CAT 2026 Formula Revision Marathon: Free Quant Sessions, a Formula Sheet and a 17-Day Plan
With the exam on Sunday, 29 November, you have 18 days left, and Quant rewards the candidate who recalls a formula in five seconds, not fifty. The CAT 2026 formula revision marathon from Quantifiers CAT Academy is a set of free YouTube sessions where our mentors walk through formulas and previous-year questions topic by topic. This guide shows what the sessions cover, gives you a one-page formula sheet for every major Quant area, and lays out a day-by-day plan for the final stretch.
- What the CAT 2026 Formula Revision Marathon Offers
- Watch the CAT 2026 Formula Revision Marathon Playlist Here
- Arithmetic Formulas to Revise
- Algebra Formulas to Revise
- Number System and Modern Maths Formulas
- Geometry and Mensuration Formulas
- A 17-Day Plan to Use the CAT 2026 Formula Revision Marathon
- How to Make Formulas Stick
- Frequently Asked Questions
What the CAT 2026 Formula Revision Marathon Offers
Revision in the last three weeks has one job: to turn what you already know into what you can use under a clock. A marathon session is built for exactly that. Instead of teaching a topic from scratch, the mentor lists the formulas, shows the standard problem types and then works through previous-year questions in one sitting.
Our marathon series sits in a YouTube playlist on the Quantifiers CAT Academy channel, and at the time of writing it holds 67 videos. Pick the topics that match your weak spots. Each session is long enough to cover a topic properly, so treat it as a block of study, not background viewing.
Three things make this format work for the final weeks:
- Topic-wise structure: you revise one area at a time, so you can go straight to the topic you keep losing marks in.
- Previous-year questions: the questions are real exam questions, so you see how a formula is actually tested.
- Free access: nothing to buy or sign up for, which matters when you only have a few weeks left.
Watch the CAT 2026 Formula Revision Marathon Playlist Here
The full playlist is embedded below, so you can start a session without leaving this page. Use the playlist button in the player to jump between topics, and pick the order by your own weak spots.
If the player does not load on your device, open the playlist on YouTube instead.
Arithmetic Formulas to Revise
Arithmetic carries the largest share of easy-to-moderate Quant questions, so it is the right first stop in the CAT 2026 formula revision marathon. The table below holds the formulas you should be able to write from memory.
| Topic | Formula |
|---|---|
| Percentage change | (New − Old) ÷ Old × 100 |
| Two successive changes of a% and b% | Net change = a + b + ab/100 (percent) |
| Profit and loss | SP = CP × (1 ± p/100); Profit % = (SP − CP) ÷ CP × 100 |
| Discount | Discount % = (MP − SP) ÷ MP × 100 |
| Alligation (mean price) | Cheaper : Dearer = (Dearer − Mean) : (Mean − Cheaper) |
| Replacement from a vessel of volume V | Quantity left after n rounds = V × (1 − x/V)n, where x is removed each time |
| Average | Sum of values ÷ number of values |
| Average speed over equal distances at speeds a and b | 2ab ÷ (a + b) |
| Time and work, two people with times a and b | Together: ab ÷ (a + b) |
| Relative speed | Opposite directions: u + v; same direction: |u − v| |
| Units | km/h to m/s: multiply by 5/18 |
| Boats and streams | Downstream = u + v; upstream = u − v |
Algebra Formulas to Revise
Algebra rewards pattern recognition, and the algebra sessions in the CAT 2026 formula revision marathon are a good place to build it. Learn each identity in both directions, expanding and factorising, because the exam usually asks you to go the second way.
