VARC guide, section 5
Practice plan, reading and your VARC error log
An hour a day is enough: two timed passages, four VA questions and twenty minutes of long-form reading, with every wrong answer explained in one line.
Daily routine, about 1 hour
- Two RC passages from past CAT papers, 9 minutes each. Then, for every question, note why each wrong option is wrong: extreme, out of scope, distorted or half-right.
- Four VA questions, one of each type.
- Twenty minutes of reading one long-form essay. Afterwards, state its main point and the author’s stance in one sentence each.
Weekly focus (same calendar as QA)
- 5 Oct – 18 OctThe reading method on easier passages (science, history, environment); untimed for the first three days, then 9 minutes each
- 19 Oct – 1 NovHarder topics (philosophy, arts, economics), timed, plus the 2-minute passage ranking
- 2 Nov – 15 NovA full 40-minute VARC section from a CAT 2021–2025 paper every other day
- 16 Nov – 28 NovMocks on the QA calendar; between mocks, error-log review and one VA set a day
Where to read and practise
- Real passages and VA questions: Cracku CAT previous papers, slot-wise CAT 2017–2025 papers with solutions.
- Long-form essays in CAT’s register: Aeon, Psyche and The Guardian’s Long Read. Mix science, history, economics and the arts so that no topic feels foreign on exam day.
Your VARC error log
Your log (0)
| Date | Source | Question type | Flaw in my answer | What the right answer did | Lesson in one line | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Oct | Section 3, Q3 | Author’s view | Picked a view the author describes, not one the author holds | Restated the final sentence | Separate the author’s view from views the author reports | |
| 15 Oct | CAT 2024 paper, passage 3 | Inference | Out of scope | Followed from one paragraph alone | If it needs outside knowledge, it is wrong |
The greyed rows are the guide’s examples of a good entry. Add your first one above.
- Flaw types: extreme, out of scope, distorted, half-right, misread, time (right, but too slow).
- Every Sunday, count your flaw types. The most frequent one becomes next week’s focus.
- In the last five days, read only the “Lesson in one line” column.
Sources: IMS CAT 2025 overall analysis (VARC structure, passage ratings, 2025 percentile estimates); Cracku CAT 2024 score vs percentile.