CAT (Common Admission Test)
IIMs
Complete guide to passing the CAT (Common Admission Test) exam on your first attempt.
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Complete Overview
The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a 120-minute computer-based aptitude test that the Indian Institutes of Management use to screen applicants for their MBA, PGP and Fellow programmes, and it costs INR 2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates or INR 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates. It is taken by graduates and final-year undergraduates who want a seat at one of the 22 IIMs or at the non-IIM member institutions that buy access to CAT scores, and the fee is paid once no matter how many institutes you later apply to.
CAT 2026 is being conducted by IIM Indore, with Prof. Aditya Billore as convener. The test runs on Sunday, November 29, 2026 in three sessions across roughly 170 test cities. Registration opened at 10:00 a.m. on August 3, 2026 and closes at 5:00 p.m. on September 15, 2026. Admit cards can be downloaded from November 4, 2026 until the test date. Results are likely to be declared in the first week of January 2027, and a CAT 2026 score is valid only until December 31, 2027.
The paper has three sections in a fixed order: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, then Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, then Quantitative Ability. Each section gets exactly 40 minutes and you cannot move between sections. That constraint drives almost every strategic decision a candidate makes, because a section you finish early gives you nothing back.
The IIMs do not announce the question count in advance. CAT 2024 and CAT 2025 each carried 68 questions: 24 in VARC and 22 each in DILR and QA. The marking scheme is not printed in the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin either. In recent years the on-screen instructions have awarded 3 marks for a correct answer, deducted 1 mark for an incorrect multiple-choice answer, and applied no penalty to incorrect type-in-the-answer questions.
CAT does not have a pass mark. Scores are reported as scaled scores and percentile ranks, section by section and overall, and each IIM sets its own thresholds. IIM Ahmedabad required a 95 overall percentile and 85 in every section from General and EWS candidates for its 2026-28 PGP batch, plus a raw score above zero in all three sections. IIM Calcutta set a lower bar for the same batch: 85 overall, 80 in VARC, 80 in DILR and 75 in QA for open-category candidates, with non-negative raw scores required in every section.
Getting past that screen is only the first stage. IIM Calcutta then builds an 85-point composite that gives 56 points to the CAT score, 15 to Class 12 marks, 10 to Class 10 marks and 4 to gender diversity. In final selection it gives the personal interview 48 of 100 points and CAT only 30. IIM Ahmedabad weights its shortlisting composite 0.65 CAT and 0.35 application rating, then gives the personal interview a 0.50 factor in final selection. A high percentile buys you an interview call. It does not buy an admission.
Eligibility is a bachelor's degree with at least 50 percent marks or equivalent CGPA, relaxed to 45 percent for SC, ST and PwBD candidates. Final-year students may apply and join provisionally. There is no age limit and no cap on attempts.
Why Get CAT (Common Admission Test) Certified?
One test, 22 IIMs. CAT 2026 covers the MBA, PGP and Fellow programmes at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Guwahati, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam, plus the non-IIM member institutions listed on iimcat.ac.in.
The registration fee is INR 2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates and INR 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates, paid once regardless of how many institutes you apply to afterwards.
IIM Indore's Final Placement Report for the Class of 2026 records an average CTC of INR 27.27 lakh, a median of INR 25.00 lakh and a highest package of INR 82.54 lakh, with 240 or more recruiters participating.
IIM Bangalore's PGP and PGPBA Class of 2026 received 664 offers from 177 firms for 596 students appearing, with management consulting accounting for 45 percent of the career pathway.
Reservation is statutory: 15 percent of seats for SC, 7.5 percent for ST, 27 percent for NC-OBC, up to 10 percent for EWS and 5 percent for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities.
There is no cap on attempts and no upper age limit, so a candidate can sit CAT in consecutive years and use the better percentile.
The test runs in approximately 170 cities and you rank five preferred cities at registration, though once a centre is allotted no change is permitted.
Exam Format & Structure
Duration
120 minutes total, split as three fixed 40-minute sections with no switching between them
Questions
68 questions in CAT 2024 and CAT 2025 (VARC 24, DILR 22, QA 22). The IIMs do not announce the question count in advance and the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin does not state one.
