

  1. Responsibility of Conducting Overall CAT Exam
  2. CAT Paper Design
  3. Coordinating with Test Partners
  4. Ensuring Quality and Fairness
  5. Score Normalisation and Result Release
  6. Public Communication
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Who is Prof. Ram Kumar P.N?

Prof. Ram Kumar P.N. is a respected scholar in the Operations Research and Logistics area and a Professor at the IIM Kozhikode. His journey with IIM Kozhikode began in 2010 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. He later joined IIM Kozhikode as an Assistant Professor in 2012.

As for his educational background, he is an alumnus of IIT Madras (Ph.D), PSG Tech Coimbatore (M.E. in Industrial Engineering). He has conducted research in areas like transportation networks, military logistics, AI in Operations and supply chain optimisation.

Moreover, Prof. Ram Kumar has held some of the key academic and administrative roles at IIM K, such as Chairperson of the Doctoral Programme (PhD) and Chairperson of International Relations.

What made him well qualified to become the CAT 2025 Convenor? He has a great amount of domain expertise and leadership experience.

It is essential for the candidates to understand the role and background of the CAT 2025 Convenor, Prof. Ran Kumar P.N., as it will give an edge in the CAT preparation and allow students to prepare a tailored CAT exam preparation strategy. Moreover, students will get a fair idea of the style of questions and the difficulty level of the exam that they can expect.

Past CAT Convenors

As we prepare for the CAT 2025 exam, take a look at the following list of past CAT convenors over the last decade.

CAT Exam Year

CAT Conducting IIM

CAT Convenor

CAT Difficulty Level

CAT 2024

IIM Calcutta

Prof. Ramya T. Venkateswaran

Moderate-Difficult

CAT 2023

IIM Lucknow

Prof Sanjeet Singh Phogat

Moderate

CAT 2022

IIM Bangalore

Dr Ashis Mishra

Tough

CAT 2021

IIM Ahmedabad

Dr M P Ram Mohan

Toughest

CAT 2020

IIM Indore

Dr Harshal Lowalekar

Moderate-Tough

CAT 2019

IIM Kozhikode

Dr Shubhasis Dey

moderate

CAT 2018

IIM Calcutta

Dr Sumanta Basu

Difficult

CAT 2017

IIM Lucknow

Dr Neeraj Dwivedi

Moderate

CAT 2016

IIM Bangalore

Dr Rajendra K Bandi

Tough

CAT 2015

IIM Ahmedabad

Dr Tathagat Bandyopadhyay

Moderate-Tough

CAT 2014

IIM Indore

Dr Rohit Kapoor

Moderate

CAT 2025 Exam: Highlights

CAT 2025 exam is expected to happen on November 30, 2025 (last Sunday of the month). Here is the following list of CAT 2025 important dates for registration, release of admit card, exam date and more.

CAT Full Form

Common Admission Test (CAT)

CAT 2025 Exam Conducting Institute

IIM Kozhikode

CAT 2025 Exam Level

National

CAT Exam Frequency

Once a year

CAT 2025 Exam Date

November 30, 2025

CAT 2025 Exam Timings

Yet to be announced

CAT Exam Fees

  • Rs 2,500 (General category)
  • Rs. 12,50 (Reserved category)

Number of CAT Exam Takers

Around 3 Lakh

CAT 2025 Exam Mode

Computer-based Test (CBT)

Number of CAT Test Cities

170

Official CAT Website

iimcat.ac.in

CAT Exam Helpdesk No.

1-800-210-1088 (Toll Free)

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