The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025 — the entry route to the IIMs and top B-schools — was described by students as tougher than expected. Many candidates felt the exam held on Sunday was easier than CAT 2023 but clearly harder than CAT 2024. The toughest parts, most agreed, were the Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI) and Quantitative Aptitude (QA) sections. CAT 2025 was conducted in three slots.
About 2.95 lakh students registered for the exam across India, though IIM Kozhikode had not released final attendance figures at press time.
According to CAT tutor Manish Shah, CAT 2025 was “slightly tougher” than last year, even though the structure remained the same as CAT 2024: 68 questions across three sections — VARC (24), LRDI (22) and Quant (22). He noted that para-jumbled questions returned to the VARC section after being absent last year. Candidates generally found VARC similar in difficulty to the previous year.
Shah added that LRDI needed more intensive calculations and stronger data-handling, while Quant contained several tricky questions, making it a bit tougher than last year. Overall, students felt the exam was easier than CAT 2023 but a notch harder than CAT 2024 due to the increased difficulty in LRDI and Quant.
Some students had mixed experiences. First-time test-taker Kshitiz Pandya found VARC tough but not as harsh as in 2023. “Two reading passages were easy, but the other two got progressively difficult. I expect scores to drop this year,” he said.
Hemil Kain, who wrote the exam in slot 2, rated the paper moderate to difficult. “I was prepared for this level. It was clear it wouldn’t match the difficulty of 2024 or 2023. The verbal section was challenging and LRDI tricky but doable,” he said.