As you can clearly see:
- Which IIM conducts the test
- Ahmedabad 2015
- Bangalore 2016
- Lucknow 2017
- Calcutta 2018
- Kozhikode 2019
- Indore 2020
- Ahmedabad 2021 (pattern repeats)
- Bangalore 2022
So there is a very high probability that Lucknow will conduct CAT 2023.
2. The difficulty of the test
We cannot predict much here. The 2015 and 2021 CATs, both conducted by IIMA have almost completely different patterns. In 2015, it was an easy VA with moderate-difficult LRDI and QA; whereas in 2021, it was moderate-difficult VA and LRDI with an easier QA – only one thing is constant, that LRDI is tough. A similar observation can be made for 2016 and 2022 CATs, both conducted by IIMB.
In fact, if you look at the LRDI section across the years, barring 2019, its always moderate-difficult or hard. So 2023 should not be an exception either, at least, not so soon. The VA and QA sections have more or less equal representation of easy, moderate and hard levels.
Another point worth noting is that, barring slight variations, the difficulty levels across the slots in a particular year have largely been similar.
Conclusion – There is no relation between the level of difficulty of the CAT and the IIM that conducts the CAT