CAT Syllabus 2026: Subject Wise Topics, Topic Wise Weightage and PDF Download

Passage themes: Philosophy and ethics, social sciences (economics, sociology, politics), science and technology, business and management, history and culture, ecology and environment.

Passage length: 450–650 words per passage. CAT 2026 typically carries 4 passages with 4 questions each.

Question types: Central theme and main idea, author’s tone and purpose, inference-based (what the author implies, not just states), vocabulary in context, specific detail retrieval, strengthen or weaken an argument.

Four to six scrambled sentences must be arranged into a coherent paragraph. All CAT VA questions are TITA — you type the correct sentence order; no options are given.

Strategy: Identify the opening sentence first — it introduces a concept without referring back to anything. Track pronoun-antecedent links (he, she, it, they point to the previous sentence). Use connector words: "however" signals contrast; "therefore" signals conclusion; "moreover" signals addition.

A short paragraph is given; choose the best one-sentence summary from four MCQ options. The correct option captures the main idea without adding external reasoning or omitting any key argument.

Wrong-option patterns: Too narrow (focuses only on one example in the passage), too broad (generalises beyond the passage’s claim), factually contradictory to the central point.

Five sentences are given; identify the one that does not belong to the paragraph formed by the other four. TITA format — you type the sentence number.

Strategy: Build the four-sentence paragraph first. The leftover sentence is the answer. Look for the sentence that introduces a different subject, contradicts the common theme, or makes an unconnected reference.

Simple data tables, matrix-based comparison, missing-data tables, data sufficiency tables, two-variable cross-tables, pivot-style tables. CAT tables increasingly embed conditional constraints requiring multi-step ratio and percentage calculations. Table sets often combine with a short paragraph (caselets).

Simple bar graphs, stacked bar graphs, grouped (clustered) bar graphs, bar-and-line combinations. Questions test percentage change between years, ratio comparison, growth-rate analysis, and trend identification across multiple variables.

Linear arrangement (single row, double row), circular arrangement, floor-based arrangement (apartment or building problems), matrix/grid arrangement. Questions provide conditional clues in sentence form; you resolve them using a constraint-elimination grid. This is the most consistently tested LR topic — it appears across nearly every CAT slot.

Round-robin leagues (points-based standings), knockout tournaments, hybrid group-stage-and-knockout formats, score-based ranking puzzles. CAT often introduces novel scoring rules per set — read the setup rules carefully before solving. Matches played, goals scored, and ranking conditions are common question themes.

Constraint-based distribution puzzles (items to people), calendar and scheduling puzzles, binary logic puzzles (truth-teller and liar), route and network puzzles (flow-based or path-count). Each puzzle carries a unique scenario — read the setup sentence by sentence to avoid missing a constraint.

Percentage increase and decrease, successive percentage change, percentage point vs percentage difference. Profit and Loss: cost price, selling price, discount percentage, markup, effective discount on two successive discounts. Simple and Compound Interest: half-yearly and quarterly compounding, effective interest rate comparison.

Relative speed (same and opposite direction), trains crossing problems, boats and streams (upstream and downstream), average speed, meeting-point problems, circular track (when two walkers meet), unit conversion (km/h to m/s: divide by 3.6).

Linear equations (2–3 variables), quadratic equations (sum and product of roots, nature of roots using discriminant), polynomial division, remainder theorem, factor theorem. CAT often asks for the number of integer solutions to a constraint-based equation — apply elimination by testing boundary values.

Types: equilateral, isosceles, right-angled. Congruence (SSS, SAS, ASA) and similarity (AA, SAS) rules. Area formulas: ½ × base × height, Heron’s formula. Properties of medians and centroid (2:1 ratio). Altitudes and orthocentre. Angle bisector theorem. Special right triangles: 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 side ratios.

2D: Area and perimeter of triangle, rectangle, square, parallelogram, trapezium, rhombus, circle, sector.
3D: Volume and surface area of cube, cuboid, cylinder, cone, sphere, hemisphere. Cross-section problems (cutting a 3D solid and identifying the shape) have appeared frequently in recent CAT papers.

Divisibility rules for 2 through 13. HCF and LCM: Euclidean algorithm, product rule for coprime pairs. Number of factors formula: if N = p^a × q^b, then factors = (a+1)(b+1). Sum of factors formula. Fermat’s Little Theorem and Euler’s Totient Theorem for remainder problems. Cyclicity of unit digits for powers of 2, 3, 7, 8. Trailing zeroes in n! = ∑ floor(n/5^k).