7 Numbers Every CAT 2026 99-Percentiler Tracks Every Sunday to Boost Mock Scores

Accuracy, not Attempts

Answering 22 Quant questions means nothing by itself. Getting 16 out of those 22 right means something. CAT negative marking punishes wrong answers so hard that getting 85% right with fewer attempts often beats getting 65% right with more attempts. Check accuracy for VARC, DILR, and QA separately, not all together. If accuracy drops in one section, identifying it early is easy to fix. Observing it two weeks later is not going to help that effectively. One should plan efficiently to attempt the number of questions based on their accuracy.

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Average of your last 4 mocks

One mock can trick you. A good DILR section, some random correct answers, a poor night’s sleep, and there you are, adding five or six points to your percentile score without changing your skills at all. So instead of looking at just the latest mock, look at the average of your last four mocks, updated every week. That average matters more than any one good or bad test. If it stays flat while you feel like you're improving, then it’s worth paying attention to.

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Time per question type, not per section

"I spent 40 or 45 minutes on VARC" doesn't tell you much. What helps more: how much time you spend on one RC passage, one para-jumble, one Data Sufficiency question. Break it down this way and a pattern usually shows up; maybe RCs are taking 5 minutes more than they should, every time. That's something you can fix to achieve mastery over each section.

New mistakes vs Old mistakes

This might be the most important number here. Everyone makes mistakes; that's normal. What matters is whether the same mistake shows up again the next week. Keep a simple list with two columns: mistakes that are new this week, and mistakes that also showed up last week. A repeated mistake usually means you never really fixed the idea behind it, even if you've solved many new questions since then.

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DILR: Sets tried vs Sets finished correctly

DILR is often where 99 percentile is won or lost, because a half-finished hard set can hurt you more than skipping it. So don't just count how many sets you tried; count how many sets were done correctly. Trying a lot of sets but finishing very few of them right is a sign you're spending time and risking your time. Write this down each week, and the pattern becomes clear. Keep it in your head, and perform accurately.

Reading speed-check it, don't chase it, every other week

The pace is gradual; therefore, there is no need to keep an eye on it every week; however, the reading speed is gradually getting slower and lower as one gets tired towards the end of the preparation period. The majority of test takers are not aware of this and only see it reflected by a poor RC section on the actual CAT Test. Test yourself for your reading speed every two weeks on a new passage and make sure that the number does not go down.

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Raw Score vs Percentile

Not every mock is the same difficulty. The balance between sections changes from paper to paper, and a lower score doesn't always mean you did worse; sometimes the paper was just harder for everyone. To check this, compare your raw score to your percentile across mocks. If your raw score remains the same but your percentile drops, the paper was probably harder, not your preparation getting worse.

Turning this into a Sunday Habit

This needs to be kept very simple. One sheet, filled in once a week:

• Accuracy in VARC / DILR / QA, this week vs. last week

• Average percentile of your last 4 mocks

• Your 3 slowest question types by time

• Mistake log — new vs. repeated (topic-wise)

• DILR: sets tried vs. sets fully correct

• Reading speed check (every other week)

• Raw score vs. percentile (Current vs Previous)

You can check for a detailed plan to track your weekly preparation: Weekly MBA Performance Dashboard

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