The race for the Common Admission Test 2015 (CAT) has started, with the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) announcing that registration is open for the examination. The registrations will start from August 6, and will continue till September 20.
This year, CAT will be conducted in two sessions on November 29, across 136 cities, at 650 test sites.
A number of changes have been made in the exam pattern this year. Its duration has been increased to 180 minutes instead of 170 minutes. There will be three sections: ‘Quantitative Aptitude (QA)’, ‘Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)’ and ‘Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC)’. QA and VRC will have 34 questions each, while the DILR will have 32 questions.
Some questions in each section may not be of the multiple-choice type. Instead, direct answers are to be typed on the screen. The candidates will also be allowed to use a basic, on-screen calculator for computation.
Candidates will be allotted exactly 60 minutes to answer questions in each section and they cannot switch from one section to another while answering questions in a certain section.
A tutorial to understand the format of the examination will be available on the CAT website from October 15.
Candidates will be given the option to select four cities as test centres, with their order of preference and, hence, need not rush to block slots and sites in the initial days of registration.
Candidates must pay the registration fee only through the online mode, by credit card, debit card or net banking.
After registration, the candidates will be permitted to download their Admit Card from October 15 onwards until the date of examination.
The results for CAT 2015 are expected to be announced in the second week of January 2016.