Nine right.One wrong, at most.

Your CAT 2026 quant target is 9 correct answers out of 22, about 25 marks. That cleared the 95th QA percentile in both 2024 and 2025. Every one of the nine comes from arithmetic and easy algebra.

9 correct
+27
1 wrong MCQ
−1
12 skipped
0
= 26 marks
Open the chaptersRead the exam-day rules
  • Percentages
  • Profit & Loss
  • SI & CI
  • Ratio & Proportion
  • Averages
  • Mixtures
  • Time & Work
  • TSD
  • Equations
  • Indices & Logs
  • Progressions
  • Inequalities

What nine correct buys you

Marking: +3 for a correct answer, −1 for a wrong MCQ, 0 for a wrong TITA (type-in-the-answer) or a skipped question.

  • 7 correct, 0 wrong21

    About the 96th percentile in 2025, around the 94th in 2024.

  • 8 correct, 2 wrong22

    The 95th in 2024, about the 97th in 2025.

  • 9 correct, 1 wrong26

    The 97th or better in both years. This is your target.

QA score needed for each percentile (scaled marks, within a few points of raw)
PercentileCAT 2024CAT 2025 (estimate)
99th3327.1
95th2219.0
90th1714.7
85th13.712.6
80th11.610.4

Sectional cutoffs at most IIMs sit near the 75th–85th QA percentile for the general category, roughly 10–14 marks. The target clears every QA cutoff with a margin.

Where the nine come from

Across CAT 2021–2025, 233 of 330 QA questions (70.6%) were arithmetic or algebra. That is about 9 arithmetic and 6–7 algebra questions in every paper: roughly 15 in your zone, of which you need 9.

Geometry (about 3 a paper), number system (about 3) and P&C or probability (under 1) are skipped unless a question looks obviously easy.

Arithmetic
≈ 9
Easy algebra
6–7
Geometry, number system, P&C: skip
≈ 6

The twelve chapters