The CAT exam pattern has undergone significant changes, including the introduction of a sectional time limit of one hour for each section, which are Verbal Ability, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. The number of non-MCQ questions has decreased, and new answer options such as 'not applicable' and 'none of these' have been added for MCQs. Additionally, the ability to navigate between sections, removed in previous years, has been highlighted as a limitation by students.

1. CAT EXAM PATTERN
MAJOR CHANGES IN

2. AFTER A BREAK OF FEW YEARS, THE SECTIONAL
TIME LIMIT WAS INTRODUCED IN CAT. THE FIRST
SECTION WAS VERBAL ABILITY, FOLLOWED BY DI
AND LR AND THEN QUANTITATIVE ABILITY. THE
SECTIONAL TIME LIMIT WAS ONE HOUR FOR EACH
SECTION.
1. TIME ALLOTTED IN
EACH SECTION

3. CAT EXAM IS NOW HELD ON A SINGLE DAY IN TWO
SESSIONS: MORNING AND EVENING, AS AGAINST
CAT 2014, WHICH WAS HELD OVER A PERIOD OF
20 DAYS.
2. ONE-DAY EXAM

4. ONE OF THE MAJOR CHANGES IN THE CAT EXAM
PATTERN IS THE REDUCTION OF THE NON-
MCQ/TITA QUESTION SINCE LAST THREE OR FOUR
YEARS. THESE ARE THE DESCRIPTIVE TYPE AND DO
NOT HAVE ANY NEGATIVE MARKING.
3. DECREASE IN THE
NUMBERS OF NON-MCQ/TITA
QUESTION

5. THE NEXT CHANGE DONE IN THE CAT 2017 EXAM
PATTERN IS TO INCLUDE NEW TYPE OF ANSWER
OPTIONS FOR MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION. NOW
THERE SHALL BE "NOT APPLICABLE", "NONE OF
THESE" AND "NOT DETERMINABLE" TYPE OF
OPTIONS GIVEN IN THE ANSWER SECTION.
4. MORE ANSWER OPTIONS
IN MCQ’S

6. ONE OF THE MAJOR CHANGES IS THE ABILITY TO NAVIGATE
ACROSS THE SECTIONS WHILE ATTEMPTING THE PAPER. THE
ABILITY TO MOVE ACROSS THE SECTIONS WAS REMOVED IN CAT
2015 AND WAS CONTINUED IN CAT 2016, AND CAT 2017.
STUDENTS FIND THIS HIGHLY LIMITING AND HAVE TIME AND AGAIN
CLAIMED THAT THIS HAMPERS THEIR CHANCE OF ANSWERING
MORE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ACCURATELY.