| Topic | Formula |
|---|---|
| Square identities | (a ± b)² = a² ± 2ab + b²; a² − b² = (a − b)(a + b) |
| Cube identities | (a ± b)³ = a³ ± 3a²b + 3ab² ± b³ |
| Sum and difference of cubes | a³ + b³ = (a + b)(a² − ab + b²); a³ − b³ = (a − b)(a² + ab + b²) |
| Three-variable identity | a³ + b³ + c³ − 3abc = (a + b + c)(a² + b² + c² − ab − bc − ca); if a + b + c = 0, then a³ + b³ + c³ = 3abc |
| Quadratic roots | x = [−b ± √(b² − 4ac)] ÷ 2a; sum of roots = −b/a; product = c/a |
| Nature of roots | Discriminant D = b² − 4ac: D > 0 two real roots, D = 0 equal roots, D < 0 no real roots |
| Arithmetic progression | nth term = a + (n − 1)d; sum = n/2 × [2a + (n − 1)d] |
| Geometric progression | nth term = arn−1; sum = a(rn − 1) ÷ (r − 1); infinite sum = a ÷ (1 − r) when |r| < 1 |
| Logarithms | log(ab) = log a + log b; log(a/b) = log a − log b; log aᵐ = m log a; logb a = log a ÷ log b |
Key takeaway
A formula you can only recognise is not a formula you know. If you cannot write it on a blank page, it is still on your revision list.
Number System and Modern Maths Formulas
These topics are smaller in volume but often decide the harder questions, so give them a slot in your CAT 2026 formula revision marathon routine. Remainders and factor counts are worth a quick daily review.
| Topic | Formula |
|---|---|
| HCF and LCM | HCF × LCM = product of the two numbers |
| Number of factors | If N = pa × qb × …, factors = (a + 1)(b + 1)… |
| Sum of natural numbers | 1 + 2 + … + n = n(n + 1)/2 |
| Sum of squares and cubes | n(n + 1)(2n + 1)/6 and [n(n + 1)/2]² |
| Trailing zeros in n! | ⌊n/5⌋ + ⌊n/25⌋ + ⌊n/125⌋ + … |
| Divisibility of powers | aⁿ − bⁿ is divisible by a − b; aⁿ + bⁿ is divisible by a + b when n is odd |
| Permutations and combinations | ⁿPᵣ = n! ÷ (n − r)!; ⁿCᵣ = n! ÷ [r!(n − r)!]; circular arrangements of n objects = (n − 1)! |
| Probability | P(A ∪ B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A ∩ B) |
| Sets | n(A ∪ B) = n(A) + n(B) − n(A ∩ B) |
Geometry and Mensuration Formulas
Geometry questions are won by the diagram and the one right theorem, so keep the CAT 2026 formula revision marathon geometry sessions for your second pass. Keep this table beside you while you solve, and fade it out as the formulas settle.
| Topic | Formula |
|---|---|
| Triangle area | ½ × base × height; Heron: √[s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)] with s = (a + b + c)/2 |
| Equilateral triangle | Area = (√3/4) × a² |
| Inradius and circumradius | r = Area ÷ s; R = abc ÷ (4 × Area) |
| Right triangle | a² + b² = c² |
| Polygon | Interior angle sum = (n − 2) × 180°; diagonals = n(n − 3)/2 |
| Circle | Area = πr²; circumference = 2πr; angle in a semicircle = 90° |
| Chords and tangents | PA × PB = PC × PD for intersecting chords; PT² = PA × PB for a tangent and a secant from P |
| Cylinder | Volume = πr²h; curved surface = 2πrh |
| Cone | Volume = ⅓πr²h; slant height l = √(r² + h²); curved surface = πrl |
| Sphere | Volume = (4/3)πr³; surface area = 4πr² |
| Cuboid and cube | Cuboid diagonal = √(l² + b² + h²); cube diagonal = a√3 |
| Coordinate geometry | Distance = √[(x₂ − x₁)² + (y₂ − y₁)²] |
A 17-Day Plan to Use the CAT 2026 Formula Revision Marathon
Today is Wednesday, 11 November, and CAT is on Sunday, 29 November. That leaves 18 days. The plan below uses 17 of them, from Thursday 12 November to Saturday 28 November, and the exam itself is day 18. It is a coaching suggestion, not a fixed rule, so swap days around to give your weak topics more time. If you started with our 30-day schedule for CAT, this plan slots into its final two weeks.
