How many questions should I attempt in CAT for 99 percentile?

At 85 percent accuracy, about 38 attempts out of 68: 16 in VARC, 12 in DILR, 10 in QA. That gives roughly 96 marks, the top of the range that earned 99 percentile in CAT 2025. With higher accuracy you need fewer attempts.

How many questions should I attempt for 95 percentile in CAT?

At 85 percent accuracy, about 30 attempts out of 68 (13 in VARC, 9 in DILR, 8 in QA), for roughly 75 marks.

How many questions should I attempt for 90 percentile in CAT?

At 85 percent accuracy, about 23 attempts out of 68 (10 in VARC, 7 in DILR, 6 in QA), for roughly 58 marks. That is well under half the paper.

Is it better to attempt more questions or to be accurate?

Be accurate. A wrong MCQ costs 1 mark and the time you spent on it. Two students with the same number of correct answers can end up several marks apart because one of them guessed more. TITA questions have no negative marking, so those are the ones to attempt when unsure.

Do I have to attempt questions in every section?

Yes. Most IIMs set a minimum percentile for each section, so you need a reasonable score in all three. A very high score in one section cannot cover for a section you barely touched.

How Many Questions to Attempt in CAT for 99 Percentile?

Attempts needed in each CAT section
Section	Attempt	Correct	Wrong	Marks
VARC of 24	16	14	2	40
DILR of 22	12	10	2	29
QA of 22	10	9	1	26

Section

Attempt

Correct

Wrong

Marks

VARC of 24

DILR of 22

QA of 22

Attempts needed for each CAT percentile

The table shows total attempts out of 68 at three accuracy levels. It uses the top of the CAT 2025 score range for each percentile, so the numbers lean to the safe side.

CAT attempts by percentile and accuracy
Percentile	Marks (CAT 2025)	At 75% accuracy	At 85% accuracy	At 95% accuracy
99.5	93 to 103	49	44	38
99	81 to 90	45	38	32
98	74 to 81	39	34	31
95	60 to 70	35	30	26
90	50 to 53	26	23	19
85	41 to 45	22	20	16
80	37 to 41	20	19	16

Section by section at 85 percent accuracy

CAT attempts by section at 85 percent accuracy
Percentile	VARC (24)	DILR (22)	QA (22)	Total
99.5	19	13	12	44
99	16	12	10	38
98	15	10	9	34
95	13	9	8	30
90	10	7	6	23
85	8	6	6	20
80	8	6	5	19

How the planner works

Score = (3 × correct answers) − (wrong MCQ answers). A wrong TITA answer costs nothing. The planner finds the fewest attempts that reach your target marks at your accuracy. It spreads wrong answers between MCQ and TITA questions in the same mix as the paper, so a wrong answer costs a little under one mark on average.

There is no fixed number of attempts for any percentile. The marks you need depend on the paper, and the marks you get depend on your accuracy. The planner uses the score range from the last CAT, so the answer moves when either one changes.

Accuracy matters more than volume. At 90 percent accuracy you need several fewer attempts than at 75 percent for the same score, because every wrong MCQ takes a mark away as well as wasting two minutes.

The section split follows how the marks were shared at each percentile in the last CAT: about 44 percent from VARC, 30 from DILR and 26 from QA. If one section is your strength, move a few attempts there, but keep each section above the IIM sectional cutoffs.

Sources

Figures last checked on 11 Oct 2026. They are estimates and change with every paper. Your official scorecard is the only exact figure.

How many questions to attempt in CAT

Attempts needed for each CAT percentile

Section by section at 85 percent accuracy

How the planner works

Sources

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