Passing Score
There is no pass mark. Scores are reported as scaled scores and percentile ranks per section and overall, and each institute sets its own minimum. IIM Ahmedabad required 95 overall and 85 sectional percentiles from General and EWS candidates for its 2026-28 batch; IIM Calcutta required 85 overall with 80 VARC, 80 DILR and 75 QA from open-category candidates for the same batch.
Question Types
- Four-option multiple choice, answered by clicking
- Type-in-the-answer (TITA) non-MCQ, answered with an on-screen keypad
- Reading comprehension passages with question sets attached
- Data interpretation caselets built on tables, charts and text
- Logical reasoning puzzle sets, typically four to six questions per set
Delivery Method
Computer-based test at a designated centre. CAT 2026 runs on Sunday, November 29, 2026 in three sessions across roughly 170 cities. Candidates rank five preferred cities at registration and cannot change the allotted centre.
How scoring works
Score scale
Scaled score and percentile rank, reported separately for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Ability, and for the total. On a 68-question paper marked at 3 marks per question, the maximum raw total is 204 before penalties.
Score needed to pass
None. CAT has no pass mark. Each institute publishes its own minimum percentiles: IIM Ahmedabad required 95 overall and 85 sectional from General and EWS candidates for its PGP 2026-28 batch, while IIM Calcutta required 85 overall with 80 VARC, 80 DILR and 75 QA from open-category candidates for the same batch. Both also require a raw score above zero, or non-negative, in every section.
When results arrive
The CAT 2026 Information Bulletin states results are likely to be declared by the first week of January 2027. Scorecards are made accessible on the CAT website and candidates may also be intimated individually by SMS. Answer keys and candidate response sheets are typically released for challenge before the result. The score remains accessible until December 31, 2027.
How the scale is built
Raw marks are computed first, with 3 marks per correct answer and a 1 mark deduction for an incorrect multiple-choice answer in recent papers. Because CAT runs in three sessions on the same day with different question sets, raw scores are converted to scaled scores so that candidates across sessions can be compared, then converted to percentile ranks. Scoring is conjunctive at the institute stage: sectional and overall thresholds must both be cleared, so a strong section cannot compensate for a weak one.
Pacing and time budget
68 questions in 120 minutes gives you 1 minute 46 seconds on average, but the real constraint is 40 minutes for 24 VARC questions, 40 for 22 DILR and 40 for 22 QA per question.
20
12 to 14 VARC questions, meaning two full reading comprehension sets
40
All VARC attempts locked; the section closes and cannot be reopened
45
0 DILR questions, with all sets read and three chosen
62
One DILR set fully solved and a second underway
100
12 to 14 QA questions from the first sweep of quick solves
| At this point | You should have answered |
|---|---|
| 20 | 12 to 14 VARC questions, meaning two full reading comprehension sets |
| 40 | All VARC attempts locked; the section closes and cannot be reopened |
| 45 | 0 DILR questions, with all sets read and three chosen |
| 62 | One DILR set fully solved and a second underway |
| 100 | 12 to 14 QA questions from the first sweep of quick solves |
- Time does not roll over between sections. Minutes saved in VARC are minutes lost, so spend them re-checking the two answers you were least confident about.
- In DILR, invest the first four to five minutes reading every set without solving. Committing to the wrong sets is the single most common way a good candidate loses the section.
- Set a hard abandon rule in DILR: if you are eight minutes into a set with nothing filled, leave it and take the next one on your list.
- In QA, run two sweeps. The first sweep takes only questions you can finish in 90 seconds, mostly arithmetic. The second sweep takes what is left with the time you banked.
- Answer every type-in-the-answer question you can bound, because those carry no negative marking in recent papers while an incorrect MCQ costs a mark.
Where the marks are
Reading comprehension within VARC
The bulk of the 24 VARC questions in recent papers
Passages ask for inference, tone and main idea rather than fact retrieval, so the deciding skill is eliminating the option that overstates or narrows the author's claim.
DILR set selection
22 questions delivered in roughly five or six sets
Questions come bundled. Cracking three sets out of six can yield 12 to 15 questions; picking badly can yield four. The exam is testing triage as much as reasoning.
