CAT Quant Syllabus & Topic-wise Weightage (2017–2025)
Every CAT Quant chapter ranked by how often it is asked, measured on all 612 Quant questions from CAT 2017 to 2025: questions per section, papers asked in, TITA share and free formula sheets.
We tagged every Quant question CAT has released since 2017, 24 papers in all, by chapter. The numbers below are how often each chapter actually turns up, scaled to today's 22-question section. Use them to decide what to study first, not as a prediction of the next paper.
By area
Every chapter, most-asked first
| # | Chapter | Area | Questions per section | Papers asked in | TITA share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quadratic & Polynomial Equations | Algebra | 1.7 | 23 / 24 | 32% |
| 2 | Progressions & Series | Algebra | 1.5 | 24 / 24 | 22% |
| 3 | Time & Work | Arithmetic | 1.3 | 22 / 24 | 46% |
| 4 | Inequalities & Modulus | Algebra | 1.3 | 21 / 24 | 38% |
| 5 | Averages | Arithmetic | 1.3 | 23 / 24 | 38% |
| 6 | Quadrilaterals & Polygons | Geometry | 1.3 | 21 / 24 | 25% |
| 7 | Time, Speed & Distance | Arithmetic | 1.1 | 23 / 24 | 28% |
| 8 | Exponents & Surds | Algebra | 1.1 | 20 / 24 | 31% |
| 9 | Mixtures & Alligation | Arithmetic | 1.1 | 22 / 24 | 21% |
| 10 | Triangles | Geometry | 1 | 17 / 24 | 46% |
| 11 | Percentages | Arithmetic | 0.9 | 19 / 24 | 29% |
| 12 | Simple & Compound Interest | Arithmetic | 0.9 | 19 / 24 | 55% |
| 13 | Profit, Loss & Discount | Arithmetic | 0.9 | 19 / 24 | 24% |
| 14 | Logarithms | Algebra | 0.9 | 22 / 24 | 36% |
| 15 | Functions | Algebra | 0.8 | 20 / 24 | 48% |
| 16 | Linear Equations | Algebra | 0.8 | 12 / 24 | 44% |
| 17 | Factors & Multiples | Number System | 0.8 | 12 / 24 | 46% |
| 18 | Permutation & Combination | Modern Maths | 0.8 | 19 / 24 | 65% |
| 19 | Ratio & Proportion | Arithmetic | 0.7 | 17 / 24 | 29% |
| 20 | Digits & Number Properties | Number System | 0.5 | 10 / 24 | 58% |
| 21 | Circles | Geometry | 0.4 | 13 / 24 | 19% |
| 22 | Coordinate Geometry | Geometry | 0.4 | 13 / 24 | 29% |
| 23 | Remainders & Divisibility | Number System | 0.3 | 4 / 24 | 25% |
| 24 | Set Theory | Modern Maths | 0.2 | 7 / 24 | 13% |
| 25 | Mensuration | Geometry | 0.1 | 7 / 24 | 22% |
Source: all 612 chapter-tagged Quant questions from CAT 2017–2025. Older papers had more Quant questions, so every year is scaled to 22.
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Questions aspirants ask
- Which CAT Quant topics are the most important?
- Measured on every Quant question from CAT 2017 to 2025, the most-asked chapters are Quadratic & Polynomial Equations, Progressions & Series, Time & Work, Inequalities & Modulus, Averages. Together they account for about 7.1 of the 22 questions in a Quant section.
- Is Arithmetic or Algebra more important for CAT Quant?
- They are close: Arithmetic about 8.2 questions per section, Algebra about 8.1 questions per section, Geometry about 3.1 questions per section, Number System about 1.5 questions per section, Modern Maths about 1 question per section.
- How is the CAT Quant section marked?
- A correct answer earns +3. A wrong multiple-choice answer costs 1. A wrong TITA (type in the answer) costs nothing, so a TITA question is always worth attempting.