CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation Module 1 – Start here: CAT and the other MBA entrance tests
CAT syllabus: what each section tests
CAT publishes no syllabus. What its three sections cover, read from the official lists of NMAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT and MAT, with the lessons for each skill.
What you will learn
- State what the official FAQs say about a CAT syllabus and what they point to instead
- Map each CAT section to the skills that the official lists of other MBA tests name
- Choose the lessons of this track and of the aptitude track that cover each skill
Before you start
What you’ll learn · Before you start
What you will learn
- State what the official FAQs say about a CAT syllabus and what they point to instead
- Map each CAT section to the skills that the official lists of other MBA tests name
- Choose the lessons of this track and of the aptitude track that cover each skill
Before you start
On this page
Search for the CAT syllabus and you will find topic lists, often with a share of the questions for each topic. None of them comes from the IIMs: the CAT 2026 FAQs say the examination does not have a defined syllabus, and the only official scope is the names of its three sections.
What fills those sections can still be read from official documents, just not CAT’s own. Five other MBA entrance tests publish what they test, and this lesson matches their lists, skill by skill, to CAT’s three sections and then to the lessons that teach each skill. A program checks every match against the tests’ own wording, so you can see where each claim comes from.
The official answer: no syllabus, three section names
The FAQs on the CAT website ask the question directly, “Does CAT 2026 have a syllabus for examination preparation?”, and answer it in one line: the CAT examination “does not have a defined syllabus for CAT preparation”. Instead, they send candidates to the official mock test “to understand the pattern of examination and types of questions”. The press release adds the section names and their time, and that is the whole of the official scope:
| The CAT 2026 documents publish | They do not publish |
|---|---|
| Three section names, in a fixed order | A list of topics for any section |
| 40 minutes for each section | How many questions a section has |
| The marking scheme | How often any topic is asked |
| An official mock test, shortly before the test | A weight for any topic |
The last row is the one a weight table claims to fill. A topic weight: The share of a test's questions or marks that come from one topic. CAT publishes no topic weights, so any figure for one is someone else's estimate, not an official number., such as “arithmetic is a third of QA”, cannot be checked against anything the IIMs publish, so this track never states one. That is not caution for its own sake: a plan built on a weight you cannot check spends hours where the weight says, while your own errors may be somewhere else entirely.
Treating a weight table as the syllabus
A table that splits CAT’s QA into topics with question counts reads like a syllabus, but no CAT document supports it. Use the section names for scope, the official mock test for formats, and your own diagnostic for where to spend time.
Checkpoint
Check: CAT's official scope: no syllabus
Other tests’ official lists show the skills behind each section
Take data sufficiency, a question type that asks whether some statements are enough to answer a question. CAT’s documents never mention it. NMAT lists “Data Sufficiency” among its quantitative topics, SNAP puts it in the name of a section, “Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency”, and MAT has a section called “Data Analysis & Sufficiency”. Three official lists name the same data sufficiency: A question type that asks whether the given statements are enough to answer a question, not for the answer itself. skill, which is good evidence of what an MBA entrance test treats as part of reasoning with data.
The five lists differ in detail. NMAT and XAT name topics inside each section; SNAP, CMAT and MAT name only their sections. The figure files every skill they name under the CAT section whose name covers it, with the tests that name it, and puts the skills that no CAT section name covers in a fourth, dashed group:
CAT’s sections and the skills other tests name in their official lists
Text description of the diagram
The diagram has two columns. On the left are CAT's three sections and a fourth box, drawn dashed, for skills outside CAT's section names. On the right, each box names one skill and the tests whose official lists name it.
- VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension): reading comprehension (NMAT, XAT); para jumbles (NMAT, XAT); grammar and errors (NMAT, XAT); vocabulary (NMAT, XAT); critical reasoning (NMAT, XAT, MAT). - DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning): data interpretation (NMAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT, MAT); logical reasoning (NMAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT); data sufficiency (NMAT, SNAP, MAT). - QA (Quantitative Ability): arithmetic (NMAT, XAT); algebra (NMAT, XAT); number properties (NMAT); geometry and mensuration (XAT); counting and probability (NMAT, XAT). - Not in CAT's section names: decision making (XAT); ethics (SNAP); general awareness (XAT, CMAT, MAT); innovation (CMAT).
CAT itself publishes only the three section names. Which CAT section each skill sits under is this track's reading of those names, not an official list.
Three things stand out. Every skill on the VARC side, from reading comprehension to a para jumble: A question that gives the sentences of a paragraph out of order and asks for the order that makes a coherent paragraph. More in “Para jumbles: ordering sentences without options”, comes from NMAT’s and XAT’s topic lists, and MAT adds critical reasoning. On the DILR side, all five tests name data interpretation in one wording or another, the broadest official support any skill in the map has. On the QA side, only NMAT and XAT list topics at all. And four skills belong to other tests alone: XAT’s decision making, SNAP’s ethics, the general awareness of XAT, CMAT and MAT, and CMAT’s innovation and entrepreneurship.