| Day | Date | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thu 12 Nov | Percentages, profit and loss, discount: session, formulas from memory, 15 PYQs |
| 2 | Fri 13 Nov | Ratios and averages: playlist session, then PYQs |
| 3 | Sat 14 Nov | Mixtures and alligation: session, then PYQs |
| 4 | Sun 15 Nov | Time and work, time-speed-distance, boats; then full mock 1 |
| 5 | Mon 16 Nov | Mock 1 review, error log; algebraic identities |
| 6 | Tue 17 Nov | Quadratics, linear equations, AP and GP |
| 7 | Wed 18 Nov | Logarithms and indices |
| 8 | Thu 19 Nov | Number system: HCF, LCM, factors, remainders |
| 9 | Fri 20 Nov | Geometry: triangles, circles, polygons |
| 10 | Sat 21 Nov | Mensuration and coordinate geometry; then full mock 2 |
| 11 | Sun 22 Nov | Mock 2 review; permutations, combinations, probability, sets |
| 12 | Mon 23 Nov | Redo every question in your error log |
| 13 | Tue 24 Nov | Timed Quant sectional; write the full formula sheet from memory |
| 14 | Wed 25 Nov | Full mock 3 |
| 15 | Thu 26 Nov | Mock 3 review; fix the last weak topic |
| 16 | Fri 27 Nov | Light skim of the formula sheet and error log; no new topics |
| 17 | Sat 28 Nov | Rest, check your admit card and exam-centre route, sleep early |
Each topic day follows the same four steps, and the CAT 2026 formula revision marathon sessions fit into the first two:
- Watch with a pen in hand: pause when the mentor poses a question and try it yourself first.
- Write the formulas from memory: close the video and fill one page. Compare it with the tables above and mark the gaps.
- Solve previous-year questions: stay on the same topic and time yourself.
- Log every miss: record the formula you forgot or the step you misread.
How to Make Formulas Stick
Watching a mentor solve a problem feels like learning, but the real test is whether you can do it alone a day later. Three habits close that gap.
- Recall before you reread: try to write the formula first, then check. Even a wrong attempt strengthens memory more than rereading does.
- Group, do not list: keep related formulas together, such as the three cube identities, so one cue brings back all of them.
- Revisit on a schedule: look at each topic’s formulas one day, three days and seven days after you first revised them.
Mistakes to avoid in the last two weeks
Do not start new books, and do not binge-watch sessions without solving questions. Decide each day which questions to skip, too; our note on choosing which questions to attempt covers that. If you plan to use the on-screen tool, practise with it as well, since the formulas only help if the arithmetic that follows is quick.
Start with your weakest topic today
The CAT 2026 formula revision marathon sessions are free on the Quantifiers CAT Academy YouTube channel. Pick one topic, watch it with a pen, and write the formulas from memory.
Open the YouTube playlistIn short, the CAT 2026 formula revision marathon works when you treat it as active practice: one topic a day, formulas from memory, previous-year questions, and an honest error log. Keep your plan simple, protect your sleep, and walk into the exam on 29 November knowing your formulas cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Quantifiers marathon free?
The sessions are on our YouTube channel and can be watched without a sign-up. Open the marathon playlist to see the current list of videos.
Which topics should I revise first?
Start with Arithmetic, since it has the most easy and moderate questions, then Algebra, Number System, Geometry and Modern Maths. Move your weakest topic to the front.
How many formulas do I need to remember for CAT?
There is no official number. The tables on this page cover the core formulas most candidates need, and your error log will show which extra ones matter for you.
Can I revise all of Quant in 17 days?
You can cover every major topic once and your weak topics twice if you study daily. Do not expect to learn new topics from scratch in this window.
Should I keep taking mocks during revision?
Yes. Three full mocks, spaced a few days apart with a proper review after each, work better than daily mocks with no analysis.
When is CAT 2026?
Sunday, 29 November 2026, as a computer-based test. Your session timing is on your admit card.
