CAT 2025 Slot 3 Analysis: The Sting in the Tail

By Headache Tutorials, Indore

As the sun set on November 30, 2025, the final batch of CAT aspirants walked out of the exam centers. The consensus? CAT 2025 saved the toughest punches for the last round. Slot 3 is being termed as the most grueling of the day, particularly regarding Quantitative Ability.

Here is the Headache Tutorials detailed review of the final slot.

The "Sting in the Tail"

It is a common CAT trend for the third slot to be slightly more exhausted/difficult, and 2025 followed suit. While VARC remained friendly, QA tested the endurance of even the best math students.

Section-Wise Breakdown

1. VARC: The Savior

Much like Slot 2, the Verbal section was the saving grace for Slot 3 students.

• Themes: Passages on Native Languages, Consequences of AI, and Outer Space Contamination.

• Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. The questions were direct, and the options were less confusing than in Slot 1.

Topic Distribution: VARC Slot 3

Topic	Number of Questions	Type	Difficulty
Reading Comprehension	16	MCQ	Easy-Moderate
Passage 1: Native Languages	4	MCQ	Easy
Passage 2: Consequences of AI	4	MCQ	Moderate
Passage 3: Space Contamination	4	MCQ	Easy-Moderate
Passage 4: Chinese Wine/Culture	4	MCQ	Moderate
Verbal Ability	8	Mixed	Moderate
Para Jumbles	2	TITA	Moderate
Para Summary	2	MCQ	Easy
Para Completion	2	MCQ	Easy
Odd One Out	2	TITA	Moderate

• Good Attempts: 18-20 questions. (You needed to maximize your score here!)

2. DILR: Unforgiving

The difficulty level ramped up here compared to the afternoon slot.

• Key Sets: Sets involved complex arrangement puzzles and a Line Graph based set that looked innocent but was calculation-heavy.

• Strategy: Finding the 2 doable sets was a massive challenge. Students who panicked and tried to solve partial sets lost time.

Topic Distribution: DILR Slot 3

Set Topic	Questions	Type	Difficulty
Line Graph (Calculation Heavy)	4	Mix	Moderate-Difficult
Arrangement Puzzle 1	5	Mix	Difficult
Arrangement Puzzle 2	5	Mix	Moderate
Logical Reasoning Set	4	Mix	Moderate
Mixed Chart	4	Mix	Tricky

• Good Attempts: 8-10 questions.

3. QA: The Toughest of the Day

This is where Slot 3 stands apart. The QA section was relentless.

• The Issue: It wasn't just about concepts; it was about multi-step reasoning. Simple Arithmetic problems were twisted with complex language.

• Composition: Algebra (7 Qs) and Arithmetic (8-9 Qs) dominated, but the geometry questions were particularly nasty.

Topic Distribution: QA Slot 3

Topic	Number of Questions	Difficulty
Arithmetic	8	Moderate-Difficult
Algebra	7	Difficult
Geometry	3	Tricky
Number System	4	Moderate
Modern Math	0	-
Total	22	Difficult

• Good Attempts: 9-11 questions. (Yes, single-digit attempts might clear the cutoff here).

Headache Tutorials Verdict: Expected Score vs. Percentile (Slot 3)

Because of the higher difficulty, the scores required for high percentiles will drop for Slot 3 (Normalization will favor this slot).

Percentile	Expected Score Range
99%ile	84 - 87
95%ile	63 - 66
90%ile	50 - 53

Final Conclusion for CAT 2025

CAT 2025 was a test of Question Selection.

• Slot 1: Moderate, balanced.

• Slot 2: Balanced DILR, Tricky QA.

• Slot 3: Easiest VARC, Toughest QA.

For students in Indore targeting CMAT or IPMAT next, don't let a tough CAT slot dishearten you. The normalization process is designed to level the playing field!

3. FAQ Section

Q: Why was Slot 3 considered the toughest? A: Slot 3 is considered the toughest primarily because of the Quantitative Ability (QA) section, which required multi-step reasoning and had fewer direct questions compared to Slot 1 and 2.

Q: Will my marks increase in Slot 3 due to scaling? A: Likely, yes. Since the QA and DILR sections were tougher, the normalization process usually scales up the scores of students in difficult slots to ensure fairness.

Q: What is a safe score for 99 percentile in Slot 3? A: Due to the high difficulty, a lower raw score of around 84-87 marks could potentially fetch a 99 percentile, which is lower than the requirement for Slot 1.