CAT 2020 Exam Analysis by Endeavor. Get Sectional Analysis, Expected cut off, Percentile Projection

Endeavor Careers Posted on November 28, 2020

Welcome to the CAT 2020 Exam analysis page. Select the slot and jump to the respective exam slot analysis:

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CAT 2020 Exam Analysis – Slot 1

CAT 2020 took off on a good note with students’ anxieties and anticipations of the expected format and pandemic arrangements addressed positively. Not only were the arrangements smooth with COVID-19 regulations strictly observed, but the test also did not throw major surprises in terms of the number of questions and types of questions.

The overall format of the paper was as follows:

Sectional	Total questions	Non-negative key-in questions
VARC	26	5
DILR	24	6
QA	26	8

The sectional, in-depth CAT 2020 Slot 1 Exam analysis is as follows:

VARC:

With 18 questions spread across 4 RCs, this section provided some challenge to the candidates. The RCs were around 450 to 550 words in length, with 2 RCs carrying 5 questions each and 2 RCs carrying 4 questions each. The density of language and the closeness of options required students to spend more time reading them and regressing to get the answers. The RC topics were science – the migration and evolution of elephant seals to an improved biological state, political science – a discussion of anarchism with reference to European anarchism versus American anarchism, language – language, grammar and communication, and economics – Chinese currency system during Tang dynasty. The questions ranged from inferences, main idea questions, except questions, strengthen to parallel reasoning.

The VA section had 8 questions, 3 summary of around 100 words each, 3 parajumbles with 4 sentences each, and 2 Out of Context with 5 sentences. This sub-section was easier in comparison and had 5 non-negative key-in questions.

Question type	No of questions	Topic	Difficulty-level
RC 1	4	Science	Moderate
RC 2	4	Language	Moderate to Difficult
RC 3	5	Political Science	Difficult
RC 4	5	Economics	Easy
Summary	3		Moderate
Parajumbles	3		Moderate
Out of Context	2		Moderate
Total	26		Overall -Moderate

Good attempts: 17 -19

DI-LR:

DI-LR showed a slight departure from previous years in terms of number of questions per set. This sectional had a total of 24 questions with 3 sets of 4 questions each, 2 sets of 6 questions each. A set with 6 questions hasn’t been seen in recent years. The easiest of the sets was the one based on set theory with four variables. This carried 4 questions. Another set on the set theory which was moderate, was mixed with puzzles type data. The third set with 4 questions was on puzzles had partial data given and each question had additional data. It had 2 questions on maxima and minima. The sets with 6 questions each were logic-based DI, one of which was easy, and the other lengthy.

Question type	No of questions	Topic	Difficulty-level
Set 1	4	Set Theory -4 variables	Easy
Set 2	4	Set Theory + Puzzles	Moderate
Set 3	4	Puzzles -with additional data	Moderate
Set 4	6	Logic-based	Easy
Set 5	6	Logic-based	Difficult
Total	24		Overall -Moderate

Good attempts: 13 -14 questions

Quant:

A standard textbook sectional with a neat balance of question types! With a total of 26 questions, QA had 8 non-negative, key-in questions. The 11 arithmetic questions covered almost all topics. The 8 – 9 algebra questions focused mainly on functions, logarithm, and quadratic equations. In addition, there were 3 -4 questions of numbers and 3 questions of geometry. Interestingly, permutation combination and probability questions did not appear.

Question type/Area	No of questions	Topic
Arithmetic	11	All topics
Algebra	8 -9	Focus on Functions, Logarithm, Quadratic Equation
Numbers	3-4	–
Geometry	3
Total	26

Overall difficulty level: Moderate

Good attempts: 14-15

The overall CAT 2020 Exam Analysis for Slot 1 is as follows:

CAT 2020 overall turned out to be a notch higher than CAT 19, the pandemic and lockdown notwithstanding. Kudos to the CAT authorities on two counts: on being uncompromisingly qualitative, and on seamless Covid 19 safety adherence, over three slots, across the numerous centers, for over 2 lakh candidates. An exemplary exercise in management!

