CAT 2026 Negative Marking: Rules, Examples, and Strategies to Avoid Score Loss

CAT 2026 Marking Scheme Overview

There have been no official updates from IIM Kozhikode regarding any new changes in the marking scheme of the CAT examination. Hence, the candidates can expect the marking scheme to be the same as the CAT previous year question papers. The insights into the CAT marking scheme are provided below for the reference of the candidates.

How Negative Marking Works in CAT

Just like the various management entrance examinations, CAT also enforces the negative marking scheme to reduce the instances of random guessing and eliminate bias. But in the CAT examination, the negative marking is not spread evenly. For the mistakes that the candidates make under the MCQs, they lose one mark, but for the TITA questions, they do not. This is primarily because the TITA questions do not come with options. This will encourage the candidates to make educated guesses under the CAT TITA questions alone. After analysing the previous year's question papers, an expected number of TITA questions that may be asked in the CAT 2026 examination is provided below for the reference of the candidates. The candidates are encouraged to answer all the TITA questions, as there is no negative marking for these types of questions.

CAT Negative Marking Example Scenario

It is important that the candidates understand how negative marking will affect their overall CAT scores. Let us go through an example to illustrate how the negative marking will alter the scoring of the candidates.

Suppose a candidate named Rithika is appearing for the CAT examination. She attempted 42 questions out of the 68. Out of the attempted questions, she answered 33 questions correctly, and the remaining 9 were wrong. Out of the questions that she had incorrectly answered, 3 were TITAs. Now we can calculate Rithika’s CAT score using the following formula.

CAT Score = 3 × No of Correct Answers - 1 × No of wrong answers (After removing the TITAs)

Now we know that 3 wrongly answered questions by Rithika were TITA questions, so we will remove them from the total number of wrongly answered questions and start with the application of the formula.

CAT Score = 3 × 42 - 1 × (9-3)

= 126 - 1 × 6

= 120

We can see that Rithika was supposed to score 126, but due to the number of incorrect answers she had made, her score was reduced. In a highly competitive exam such as the CAT, an aberration of 1 mark can make a huge difference.

Strategy to Minimise Negative Marking in CAT 2026

One of the most important CAT preparation strategies for candidates should be to reduce the CAT negative marks as much as possible. This will help them to secure a better score and will give them the chance to join their dream colleges. Now, let us go through a few CAT preparation tips to reduce the possible CAT negative marking and boost the candidate’s CAT percentile.

Smart Guessing Vs Blind Guessing

As far as the CAT and other premier entrance exams are concerned, smart guessing plays a vital role. Some candidates blindly and randomly choose the options in hopes of making it right. But in reality, this only leads to the accumulation of more negative marks in most cases. This adversely affects the candidate’s CAT score and makes them more vulnerable to not getting selected. The candidates should perform smart guessing and choose the options that seem to closely match their calculations or ideas. This skill can be inculcated by eliminating wrong options and practising a lot of CAT questions.

Time Management To Attempt More Accurately

CAT time management plays an important role in determining the CAT success of the candidate. This is because, with better time management, the candidate will be able to answer more questions and with accuracy, they can enhance their scores. The candidates are advised to enhance their abilities to skim and scan CAT RC questions, study mental maths and memorise important CAT formulas to enhance their performance under the CAT quantitative aptitude section and practice a lot of CAT DILR questions to improve their performance in all the sections of the CAT examination. The candidate should always keep in mind that it is not about the number of questions that they attempt, but the rate of accuracy at which they attempt the questions matters while solving the CAT questions, that will determine their CAT success.

Eliminating Options in CAT Questions

An important strategy that the candidate can follow to reduce the number of wrong responses that they potentially make is by removing the possible wrong options. This is applicable to all the CAT MCQs, the candidates are suggested to quickly go through the options, remove those options that they are certain would not be the right one. This will help the candidate to easily find the right answers. A lot of CAT toppers are also observed to be following the same strategies to enhance their CAT scores.

