How to do the Mock Paper Analysis during CAT Preparation

Analyzing mock test papers is the most important step after you take them. Only by evaluating your performance will you be able to identify and improve your weak points. In this blog, we have developed a step-by-step guide for mock analysis.

Before figuring it out, we should have a clear idea about the goal of the mock analysis. The students attend regular classes to conceptualize each topic to build strong fundamentals. Simultaneously, while incorporating these concepts, students engage with solving textbooks and numerous questions. They tackle a range of 150-200 questions for each specific topic.

However, other than these IQ-oriented parts of the exam, there is an EQ (emotional quotient) aspect to this exam as well. Students are prone to panicking during exams about time and the difficulty level of the paper. In doing so, they may even miss easy questions they usually would have solved correctly.

Here come the test-taking strategies that one acquires through experience and understanding of one's weak points. This is why, in mock papers, one can see the trajectory of getting good scores as the students take more and more mock tests. Hence, it is not only advisable to take 25+ mocks, but it is also essential to analyze them afterward.

Here, we have taken the mock test iCAT 30 of one of our students to show why mock analysis is so crucial and how you can do the same effectively without much confusion. The student has attended the classes regularly and has solved module papers to check the implementation of the concepts he learned in the class.

Now, let us assess the mock paper and see the efficiency of the student in taking the exam. We will also look at the scope of improvement of the student. 

After clicking "Report", you will reach the summary page where you can see the three sections of the mock CAT paper.

1. Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC): Total 24 Questions (C-I-U: 16-02-06) Accuracy: 89%
2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR): Total 20 questions (C-I-U: 14-00-06) Accuracy: 100%
3. Quantitative Aptitude (QA): Total 22 questions (C-I-U: 08-01-13) Accuracy: 89 %

Here, C-I-U represents the number of Correct-Incorrect-Unattempted questions.

Moreover, Accuracy is the percentage of correct answers out of the total number of attempted questions. 

In this sample mock paper, the overall Accuracy is 93%, which means that 7 % of the time and effort that the student put in the paper could not bring positive outcomes. 

The marking scheme for this paper is as follows: +3 for correct questions and -1 for incorrect ones. There are no negative markings for the Non-MCQ or TITA (type in the answer) questions. For each of the three sections, the candidate got 40 minutes. The total duration of the exam is 2 hours. To score 100 percentile, one needs to gain roughly a 70-75 percent score, making it crucial to attempt the paper selectively. 

Percentage refers to the score of any particular student depending on how many questions they have correctly answered. On the other hand, the percentile refers to the student's relative position compared to the other candidates. So, if someone's percentile is 99, it means 99 per cent of the total number of students who appeared have scored lower than him or her in the exam while one percent of the same have scored higher.

After clicking on the national percentile, you can see that this test-taker has ranked 9 out of 6948 students on the national level. At the end of August, the students will retake mock papers, helping them compare their performance on the pan-India level.

If you scroll down further, the bar graph also effectively indicates where the student stands among other candidates in overall and individual sections: VRC, DILR, and QA. The bar chart presents a visual representation comparing the students' scores with those who got 99.5 and 99 percentile, helping them to have a clear idea of where they need to improve.  

Now that the student knows where they stand relatively and what they have scored in each section, the question selection part will help to locate where the student needs to improve. 

Each question can be categorized under three categories - easy, medium, and challenging. To determine whether a question is easy, moderate, or complex, you must gain experience by taking mock tests. Moreover, for the categories of unattempted, correct, and incorrect questions, we use black, green, and red, respectively. 

The student must correct the easy questions since they are easy for most others. In this mock paper, the student has left many easy questions unattempted. However, he has rightly answered the questions it chose to answer, which means he has selected them very accurately. 

This mock paper's accuracy level is similarly good in all three sections. The student scored 99 percentile quickly, even without attempting the problematic questions or giving too much effort and time. Further, the graphs will visually present the efficacy of the student's question selection, overall and section-wise. 

Since this sample mock paper shows that most of the attempted questions are answered correctly, much of the student's time and effort has been well-spent. It means the student has adequate capacity for question selection. If a student's question selection could be better, they must take more topic and sectional tests to find their weak points. 

The following pie chart represents the time taken by the student, where for each section, the student gets 40 minutes, hence a total time of 2 hours. Moreover, the bar chart shows how around 42 minutes of the paper had no positive impact on the score. This chart also indicates the section-wise time taken during the exam. Hence, the student can locate that the time devoted to the QA section has yet to give any positive outcome. There is scope for improvement in the QA, which was the game-changer in this paper. The student also has scored less percentile in the QA. The student's DILR is relatively good, while VRC is very good.

The further chart will represent the time balancing speed and Accuracy. Here, you will see that the average rate for QA questions is 1m 49s for VRC questions, 1m 40s and 2m for DILR questions. In this case, an accuracy of over 85% is considered good.

In Overview, we will look at the questions in the QA section where the student has much scope for improvement.

As you can see, the lollipop represents an easy question, the mug is moderate, and the red chili indicates a problematic question. The marking scheme and time taken for each question are also given here. 

The student has taken over 5 minutes for an easy question like no. 47. Moreover, for no. 66, the student has taken 8 minutes 54 seconds, wasting a lot of time in solving two questions only, which is a significant blunder. It is because the student cannot recognize that there are other questions they can attempt correctly without wasting as much time. This is why, in the end, he only got a little time and decided not to attempt many questions in only 3-5 seconds. 

In roughly 1.5-2 minutes, one should understand whether they can correctly answer the question. The advice is to go through the whole paper this way and then return to those questions they could not solve in the beginning within 2 minutes. 

The reason for not solving the easy ones might be that the student needed a clearer idea about that concept, or there might be some error in the calculation. It would help if you took more module and sectional tests to get a clear idea about the pictures. So, as you get to know your weak areas by attempting mocks, the next step is to work on them individually and improve your score in that particular section. 

In the VRC section, the student has used the time effectively and accurately. One thing to remember in the case of Non-MCQ or TITA questions about jumbled sentences is that the probability of giving the correct answer is 1 out of 24 if it has four sentences. In that case, it is advisable that you first attempt the whole paper and then come back to this question or leave it unattempted.

At the same time, in the DILR section, the student was given only 15 seconds to decide not to attempt no—39, which was an easy question. So, in the mock analysis, the student will also identify and work on the unattempted questions that are easy for many others. In this case, the student's decision-making could have been better since he decided quickly that he would attempt an easy question. On the other hand, we can see his excellent decision-making skills in question no—43, where he decided in only 4 seconds not to attempt the difficult question. Therefore, the student's decision-making skill looks pretty effective in certain areas.

As the student located and worked on his weak points, he improved and scored 104 out of 198 in the last mock test, where the accuracy level increased in the QA section. Moreover, his question selection skills improved since he successfully attempted many easy and moderate questions.

Therefore, you can also conduct your mock analysis in this way to identify your weak points and scope for improvement.