The filing under CAT’s sections is this track’s reading of the section names, not an official list, and the figure’s description says so. The next program shows the evidence instead of asking you to trust the figure: for any skill it prints the exact words each test uses, then the lessons that teach it.
skills/skills_map.py
"""A map from CAT's three sections to the skills other MBA tests name in their official lists.
A test names a skill when one of its section names or listed topics contains one of the skill's phrases.
Change LOOK_UP to another skill of the map and run it again to see each test's own wording.
"""
from official_lists import DOCUMENTS, LISTS
LOOK_UP = "data sufficiency"
# skill: (the CAT section whose name covers it, phrases that name it, aptitude lesson for the basics, lesson here)
SKILLS = {
"reading comprehension": ("VARC", ["reading comprehension"],
"reading-comprehension-method", "reading-comprehension-for-cat"),
"para jumbles": ("VARC", ["para jumble", "para forming"],
"para-jumbles-and-narrative-sequencing", "para-jumbles-without-options"),
"grammar and errors": ("VARC", ["grammar", "error identification", "prepositions"],
"sentence-correction-and-error-spotting", "grammar-and-error-spotting-for-mba-tests"),
"vocabulary": ("VARC", ["vocabulary", "sentence completion", "analogies", "cloze"],
"fill-in-the-blanks-and-cloze-tests", "vocabulary-in-context-for-mba-tests"),
"critical reasoning": ("VARC", ["critical reasoning", "critical & analytical reasoning"],
"strengthen-weaken-cause-and-action", "critical-reasoning-for-mba-tests"),
"data interpretation": ("DILR", ["data interpretation", "data integration", "data analysis"],
"di-tables-and-fast-percentages", "tables-and-charts-in-di-sets"),
"logical reasoning": ("DILR", ["logical reasoning", "analytical puzzles", "deductions", "analytical reasoning"],
"multi-attribute-puzzles", "arrangement-and-scheduling-sets"),
"data sufficiency": ("DILR", ["data sufficiency", "sufficiency"],
"data-sufficiency", "data-sufficiency-for-mba-tests"),
"arithmetic": ("QA", ["arithmetic"], "percentages-fundamentals", "percentages-and-ratios-for-cat"),
"algebra": ("QA", ["algebra"], "quadratic-equations-and-inequalities", "quadratics-and-inequalities-for-cat"),
"number properties": ("QA", ["number properties"],
"divisibility-and-prime-factorisation", "number-system-for-cat"),
"geometry and mensuration": ("QA", ["geometry", "mensuration"],
"lines-angles-and-triangles", "triangles-for-cat"),
"counting and probability": ("QA", ["probability", "modern maths"],
"permutations-and-arrangements", "permutations-and-combinations-for-cat"),
"decision making": (None, ["decision making"], None, "decision-making-and-ethics-scenarios"),
"ethics": (None, ["ethics"], None, "decision-making-and-ethics-scenarios"),
"general awareness": (None, ["general knowledge", "general awareness", "business environment"],
None, "general-awareness-method"),
"innovation": (None, ["innovation"], None, "cmat-strategy-and-innovation"),
}
def wordings(test):
"""Every name the test publishes: its section names and the topics it lists in them."""
for section, topics in LISTS[test]:
yield section
yield from topics
def naming(skill):
"""{test: the first official wording of that test that names the skill}."""
phrases = SKILLS[skill][1]
found = {}
for test in LISTS:
for text in wordings(test):
if any(p in text.lower() for p in phrases):
found[test] = text
break
return found
for test in LISTS:
assert test in DOCUMENTS, f"no document for {test}"
groups = {"VARC": [], "DILR": [], "QA": [], None: []}
for skill, (section, *_rest) in SKILLS.items():
groups[section].append(skill)
for section, skills in groups.items():
print(section or "Not in CAT's section names")
for skill in skills:
tests = [t for t in naming(skill) if t != "CAT"]
assert tests, f"no official list names {skill}"
print(f" {skill:<26} {', '.join(tests)}")
print()
found = naming(LOOK_UP)
section, _, basics, here = SKILLS[LOOK_UP]
print(f"Look-up: {LOOK_UP}")
for test, text in found.items():
print(f" {test:<5} names it as {text!r}")
print(f" basics: aptitude/{basics}" if basics else " basics: no aptitude lesson")
print(f" in this track: {here}")Output
VARC reading comprehension NMAT, XAT para jumbles NMAT, XAT grammar and errors NMAT, XAT vocabulary NMAT, XAT critical reasoning NMAT, XAT, MAT DILR data interpretation NMAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT, MAT logical reasoning NMAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT data sufficiency NMAT, SNAP, MAT QA arithmetic NMAT, XAT algebra NMAT, XAT number properties NMAT geometry and mensuration XAT counting and probability NMAT, XAT Not in CAT's section names decision making XAT ethics SNAP general awareness XAT, CMAT, MAT innovation CMAT Look-up: data sufficiency NMAT names it as 'Data Sufficiency' SNAP names it as 'Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency' MAT names it as 'Data Analysis & Sufficiency' basics: aptitude/data-sufficiency in this track: data-sufficiency-for-mba-tests
Recorded with Python 3.14.8 on macOS 26 arm64. To run it yourself: mise exec python@3.14.8 -- python3 skills_map.py
skills/official_lists.py
"""What six MBA entrance tests publish about their content, in their own words, with the document that says it.
