Key takeaways
- CAT has three sections of 40 minutes each, and you cannot move between sections, so time management is a section by section skill.
- Aim for a first pass that takes about 25 to 30 minutes, then use the rest for questions you skipped.
- In VARC budget about 8 minutes per reading passage. In DILR choose sets in the first 3 to 4 minutes. In Quant skip any question that takes more than about 2 minutes.
- Practise the plan in mocks so that it is automatic on exam day.
CAT gives you 120 minutes in three sections of 40 minutes, with 68 questions in the current pattern. Once the 40 minutes for a section end, you move on and cannot return. This makes time management a skill you must practise, not something to work out on exam day. The numbers below are guides you can adjust after a few mocks.
The general principle: two passes
In every section, do a first pass in which you answer the questions you find easy and mark the others. Then use the remaining time for the marked questions, starting with the ones that look closest to solved. This protects marks that are within reach and stops one hard question from using the time of five easy ones.
VARC: 40 minutes, 24 questions
| Block | Suggested time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal ability questions (para jumbles, para summary, odd sentence out) | 8 to 10 minutes | These need no passage, so do them first in a quick block |
| Reading passages (usually three or four) | About 7 to 8 minutes each | Skip a dense passage and return if time remains |
| Review | 2 to 3 minutes | Check the type in the answer questions, which have no negative marking |
- Do the quicker verbal questions first if you are comfortable with them.
- Choose the passage that looks most interesting or most familiar to attempt first.
- A wrong multiple choice answer costs one mark. If you cannot reduce the options to two, skip.
DILR: 40 minutes, 22 questions in about four or five sets
Choosing sets is the main time skill. Spend the first three to four minutes scanning every set. Rank them by how clear the structure is, and start with the easiest. A set that is not opening up after about eight minutes should be left.
- Aim to finish two sets properly before attempting a third.
- Expect to attempt about three or four sets, not all of them.
- Write conditions down as you read. Reading twice costs more time than writing once.
- Use the last five minutes to finish questions in a set you have already built, since the setup time is already spent.
Quant: 40 minutes, 22 questions
Quant rewards fast decisions. Read each question and decide in about ten seconds: solve now, solve later or skip. A question that has used two minutes without progress should be marked and left.
- First pass: answer all the questions you know how to start. This is usually about 25 minutes.
- Second pass: attempt the marked questions in order of how close you were.
- Use the type in the answer questions as safe marks, because they have no negative marking.
- Leave about two minutes at the end to check calculations on the questions you were unsure of.
Practise the plan, not just the questions
- Take a full mock every week under real timing, with the same section order as the exam.
- After the mock, write down how long you spent on each question you got wrong. If most took longer than the plan allows, that is a time management problem, not a knowledge problem.
- Adjust one number at a time. Changing everything after every mock makes it impossible to see what helped.
- Record how many questions you attempted in each section and your accuracy. Both numbers together tell you more than the score.
Use our full length CAT mocks to practise the plan, and follow the mock analysis routine to see where time goes. The guide on how many mocks to take shows how often to practise.
Common mistakes
- Spending 6 minutes on one Quant question because you are close to a solution.
- Attempting every DILR set and finishing none properly.
- Leaving the easy verbal questions for the end and running out of time.
- Changing your plan during the real exam instead of using the one you practised.
- Panicking when one section goes badly. Each section is independent, so reset for the next one.
Frequently asked questions
Can I go back to a section after the time is over?
No. Each section has its own 40 minute timer, and you move to the next section when it ends.
How many questions should I attempt in each section?
It varies by person and by paper. Most strong candidates attempt fewer questions than are available and aim for high accuracy, because wrong multiple choice answers lose marks.
Should I attempt the type in the answer questions first?
They are safe because they have no negative marking, so attempt them whenever you can solve them, in any order.
What if I finish a section early?
Use the remaining time to check marked questions, since you cannot carry time to the next section.