How many hours a week should I study for CAT?

There is no single right number. In my own log, weekly hours averaged about 10 in spring, 15 through summer and 47.5 in the final six weeks before the exam. The right number depends on your schedule and how much of the syllabus is left.

Is it normal for study hours to plateau?

It happened to me. My weekly hours held at about 15 for 16 weeks over the summer, with a median summer week of 14.9 hours, before jumping in mid-September.

Is studying every day enough?

Not on its own. I studied on 100 of 112 days during my summer plateau, averaging about 147 minutes per active day. The later jump came from studying longer each day, about 407 minutes, not from adding days.

How many hours did you study in total for CAT?

Across 31 complete weeks from late March to late October 2026 I logged 652.3 hours. That is logged time on the clock, not a measure of focus.

Did you hit a 50-hour weekly target?

In 2 of 31 weeks: 50.0 and 53.8 hours, both in the final stretch. Six weeks reached 40 hours or more, all from mid-September onward.

Do more study hours mean higher mock scores?

Not directly in my data. My mock scores stepped up in August, while my weekly hours stepped up in mid-September, so the two did not move together.

Can a study streak hide a problem?

Yes. A day with 40 minutes keeps a streak alive just as well as a day with six hours. Watching weekly hours as well as the streak shows whether the days are getting deeper.

Is this data from many CAT aspirants?

No. It is one candidate's own log over 31 weeks, so it is a worked example rather than a benchmark.

The Journal

CAT Preparation

30 October 2026
6 min read

Anish Guruvelli

Karma Yogi

Weekly Study Hours for CAT: 31 Weeks, From 3 Hours to 54

My weekly study time over 31 weeks of CAT preparation went 3.3, 7.4, 11.6 hours, plateaued around 15 for most of the summer, then jumped to between 40 and 54 hours a week from mid-September. The jump did not come from studying more days: I was already studying 100 of 112 days in the plateau. It came from studying far longer on each of them. Here is the week-by-week shape.

Over 31 weeks of CAT preparation my weekly study time went from 3.3 hours to 53.8, but not in a straight line. It climbed for six weeks, held at about 15 hours a week through the whole summer, and then jumped in mid-September to an average of 47.5 hours a week for six straight weeks. The surprising part is where the jump came from. I was already studying on 100 of 112 days during the summer plateau. What changed was not how many days I studied but how long: about 2.5 hours per active day in the summer against about 6.8 from mid-September.

For the daily view of the same question, see how many hours a day to study for CAT. This post is the weekly shape across the whole season.

The four phases

Phase	Weeks starting	Weeks	Average hours a week
Ramp-up	23 Mar - 27 Apr	6	10.1
First push	4 May - 18 May	3	20.7
Summer plateau	25 May - 7 Sep	16	15.3
Final stretch	14 Sep - 19 Oct	6	47.5

Weeks run Monday to Sunday in India time. The first week is partial: my first logged session was on 25 March. Across all 31 complete weeks I logged 652.3 hours.

Week by week

Week of	Hours	Week of	Hours
23 Mar	3.3	13 Jul	11.2
30 Mar	7.4	20 Jul	10.2
6 Apr	11.6	27 Jul	33.3
13 Apr	11.8	3 Aug	18.5
20 Apr	13.1	10 Aug	14.0
27 Apr	13.5	17 Aug	16.4
4 May	20.0	24 Aug	18.5
11 May	20.9	31 Aug	9.6
18 May	21.3	7 Sep	10.9
25 May	16.0	14 Sep	40.0
1 Jun	16.8	21 Sep	45.2
8 Jun	15.7	28 Sep	50.0
15 Jun	12.5	5 Oct	46.0
22 Jun	15.4	12 Oct	53.8
29 Jun	11.3	19 Oct	49.7
6 Jul	14.4

One summer week stands out: the week of 27 July, at 33.3 hours, packed with full mocks and their analysis. Without it the summer average falls from 15.3 to 14.1 hours, and the median summer week was 14.9.

Days did not change. Hours per day did.

During the 112 days of the summer plateau (25 May to 13 September) I logged at least one session on 100 days, and those active days averaged about 147 minutes. In the 42 days from 14 September to 25 October I logged something on every one of them, and the average day was about 407 minutes. Consistency was already there in the summer. What the final stretch added was depth: the same daily habit, held for longer each day.

That is worth knowing if you are in your own plateau. The usual advice is to study every day, and I mostly already was. A streak can hide a ceiling: a day with 40 minutes of study keeps a streak alive just as well as a day with six hours.

Against a 50-hour target

My weekly target in the app is currently 50 hours. Only 2 of the 31 weeks reached it (50.0 and 53.8), and 6 weeks reached 40 or more, all of them in the final stretch. I do not have a record of when the target was set to 50, so I am treating it as today's bar rather than claiming I missed it all summer.

Where this is weak

One person, one season. The log records how much I studied, not why it changed, so I am not offering a cause for the September jump. It also cannot say how many hours anyone else should study.
Logged time, not effective time. A two-hour session is two hours on the clock, not two hours of focus.
Hours are not results. For what happened to my mock scores over the same months, see the mock-score post; the step up in scores and the step up in hours did not happen in the same month.

The weekly totals here are the same numbers Karma Yogi shows against your weekly goal, summed from every logged session.

End of essay

- Anish Guruvelli

Common questions

How many hours a week should I study for CAT?: There is no single right number. In my own log, weekly hours averaged about 10 in spring, 15 through summer and 47.5 in the final six weeks before the exam. The right number depends on your schedule and how much of the syllabus is left.
Is it normal for study hours to plateau?: It happened to me. My weekly hours held at about 15 for 16 weeks over the summer, with a median summer week of 14.9 hours, before jumping in mid-September.
Is studying every day enough?: Not on its own. I studied on 100 of 112 days during my summer plateau, averaging about 147 minutes per active day. The later jump came from studying longer each day, about 407 minutes, not from adding days.
How many hours did you study in total for CAT?: Across 31 complete weeks from late March to late October 2026 I logged 652.3 hours. That is logged time on the clock, not a measure of focus.
Did you hit a 50-hour weekly target?: In 2 of 31 weeks: 50.0 and 53.8 hours, both in the final stretch. Six weeks reached 40 hours or more, all from mid-September onward.
Do more study hours mean higher mock scores?: Not directly in my data. My mock scores stepped up in August, while my weekly hours stepped up in mid-September, so the two did not move together.
Can a study streak hide a problem?: Yes. A day with 40 minutes keeps a streak alive just as well as a day with six hours. Watching weekly hours as well as the streak shows whether the days are getting deeper.
Is this data from many CAT aspirants?: No. It is one candidate's own log over 31 weeks, so it is a worked example rather than a benchmark.

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