In the test takers’ favor was the respite offered by the familiar question types though the overall number of questions and time duration were changed. No surprises, except for the DI sets with 6 questions which would have been favorable to students.

Endeavor students found that all sectionals were very much in sync with the EOMs (Endeavor Open Mock CAT) that they had taken. In terms of question numbers, difficulty levels, and question types, EOMs were a great simulation.

Here are the predicted scores versus percentiles of CAT 2020 SLOT 1:

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
80%ile	25	17	19	57
90%ile	30	23	27	69
95%ile	35	27	33	83
98%ile	39	33	40	101
99%ile	42	36	44	106
99.5%ile	47	41	48	122

CAT 2020 Exam Analysis – Slot 2

CAT 2020 Slot 2 continued the good note CAT had begun this morning with the first slot. Once again, students’ anxieties and anticipations of the expected format and pandemic arrangements were addressed positively. The arrangements and transitions to Slot 2 were smooth. Covid 19 regulations were strictly observed. There were no technical glitches. And the format by now settled down to a sense of familiarity.

The overall format of the paper was as follows:

Sectional	Total questions	Non-negative key-in questions
VARC	26	5
DILR	24	6
QA	26	8

Each correct question carried +3.

Each incorrect question carried -1.

The key-in questions did not carry negative marks.

The time limit for each sectional was 40 mins. The total duration was 2 hours. A candidate could not move from one section to the next during the time allotted for the sectional.

The sectional, in-depth CAT 2020 Slot 2 Exam analysis is as follows:

VARC:

Once again, VARC sectional continued to trouble students. With 18 questions spread across 4 RCs, this section provided some challenge to the candidates, with speculation that they were slightly more difficult than the RCs of Slot 1. The RCs were around 450 to 550 words in length, with 2 RCs carrying 5 questions each and 2 RCs carrying 4 questions each. Like Slot 1, the density of language and the closeness of options required students to spend more time reading them and regressing to get the answers. The RC topics were energy and environment – investing in renewable energy technologies, international trade – piracy in international trade, psychology – Freudian models of aggression, and philosophy – a study of visualization. The questions ranged from inferences, main idea questions, except questions, strengthen, to parallel reasoning.

The VA section had 8 questions, 3 summary of around 100 words each -slightly more difficult than those of Slot 1, 3 parajumbles with 4 sentences each, and 2 Out of Context with 5 sentences each. This sub-section was easier in comparison and had 5 non-negative key-in questions.

Question type	No of questions	Topic	Difficulty-level
RC 1	5	Energy and Environment	Moderate
RC 2	4	International Trade	Moderate
RC 3	4	Psychology	Moderately Difficult
RC 4	5	Philosophy	Difficult
Summary	3		Moderately Difficult
Parajumbles	3		Moderate
Out of Context	2		Moderate
Total	26		Overall -Moderate to Difficult

Good attempts: 16 -18

DI-LR:

The slight departure from previous years in terms of number of questions per set continued in Slot 2. With 3 sets carrying 4 questions each, and 2 sets carrying 6 questions each, the 24 questions of DILR had 3 sets of LR and 2 sets of DI. There were also 6 non-negative key-in questions.

Question type	No of questions	Topic	Difficulty-level
Set 1-DI	4	Election in 4 constituencies (incomplete table of votes polled)	Moderate
Set 2 -LR	6	Seminar Scheduling (allocation & distribution type)	Moderately Difficult
Set 3 – LR	4	Parking slots	Moderately Difficult
Set 4-LR	4	Three Colour beads on 5X5 Grid	Moderately Difficult
Set 5-DI	6	Sales figures at a store	Difficult
Total	24		Overall – Moderately Difficult

Good attempts: 13 -14 questions

Quant:

QA Slot 2, with a total of 26 questions, continued the balanced distribution of questions across arithmetic and algebra. Arithmetic had about 10-11 questions, with almost all topics represented. There were 9 -10 algebra questions, 2-3 questions on numbers and 4 questions of geometry. Slightly time consuming, this section nevertheless, was moderate overall. With the right selection of questions, a student should have been able navigate through this sectional easily.

