CAT Exam Negative Marking: Rules, Marks Deduction & Strategy

Does CAT actually take away marks for a wrong answer? Yes, but only on some questions. CAT deducts 1 mark for every wrong MCQ answer. A wrong TITA (Type In The Answer) answer costs nothing. That split is the most misunderstood rule in CAT preparation. It should change how you guess on exam day.

The rule has held for four straight cycles: CAT 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. IIM Indore released the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin and Press Release on 26 July 2026. Neither document restates a marking scheme for this cycle. Three independent test-prep sources still report the same split for CAT 2026: CareerLauncher, MBAUniverse and TopRankers. All three show +3/-1 for MCQ and +3/0 for TITA, unchanged from the last four years. Treat this as the working pattern for CAT 2026, not yet a confirmed bulletin fact.

If you are still confirming CAT 2026's dates and eligibility, the CAT 2026 overview covers that basic detail.

What Is the CAT Negative Marking Rule?

CAT's negative marking rule applies only to MCQ questions, not to every question on the paper. A correct MCQ answer earns 3 marks. A wrong MCQ answer loses 1 mark. An MCQ left unattempted earns zero.

A flat "CAT has negative marking" answer misleads you. It pushes you to guess too cautiously on TITA and too freely on MCQ. VARC, DILR and QA each carry a different mix of MCQ and TITA questions. The next section breaks that mix down, section by section.

What Is the Full CAT 2026 Marking Scheme, Section by Section?

The same +3/-1/0 rule applies in all three CAT sections. It does not change between VARC, DILR and QA. What changes is the number of MCQ and TITA questions inside each section. That mix decides how much real risk sits in that section.

This question count is CAT 2025's pattern, not a confirmed CAT 2026 figure. The CAT 2026 exam pattern page carries the full four-year breakdown. DILR's count moved from 20 to 22 between CAT 2023 and CAT 2024. That single move is why you should plan around a range of MCQ and TITA questions, not one fixed number.

Does CAT Have Negative Marking for TITA (Non-MCQ) Questions?

No, TITA questions carry zero negative marking in CAT. A wrong TITA answer scores 0, exactly the same as leaving it blank. This is the one fact that separates a candidate who guesses well from one who guesses badly.

A wrong TITA answer and a skipped TITA answer score identically. So attempting a TITA question you can compute even a rough value for is never the worse choice. Type in any answer, and your outcome is either +3 or 0. It cannot go negative. Skipping a TITA question you could have attempted only removes a chance at +3. It does not lower your risk. MCQs work the other way, since a wrong guess there genuinely costs you. That difference is why TITA and MCQ need two separate guessing rules. The guessing framework further down this page covers both.

How Much Does One Wrong Answer Actually Cost You?

A wrong MCQ costs you 4 marks, not 1. You lose the 1 mark taken away. You also lose the 3 marks a correct answer would have earned. That 4-mark swing should drive your guessing decision, not the bare "-1" figure most aspirants repeat.

Run the math on a blind guess, using CAT's usual four-option MCQ format. With all four options open, a random guess has a 1-in-4 chance of +3 and a 3-in-4 chance of -1. That works out to (0.25 × 3) + (0.75 × -1), which equals exactly 0. A completely blind guess on a four-option MCQ is break-even. It is not a loss, contrary to what most CAT preparation content claims.

Eliminate even one wrong option, and the arithmetic turns in your favour. With three options left, the calculation becomes (0.33 × 3) + (0.67 × -1). That comes to about +0.33 per guess, a small positive return. It adds up across dozens of close-call questions in a section. The rule is simple. Never guess blind on all four options. Always guess once you have ruled out even one.

Is CAT's Negative Marking the Same Across VARC, DILR and QA?

Yes, the same penalty applies in VARC, DILR and QA: -1 for a wrong MCQ, 0 for a wrong TITA. No section carries a harsher or lighter rule, based on the CAT 2022-2025 pattern.

Your ability to eliminate options before guessing changes across sections, not the rule itself. A DILR set or a QA calculation often lets you rule out two or three options through partial working. That pushes a guess's expected value higher than in a VARC vocabulary question, where elimination is harder. Plan your guessing by how much you can actually eliminate in that section. Never assume the penalty itself is lighter there.

What Is a Smart Guessing Strategy for CAT MCQs?

Guess on a CAT MCQ only when you have ruled out at least one of the four options. That single threshold turns a break-even bet into a small positive one. The expected-value math above shows exactly why.

Building the topic strength that lets you eliminate options is a syllabus question, not a marking-scheme question. The CAT 2026 syllabus page carries the section-wise topic weightage. It shows where you can realistically expect to eliminate two options instead of one.

How Should Negative Marking Change Your CAT Attempt Strategy?

Negative marking should push you toward attempting more TITA questions relative to MCQs, since TITA carries no downside. It should not push you toward attempting fewer questions overall. Most aspirants make two opposite mistakes: over-caution on TITA, and reckless blind guessing on MCQ.

Here is a practical split. Treat every TITA question as worth a real attempt, since the worst case is 0. Treat every MCQ as worth a guess only after you eliminate one option, since the worst case there is -1. Under this split, your attempts rise on TITA. They fall only on the specific MCQs where you cannot eliminate anything.

What Should You Check Right After the CAT 2026 Exam?

Right after CAT 2026, check the official answer key before you estimate your score. IIM Indore typically releases the answer key with a window for objections. Your final score depends on the reviewed key, not your memory of the paper.

Apply the +3/-1/0 scheme against that key, section by section. This gives you a realistic raw score range, not a single guessed number. The CAT 2026 result page carries the declared-result timeline. It also shows how a raw score converts to the percentile you use for shortlisting.

CAT Negative Marking: FAQs