CAT publishes its three section names and no topic list: its FAQs say it has no defined syllabus.
SNAP, CMAT and MAT publish section names only; NMAT and XAT also list topics inside each section.
"""
DOCUMENTS = {
"CAT": "https://iimcat.ac.in/",
"NMAT": "https://www.mba.com/exams/nmat/about",
"XAT": "https://xatonline.in/assets/pdf/XAT-2026-Overview-2.pdf",
"SNAP": "https://www.snaptest.org/documents/SNAP-2026-Bulletin.pdf",
"CMAT": "https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3a381c2c35c9157f6b67fd07d5a200ae1/uploads/2025/10/202510171049586023.pdf",
"MAT": "https://aima.in/mat/faq/",
}
# test: [(section name, [topics the test lists in that section])]
LISTS = {
"CAT": [
("Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension", []),
("Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning", []),
("Quantitative Ability", []),
],
"NMAT": [
("Language Skills", ["Reading Comprehension", "Para Forming", "Error Identification", "Prepositions",
"Sentence Completion", "Analogies"]),
("Quantitative Skills", ["Number Properties", "Arithmetic", "Algebra and Probability",
"Data Integration Caselets and Tables", "Data Integration Graphs and Charts",
"Data Sufficiency"]),
("Logical Reasoning", ["Critical Reasoning", "Analytical Puzzles", "Deductions", "Other Reasoning"]),
],
"XAT": [
("Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning", ["critical & analytical reasoning", "reading comprehension",
"vocabulary", "English grammar", "para jumbles", "cloze tests"]),
("Decision Making", ["scenarios drawn from both personal and professional lives"]),
("Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation", ["arithmetic", "algebra", "geometry", "mensuration",
"modern Maths"]),
("General Knowledge", ["static GK", "current affairs"]),
],
"SNAP": [
("General English", []),
("Analytical & Logical Reasoning", []),
("Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency", []),
("Ethics, Morality and Values", []),
],
"CMAT": [
("Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation", []),
("Logical Reasoning", []),
("Language Comprehension", []),
("General Awareness", []),
("Innovation & Entrepreneurship", []),
],
"MAT": [
("Language Comprehension", []),
("Intelligence & Critical Reasoning", []),
("Mathematical Skills", []),
("Data Analysis & Sufficiency", []),
("Economic & Business Environment", []),
],
}Runs on this device, in your browser. The first run downloads Python (about 13.5 MB), which is kept for the next runs.
Your run, in this browser
Look up another skill
Press Edit, change LOOK_UP to "para jumbles" and run it again: NMAT calls it “Para Forming” and XAT “para
jumbles”. Then try "general awareness", which three tests name in three different ways.
Each look-up prints the tests’ own words with the lessons that teach the skill, so a claim about what an MBA entrance test covers can be checked against the document it comes from.
Key idea
CAT names only its sections; the skills inside them are best read from the official lists of NMAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT and MAT, and a skill named by several of them, such as data interpretation, is the strongest evidence of scope.
Checkpoint
Check: Skills from other tests' official lists
From a skill to the lessons that teach it
Each skill in the map has two places to learn it. The aptitude track teaches the basics, the methods most aptitude tests share, and this track teaches the same skill at the level of CAT and the other MBA tests. The program prints both for the skill you look up; by section, the modules are:
| CAT section | Modules of this track | Aptitude lessons for the basics, for example |
|---|---|---|
| VARC | Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension | Reading comprehension: a method |
| DILR | Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning | Data interpretation: tables |
| QA | Arithmetic; algebra and number systems; geometry, counting and probability | Percentages: base, change and GST |
| Other tests only | XAT, NMAT, SNAP, CMAT and MAT: what each adds | None: these skills start in this track |
Which lessons come first depends on you, not on the map. A short diagnostic, the last lesson of this module, shows where your errors are. A skill where you make errors of method or concept starts with its aptitude lesson; a skill where you are already accurate goes straight to its lesson in this track. Since CAT gives every section the same 40 minutes, every week of a plan should touch all three sections, whatever your strongest one is.