Focusing On Accuracy Over Attempt Count

A very common misconception when it comes to CAT preparation is that more attempts mean more marks. This is one of the common mistakes made by candidates in the CAT examination. The candidates should always focus on prioritising accuracy over attempts. More attempts with an accuracy of below 50% always have the potential to invite a lot of negative marks in the CAT examination. Hence, the candidate should focus on solving most of the questions with greater accuracy than on solving all 68 questions.

How to Reduce CAT Negative Marking: Section-wise Tips

While solving the CAT questions of various sections, it is necessary that the candidates are also aware of the various CAT preparation techniques that they can use in all the sections to reduce the chances of getting penalised in the examination. A few of the CAT section-wise tips to enhance the candidate’s CAT preparation are provided below.

How to Reduce CAT Negative Marking: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

• It is observed that a lot of candidates are hasty in answering the CAT VARC questions, especially the CAT RC questions. This is because as soon as they see a related word in both the passage and the question, they jump to the solutions. This should not be repeated in the CAT examination, as this practice also comes with a greater risk of inviting CAT negative marking. The candidates are advised to go through the questions clearly and answer them.

• Although the CAT VARC syllabus is not very broad, the reading comprehension section has the highest weightage for any section in the CAT examination. Hence, the candidates are strongly advised to focus on the CAT RC questions as this can help them boost their CAT scores.

• The candidates are also advised to look for keywords and tone in both the question and passage to eliminate misleading answers.

• To avoid the potential negative marking in the CAT examination, the candidates should also try to answer the questions without intuition. They must try to validate the options under the CAT RC section objectively from the text.

• One effective tip that the candidate should keep in mind is that they must carefully read the passage before jumping to the question

How to Reduce CAT Negative Marking: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

• It is not necessary that the candidates should solve all the CAT DILR questions. There will be CAT DILR sets of varying difficulty. The candidates should go through each of them and start with the ones that they feel confident about. This can save a lot of marks from being lost to negative marking.

• The candidates are suggested to first take 2–3 minutes to scan all sets. Choose those that look logical, familiar, and less calculation-heavy.

• During the CAT DILR preparation, the candidates should try to start a habit of answering those questions which has less amount of ambiguity. Answering the CAT DILR sets that are largely ambiguous makes it more prone for the candidates to get trapped by negative marks.

• If the initial analysis of the candidate reveals that a particular set seems difficult for the candidate to solve, then they should go for aQny other CAT DILR set. Time lost on a single set not only reduces your chances of scoring but also increases the pressure, leading to hasty mistakes.

• The candidates are also suggested to go through the CAT sample papers and CAT mock tests and find the most important CAT DILR topics and prioritise them during their CAT preparation.

How to Reduce CAT Negative Marking: Quantitative Aptitude Section

• The candidates are suggested to use the approximation techniques to choose the answers that they are not aware of. This will help the candidate save time. The approximation technique is largely useful in percentage, profit-loss, and ratio questions

• The CAT quantitative aptitude section is one of those sections where the candidate has a good chance of making calculation mistakes. Hence, if the time permits, the candidates should try to recheck their responses before submitting.

• The candidates are advised to try to remain calm while attempting the CAT quant section because unwanted pressure may hamper the candidate’s calculations.

• The candidates are also advised to answer the CAT quantitative aptitude questions with which they are completely confident, as this would help them save time and avoid negative marking.

Best Books to Prepare for CAT 2026

Avoiding negative marking in CAT greatly comes with practising a lot of CAT questions from the most reputed CAT preparation books. Some of the best CAT preparation resources that the candidates can refer to are listed below for the reference of the candidates.

CAT 2026 Ebooks for Exam Preparation

CAT 2026 eBooks for exam preparation offer aspirants a flexible and focused way to strengthen their preparation using digital resources. These eBooks cover the complete CAT syllabus, including VARC, DILR, and Quantitative Aptitude, with topic-wise explanations, practice questions, and mock tests. The CAT eBooks help students revise concepts, improve accuracy, and practise anytime, making them ideal for systematic and self-paced CAT preparation.