Question type/Area	No of questions
Arithmetic	10 -11
Algebra	9 -10
Numbers	2 -3
Geometry	4
Total	26

Overall difficulty level: Moderate

Good attempts: 15 -16

The overall CAT 2020 Exam Analysis for Slot 2 is as follows:

Here are the predicted scores versus percentiles of CAT 2020 SLOT 2:

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
80%ile	25	16	17	54
90%ile	30	21	23	66
95%ile	34	26	30	78
98%ile	38	31	37	96
99%ile	40	35	40	101
99.5%ile	43	39	45	115

CAT 2020 Exam Analysis – Slot 3

CAT 2020 Slot 3 continued the good note CAT had begun this morning with the first slot. Once again, students’ anxieties and anticipations of the expected format and pandemic arrangements were addressed positively. The arrangements and transitions to Slot 3 were smooth. Covid 19 regulations were strictly observed. There were no major technical glitches. And the format by now settled down to a sense of familiarity.

The overall format of the paper was as follows:

Sectional	Duration	Total questions	Non-negative key-in questions
VARC	40 mins	26	5
DILR	40 mins	24	6
QA	40 mins	26	8
Total	120 mins	76	19

Each correct question carried +3.

Each incorrect question carried -1.

The key-in questions did not carry negative marks.

The time limit for each sectional was 40 mins. The total duration was 2 hours. A candidate could not move from one section to the next during the time allotted for the sectional.

The sectional, in-depth CAT 2020 Slot 3 Exam analysis is as follows:

VARC:

This time, though the VARC sectional was again a troublesome sectional, in comparison with the other sectionals, its difficulty level paled out. With 18 questions spread across 4 RCs. The RCs were around 400 to 550 words in length, with 2 RCs carrying 5 questions each and 2 RCs carrying 4 questions each. Like Slot 1 and 2, the density of language and the closeness of options required students to spend more time reading them and regressing to get the answers. The RC topics were sociology – travel writing and feminism during colonial times, economics – the need for economic literacy in the general population, technology – screen time and undercurrents of social class, and philosophy – an analysis of human nature. The questions ranged from inferences, main idea questions, except and least questions, strengthen, to parallel reasoning.

The VA section had 8 questions, 3 summary of around 100 words each, 3 parajumbles with 4 sentences each, and 2 Out of Context with 5 sentences each. This sub-section was easier in comparison and had 5 non-negative key-in questions.

Question type	No of questions	Topic	Difficulty-level
RC 1	5	Sociology	Moderately Difficult
RC 2	4	Economics	Moderate
RC 3	4	Technology	Moderate
RC 4	5	Philosophy	Moderately Difficult
Summary	3		Moderate
Parajumbles	3		Moderate
Out of Context	2		Moderate
Total	26		Overall -Moderate

Good attempts: 18 – 19 questions

DILR:

The slight departure from previous years in terms of the number of questions per set continued in Slot 3 as well. With 3 sets carrying 4 questions each, and 2 sets carrying 6 questions each, the 24 questions of DILR had 3 sets of LR and 2 sets of DI. There were also 6 non-negative key-in questions.

Question type	No of questions	Topic	Difficulty-level
Set 1-DI	6	Division of Rectangular Plot of trees	Moderately Difficult
Set 2 -LR	4	Venn Diagram for 4	Easy
Set 3 – LR	6	Casino-Points	Difficult
Set 4-LR	4	Blood sample – vial	Moderately Difficult
Set 5-DI	4	Orders received	Difficult
Total	24		Overall – Moderately Difficult

Good attempts: 13 -14 questions

quant:

QA Slot 3, with a total of 26 questions, titled the balance towards algebra with around 11-12 questions of algebra. This tilt also made the sectional slightly more tricky and time-consuming in comparison to the previous two slots. Questions on numbers were also missing in this slot. distribution of questions across arithmetic and algebra. Arithmetic had about 11-12 questions, with topics widely covered. Nevertheless, the section can be termed moderate overall. With the right selection of questions, a student should have been able to navigate 14-15 attempts in this section.