The first two slots of CAT 2025 are now completed, and thousands of students have shared their first impressions of the exam. While the overall CAT 2025 difficulty level remained moderate, both slots showed clear differences across VARC, DILR and Quant. Here’s a simple and informative breakdown of how students reacted to Slot 1 and Slot 2.
Table of Contents
CAT 2025 Slot 1: What Students Found Easy and Hard
CAT Slot 1 VARC
Students in Slot 1 reported a moderate-level VARC section.
RC passages were short and decodable, but some questions were tricky.
Para jumbles, para summaries and odd-one-out questions followed the expected pattern. Overall, students found VARC manageable.
CAT Slot 1 DILR
Slot 1 candidates described DILR as moderate. The sets included:
- Spider / Radar chart with bar graph (doable)
- Circular arrangement with movement (moderate)
- Table-based analytical puzzle (moderate)
- Routes and network puzzle (classic CAT-style)
Most students said DILR required careful tracking, but none of the sets were unexpectedly difficult.
CAT Slot 1 Quant – Easy to Moderate, But a Few Tricky Questions
Quant in CAT Slot 1 was mostly easy to moderate, though some questions were confusing. According to the students' insight, the parallelogram-based geometry question stood out as tricky for many students.
Arithmetic questions were simple but required accuracy. Overall, Slot 1 Quant was comfortable for well-prepared students.
Check out: Students reviews on CLAT Slot 1
CAT 2025 Slot 2: What Students Found Easy and Hard
CAT Slot 2 VARC – Moderate and More Inference-Driven
VARC in Slot 2 remained moderate, similar to Slot 1. RC themes included:
- Income Inequality & Economic Growth
- Electronic Music
- Law & Mental Health
- Noise & Social Order
Although passages were readable, questions were heavier on inference, making the section slightly more time-consuming.
CAT Slot 2 DILR – Moderate but Slightly More Time Taking
Slot 2 DILR was moderate, with a mix of DI and logic sets:
- Increase–decrease data set
- Venn-diagram-based DI
- One quant-based puzzle
- One doable set
Students said the section was fair, but required careful reasoning.
CAT Slot 2 Quant – Clearly Harder and Lengthy
CAT Slot 2 Quant became the talk of the exam day. Students repeatedly said QA was:
- Harder than Slot 1
- Longer than expected
- Similar to CAT 2022–2023 difficulty level
- Loaded with Arithmetic, Algebra and Number System questions
- More TITA-based, making accuracy essential
Quant was the most challenging section of Slot 2 and brought attempt numbers down sharply.
Read more: Detailed analysis of CAT Slot 2
CAT Slot 1 vs Slot 2: Quick Comparison
- Overall Difficulty: Both moderate
- VARC: Similar difficulty; Slot 2 is more inference-heavy
- DILR: Moderate in both, slightly longer in Slot 2
- Quant: Slot 2 is significantly tougher
Slot 2 students felt the exam required more time, precision and deeper conceptual clarity, especially in QA.
Final Student Verdict
- Slot 1 candidates reported a balanced and fair paper
- Slot 2 candidates found the paper moderate but with much tougher Quant
- VARC and DILR stayed mostly consistent across both slots
- Quant became the key differentiator for Slot 2 performance
As Slot 3 is currently in progress, these impressions offer clear insights into the CAT 2025 exam pattern, expected difficulty and likely cut-off trends.
