CAT 2016 Question Paper Analysis & Tips for CAT 2021- Check Difficulty Level, Section-Wise Weightage

Updated On: November 15, 2021 08:32 AM

CAT 2016 was conducted on December 04, 2016 in two different shifts. Check the paper analysis of CAT 2016 here.

CAT 2016 Exam Analysis and Expert Opinions

CAT 2016 was conducted on December 4 in two different shifts. The exam was conducted at around 138 around the country and 1.95 lakh candidates appeared for the exam. IIM Bangalore was the conducting body of CAT 2016. The exam pattern of CAT 2016 was similar to that of the CAT 2015 exam except the weightage of TITA questions. The number of Non-MCQs in CAT 2016 was reduced to 25% from 28% in 2015. There were three sections in CAT 2016 namely Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Verbal and Reading Comprehension. We have provided the paper analysis of CAT 2016 here. Candidates who have appeared for the examination can check the CAT 2016 paper analysis to know the difficulty level of the exam and to know what type of questions were asked in the examination.

Major Highlights of CAT 2016 Question Paper Analysis: Slot 1

A total of 100 questions were asked in CAT 2016 out of which 25 were Non MCQ questions. There was no negative marking for Non-MCQ questions.
The difficulty level of the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Ability sections were Moderate to Difficulty while the Verbal Ability and Reading comprehension section was comparatively easy.
An attempt of 68 to 72 questions with 100% accuracy was good for this CAT 2016 slot 1 exam.

CAT 2016 Question Paper Analysis Highlights: Slot 1

Provided below are the major highlights of the CAT 2016 Question Paper Analysis.

Overall difficulty level of the question paper	Moderate- Difficult
Total number of questions in CAT 2016	100
Total number of questions in Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension	34
Total number of questions in Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning	32
Total number of questions in Quantitative Ability	34
Overall difficulty level of the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section	Easy-Moderate
Overall difficulty level of the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section	Moderate- Difficult
Overall difficulty level of the Quantitative Ability section	Moderate- Difficult
High weightage topics in the Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning section	Summary, Odd sentence out
High weightage topics in the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section	Venn Diagram, Data Interpretation
High weightage topics in the Quantitative Ability section	Geometry, Modern Math
Good Attempts	68 to 72

CAT Previous Year Question Paper	CAT Exam Pattern

Section Wise Analysis of CAT 2016: Slot 1

Section	Analysis by CollegeDekho Experts	Expert Remarks to Score Good Marks
VARC	The RCs were from familiar areas like Economics & Environmental Studies. The VARC section was easier than the rest of the sections but it was lengthy. VA part was dominated by Verbal Logic.	The trick to answering the RC questions was to choose the options having a high rate of accuracy.
DILR	4 sets in this section were easy while one was moderately difficult. Most of the DI questions were calculation intensive. There were no DS questions in slot 1.	To do well in this section, you have to do a lot of DI practice. Candidates should also be able to choose which set to attend first.
QA	There were around 7-8 MCQ questions and the rest were MCQs. Most of the questions were easily doable using the help of formulas. Around 10 questions were from Algebra.	Options were very helpful to answer the questions in this section. Time management is also the key to excel in this section.

Major Highlights of CAT 2016 Question Paper Analysis: Slot 2

The second slot of the CAT 2016 was conducted from 2:30 PM and 5:30 PM.
The difficulty level of Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was Moderate to Difficult and for the rest of the sections were Moderate.
Candidates who have answered 66+ questions with 100% accuracy were able to get a good percentile in the exam.
The exam pattern of slot 2 was similar to the slot 1 CAT 2016 exam.

CAT Participating Colleges	CAT Result

CAT 2016 Question Paper Analysis Highlights: Slot 2

Provided below are the major highlights of the CAT 2016 Question Paper Analysis.

Overall difficulty level of the question paper	Moderate- Difficult
Total number of questions in CAT 2016	100
Total number of questions in Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension	34
Total number of questions in Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning	32
Total number of questions in Quantitative Ability	34
Overall difficulty level of the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section	Moderate
Overall difficulty level of the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section	Moderate- Hard
Overall difficulty level of the Quantitative Ability section	Moderate
High weightage topics in the Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning section	Odd one out, Para-jumble
High weightage topics in the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section	Set Theory, Data Interpretation
High weightage topics in the Quantitative Ability section	Arithmetic, Modern Math, Number System
Good Attempts	66+

CAT Response Sheet	CAT Selection Process

Section Wise Analysis of CAT 2016: Slot 2

Section	Analysis by CollegeDekho Experts	Expert Remarks to Score Good Marks
VARC	One RC was difficult. Other RCs were majorly factual. The summary and para jumbled questions were really easy. Around 2 questions in RC were inference based.	Candidates needed to have a good understanding of the type of RCs to score well in this section. They should be able to choose which question to answer and which to leave.
DILR	Three DI sets were difficult while the fourth one was moderately difficult. More than 17 questions were easily doable.	Candidates needed to read the instructions provided in the DI set carefully and then answer carefully.
QA	This section was dominated by questions on Geometry and Arithmetic. There were only 7 TITA questions this year. A good candidate was able to solve more than 18 questions with 90% accuracy.	Speed, formulas were the key to answering questions in this section.

CAT 2016 Section Wise Distribution of Questions

The section-wise distribution of questions for CAT 2016 was the same for both slot 1 as well as slot 2. The table provided below contains the section-wise distribution of questions in CAT 2016.

Section	Number of Questions
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning	32
Quantitative Ability	34
Verbal Ability and Reading comprehension	34
Total	100

CAT 2016 Question Paper - Download PDF

The PDF of the CAT 2016 question paper is provided here.

CAT Question Paper Analysis of Other Years

Candidates can find the links to the year-wise paper analysis of the CAT exam in the following table.

Year	Analysis Link
CAT 2019	CAT 2019 Question Paper Analysis & Tips for CAT 2021: Check Section-Wise Weightage, Difficulty Level
CAT 2018	CAT 2018 Question Paper Analysis & Tips for CAT 2021- Check Difficulty Level, Section-Wise Weightage
CAT 2017	CAT 2017 Question Paper Analysis & Tips for CAT 2021- Check Difficulty Level, Section-Wise Weightage
CAT 2015	CAT 2015 Question Paper Analysis & Tips for CAT 2021: Check Section-Wise Weightage, Difficulty Level
CAT 2014	CAT 2014 Question Paper Analysis & Tips for CAT 2021: Check Section-Wise Weightage, Difficulty Level
CAT 2013	CAT 2013 Question Paper Analysis & Tips for CAT 2021: Check Section-Wise Weightage, Difficulty Level
CAT 2012	CAT 2012 Question Paper Analysis - Check Difficulty Level, Section-Wise Weightage
CAT 2011	CAT 2011 Question Paper Analysis - Check Difficulty Level, Section-Wise Weightage