I categorised every CAT Quant question from 2021–2025. Here's what the data says.

The data

All 330 Quant questions from CAT 2021–2025 (15 slots, 3 per year), tagged by topic and subtopic. Here's the actual breakdown.

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Topic breakdown

Topic	Questions	% of QA
Arithmetic	115	35%
Algebra	101	31%
Geometry	50	15%
Number System	41	12%
Modern Math	23	7%

Questions by topic (330 total)

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Arithmetic — 115 questions (35%)

Subtopic	Questions
Profit & Loss	16
Time, Speed & Distance	20
Time & Work	14
Mixtures & Alligation	14
Averages	13
Percentages	13
Simple / Compound Interest	11
Ratios & Proportions	8

Arithmetic subtopic breakdown

What most plans get wrong: Time & Work has 14 questions — the same count as Mixtures — but most study plans allocate a fraction of the time to it. Averages (13 questions) is equally large. Ratios & Proportions, which gets a lot of coaching attention, is only 8 questions.

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Algebra — 101 questions (31%)

Subtopic	Questions
Functions, Logs & Surds	34
Equations (Linear + Quadratic)	33
AP / GP / HP	18
Inequalities	15

The surprising finding: Functions & Logs (34 questions) is larger than Equations (33). Most material leads with Equations and treats Functions/Logs as secondary. Log properties, functional equations, and surds are undertrained relative to how frequently they appear.

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Geometry — 50 questions (15%)

Subtopic	Questions
Triangles	16
Circles & Polygons	16
Mensuration	10
Coordinate Geometry	8

Triangles and Circles are equally weighted. Coordinate Geometry appears consistently — don't skip it.

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Number System — 41 questions (12%)

Subtopic	Questions
Factors, LCM & HCF	16
Remainders & Divisibility	14
Number Properties	11

Note: many coaching notes show Number System at 8% — that figure comes from only counting questions tagged "Number System" and missing the "Number Theory" label used for some slots. The correct consolidated count is 41 (12%).

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Modern Math — 23 questions (7%)

Subtopic	Questions
Permutation & Combination	11
Set Theory & Statistics	5
Probability	4
Other (Binomial etc.)	3

Most overstated section in coaching notes. Probability is only 4 questions in five years. PnC (11 questions) is the real priority within Modern Math.

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Three things that surprised me

1. Arithmetic is genuinely 35% — not 20–25% as most plans suggest.

The more important finding is what's big within Arithmetic. TSD and Profit & Loss together account for 36 questions. But Time & Work (14) and Averages (13) are nearly as large and consistently underweighted in prep plans.

2. Functions & Logs is the largest Algebra subtopic.

34 questions vs 33 for Equations — essentially equal, but coaching notes typically lead with Equations. Log properties, functional equations, and surds deserve dedicated, not incidental, preparation.

3. Modern Math is 7%, not 12–15%.

And within those 23 questions, Probability is 4. Don't over-invest in probability theory. PnC is where the Modern Math marks actually are.

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Suggested time allocation (100 hours for QA)

Topic	Hours	Priority within
Arithmetic	35	TSD, P&L, Time & Work, Mixtures
Algebra	28	Functions/Logs and Equations equally
Geometry	16	Triangles + Circles first
Number System	13	Factors/LCM and Remainders
Modern Math	8	PnC only; light on Probability