Study Planner & Revision Timetable Turn the skills you chose into a day-by-day timetable, with every CAT section in every week.Checkpoint
Check: From a skill to its lessons
Practise: scope and skills
Ten questions cover the official answer about a syllabus, the map built from other tests’ lists and the choice of lessons. The session picks your weakest part first and asks again, at the end, whatever you got wrong:
Practice that adapts to you
Practise this lesson
10 questions about 3 ideas of this lesson. Each answer is explained at once, and what you get right is kept in this browser.
Interview questions
Warm-up: does CAT publish a syllabus?
No. The CAT 2026 FAQs say CAT has no defined syllabus, and they send candidates to the official mock test to understand the pattern and the types of question. The official scope is the names of the three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability, each with 40 minutes. No CAT document gives a list of topics or a weight for any topic, so a table of topic weights is someone’s estimate. For topic-level detail, the strongest public evidence is the official lists of other MBA tests: NMAT and XAT name topics inside their sections, from NMAT’s data sufficiency to XAT’s para jumbles, while SNAP, CMAT and MAT name their sections.
Model answers open with any pass: ₹79 for 1 week ($2.99), one payment that never renews.
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Fresher to mid
There are no official topic weights for CAT. How would you decide how much study time each topic gets in a 20-week plan, and how would you check the decision as you go?
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Fresher to mid
You plan to take CAT, NMAT and SNAP. How would you use NMAT's and SNAP's official lists to plan your CAT preparation, and where could those lists mislead you?
Flashcards · 7 cards
Recall it, then check
Say the answer to yourself before you look: recalling it is what makes it stick.
-
Does CAT 2026 publish a syllabus?
No. Its FAQs say CAT has no defined syllabus and send candidates to the official mock test for the pattern and question types. The official scope is the three section names, each with 40 minutes.
-
Why should a CAT plan not rest on a table of topic weights?
No CAT document gives a weight or a question count for any topic, so a claim such as "arithmetic is a third of QA" cannot be checked. Hours spent where such a table points may miss where your own errors are.
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Which MBA tests list topics inside their sections, and which name only their sections?
NMAT and XAT name topics inside each section; SNAP, CMAT and MAT name only their sections. Matched to CAT's section names, these official lists are the best public evidence of what fills each CAT section.
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Which skill do all five of NMAT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT and MAT name in their official lists?
Data interpretation, each in its own wording. No other skill in the map has such broad official support.
-
Which tests name data sufficiency, a question type CAT's documents never mention?
NMAT lists it among its quantitative topics, SNAP puts it in a section name (Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency) and MAT has a section called Data Analysis & Sufficiency.
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Which skills belong to other MBA tests and to no CAT section?
XAT's decision making, SNAP's ethics, general awareness (named by XAT, CMAT and MAT) and CMAT's innovation and entrepreneurship.
-
How do you decide whether a skill starts with its aptitude lesson or its test-level lesson?
From your diagnostic: errors of method or concept send you to the aptitude basics first; a skill you already answer accurately goes straight to the test-level lesson. Every week still touches all three sections.
Key takeaways
- The CAT 2026 FAQs say CAT has no defined syllabus; the official scope is the three section names, and the official mock test shows the formats.
- No CAT document gives topic weights or question counts, so this track never states either, and a plan should not rest on them.
- NMAT and XAT list topics inside their sections, and SNAP, CMAT and MAT name their sections; matched to CAT’s section names, they give a skills map whose every row cites the tests’ own words.
- All five tests name data interpretation in one wording or another, while decision making, ethics, general awareness and innovation belong to other tests only.
- Each skill has an aptitude lesson for the basics and a lesson in this track at test level, and your diagnostic, not a weight table, decides which comes first.
Terms in this lesson
- topic weight
- The share of a test's questions or marks that come from one topic. CAT publishes no topic weights, so any figure for one is someone else's estimate, not an official number.
References
- CAT 2026 FAQs (Indian Institutes of Management (CAT 2026, conducted by IIM Indore))
- CAT 2026 press release (Indian Institutes of Management (CAT 2026, conducted by IIM Indore))
- About the NMAT exam (Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC))
- XAT 2026: a quick overview (XLRI – Xavier School of Management)
- SNAP 2026 Bulletin (Symbiosis International (Deemed University))
- CMAT 2026 Information Bulletin (National Testing Agency (NTA))
- MAT FAQ (All India Management Association (AIMA))
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