With over 3 lakh aspirants fighting for top percentiles and dream colleges, your last week's strategy can be your deciding factor, especially with respect to the VARC section. Since it is the first section in the exam, the VARC section holds huge importance for the candidates and scoring well in this section can provide a significant boost to your confidence while attempting the real CAT Exam.
VARC is often underestimated or misunderstood. Many believe it’s all about reading speed or vocabulary, but in reality, it’s not. The section is all about comprehending what you read, developing that reasoning state of mind and having the ability to focus throughout.A quick look at the CAT Paper Pattern reveals that the VARC section comprises a total of 24 questions (16 RC questions + 8 VA questions) with a total allotted time of 40 minutes. A correct answer earned the student +3 marks, while an incorrect answer resulted in a penalty of (-1). However, there was no negative marking in the VARC section for TITA (Type In Type Answer) questions. Check CAT Syllabus 2025
Last Week Tips & Tricks to Score More in CAT VARC
Although there has been no official announcement yet, the VARC section of CAT 2025 is expected to follow a similar pattern. With that in mind, let’s explore the best last-week strategies to help you ace the section in your final week.
Don’t Try to Expand Your Vocabulary Now
In this final week, avoid cramming vocabulary or trying to learn new idioms. Instead, practice applying contextual understanding in RCs and VA. Even if you don’t know the actual meaning of a word, its meaning in the given context can help you go a long way while answering questions in the VARC section. Additionally, focus on improving your interpretation of tone, intent, and the logical flow of ideas as you continue reading RCs in the final week.
Practice Only 2 RCs Daily, But Review Them Critically
Make it a habit to attempt a minimum of 2 RC passages every day, but don’t forget to analyse them and your approach after you are done solving them.Once you are done attempting, sit down and analyse:
- Where did you go wrong?
- Were your wrong answers a result of careless reading or flawed reasoning?
- Did you get tricked by similar-looking options?
- Did you infer too much or too little?
Don’t just solve for the sake of it. Learn from each attempt. That’s how you’ll improve in a short time.
Categorise RC Passages by Genre
In the last few days, try to diversify your reading. Pick out RC passages from topics that regularly appear in CAT exam, like:
- Philosophy
- Science & Technology
- Business/Economy
- History or Culture
- Environment and Ethics
CAT often presents dense, unfamiliar genres to test your comprehension stamina, and you should be well-prepared to tackle them.
Tackle VA TITA Questions with Logic, Not Guesswork
Verbal Ability questions like Para Jumbles (PJ) and Odd One Out (OOO) are TITA (Type-In-The-Answer) – which means there is no negative marking, even when you get them wrong. Hence, these questions should definitely be attempted in the CAT exam as you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.
However, that doesn’t mean you guess answers of these questions randomly. Practice VA questions enough to build a strategy, like:
- For Para Jumbles, look for connectors, pronouns, and transition words.
- For Odd One Out, ask: Does this sentence logically fit into a unified theme?
- For the Paragraph Summary, eliminate extreme options.
Practice 2–3 questions of each variety daily and you should be good to go.
Finalise Your VARC Attempt Strategy
In the last week, your focus should be on finalising your VARC attempt strategy - Should you attempt all 4 RCs& do as many VA as possible, or should you attempt 3 RCs and do all the VA questions.Many students leave this to the final day and lose marks as a result of the chaos.
You can choose your approach from any of the two below:
- Strategy A: Attempt 3 RCs with high accuracy + all VA
- Strategy B: Attempt all 4 RCs, leave tricky VA
Remember, attempting fewer questions with higher accuracy is always better than rushing through all and making errors.
Strengthen Your Focus Window
Most students and even the bright ones, falter after reading the 2nd or 3rd paragraph of a dense RC passage. That’s because of the mental fatigue that sets in while attempting the paper. To get rid of it, you can:
- Read one long editorial or opinion piece (800–1000 words) from The Hindu, Aeon, The Guardian, or Project Syndicate daily
- Pause after each paragraph and ask: What’s the key point here?
- Summarise the piece in 3–4 bullet points
This way you can keep your cognitive stamina high, especially in the last week. Remember to read just one long piece daily and not overdo it during the final week.
Maintain Calmness & Composure, Especially on D-Day
On the D-day, when the question paper loads, it is the VARC section that you’ll face first. The mindset and performance hee, can take you a long way in the next 2 sections as well and hence it is important to follow these tips:
- Start with a familiar-looking RC to ease yourself into the section
- If a passage seems dense, don’t panic, mark and move on.
- Stick to your tried-and-tested VA strategy.
- If you’re unsure between two options in an RC, revisit the line in the passage instead of guessing.
- Avoid ego-traps. If you can’t crack a Para Jumble, leave it and move on
Remember, your calm mind is your biggest arsenal in the VARC section.
Check CAT Preparation Tips 2025
Conclusion
To summarise, the VARC section differs significantly from the QA or DILR sections. It rewards consistency and composure more than brute memorisation or long formulas. Hence, in the final week, keep the focus on:
- Active reading over speed reading
- Practising over panicking
- Logic over guesswork
With this, you will be able to nail the VARC section and set the tone for the DILR and QA section that follows.