Arithmetic within QA
Historically the largest QA block of the 22 questions
Percentages, ratio, averages, mixtures, time-speed-distance and time-and-work appear in near-every paper and are the questions most often solvable inside 90 seconds.
Algebra within QA
Second largest QA block in recent papers
Quadratics, inequalities, functions and logarithms show up in disguised form, often as a word problem whose only hard step is setting up the equation correctly.
Type-in-the-answer questions across all three sections
A minority of questions, but no negative marking
The absence of a penalty changes the arithmetic of guessing. Every TITA you can bound to a plausible value carries positive expected marks with no downside.
Para-summary and odd sentence out in VARC
The non-reading-comprehension remainder of the 24 VARC questions
These are pattern-recognisable and drillable in blocks, unlike reading comprehension, so a candidate who works 60 of them in a fortnight usually sees measurable accuracy gains.
Geometry and mensuration within QA
A smaller QA block than arithmetic and algebra
Formula recall decides most of these questions. Candidates who memorize the standard triangle, circle and solid relations convert them fast; candidates who derive them run out of time.
Number system within QA
A small but persistent QA block
Remainders, factors, divisibility and cyclicity recur every year and reward pattern recognition over calculation, which makes them efficient marks under a 40-minute lock.
| Topic | Weight | Why it scores |
|---|---|---|
| Reading comprehension within VARC | The bulk of the 24 VARC questions in recent papers | Passages ask for inference, tone and main idea rather than fact retrieval, so the deciding skill is eliminating the option that overstates or narrows the author's claim. |
| DILR set selection | 22 questions delivered in roughly five or six sets | Questions come bundled. Cracking three sets out of six can yield 12 to 15 questions; picking badly can yield four. The exam is testing triage as much as reasoning. |
| Arithmetic within QA | Historically the largest QA block of the 22 questions | Percentages, ratio, averages, mixtures, time-speed-distance and time-and-work appear in near-every paper and are the questions most often solvable inside 90 seconds. |
| Algebra within QA | Second largest QA block in recent papers | Quadratics, inequalities, functions and logarithms show up in disguised form, often as a word problem whose only hard step is setting up the equation correctly. |
| Type-in-the-answer questions across all three sections | A minority of questions, but no negative marking | The absence of a penalty changes the arithmetic of guessing. Every TITA you can bound to a plausible value carries positive expected marks with no downside. |
| Para-summary and odd sentence out in VARC | The non-reading-comprehension remainder of the 24 VARC questions | These are pattern-recognisable and drillable in blocks, unlike reading comprehension, so a candidate who works 60 of them in a fortnight usually sees measurable accuracy gains. |
| Geometry and mensuration within QA | A smaller QA block than arithmetic and algebra | Formula recall decides most of these questions. Candidates who memorize the standard triangle, circle and solid relations convert them fast; candidates who derive them run out of time. |
| Number system within QA | A small but persistent QA block | Remainders, factors, divisibility and cyclicity recur every year and reward pattern recognition over calculation, which makes them efficient marks under a 40-minute lock. |
The numbers
November 29, 2026, three sessions, 120 minutes, three sections of exactly 40 minutes each with no switching
Test date, duration and structure
Source: IIM Indore, CAT 2026 Press Release, July 26, 2026
INR 2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates; INR 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates; non-refundable
Registration fee
Source: CAT 2026 Information Bulletin, iimcat.ac.in
CAT 2026 scores valid only until December 31, 2027; results likely by the first week of January 2027
Score validity
Source: CAT 2026 Information Bulletin, iimcat.ac.in
95 overall and 85 in each section for General and EWS candidates, plus a positive raw score in all three sections
Minimum percentile screen at IIM Ahmedabad
Source: IIM Ahmedabad, Shortlisting and Selection Criteria for PGP 2026-28 Batch, iima.ac.in
85 overall with 80 VARC, 80 DILR and 75 QA for open-category candidates, subject to non-negative raw scores in all sections
Minimum percentile screen at IIM Calcutta
Source: IIM Calcutta, Admission Policy for the MBA Programme Batch 2026-28, iimcal.ac.in
Average CTC INR 27.27 lakh, median INR 25.00 lakh, highest INR 82.54 lakh, 240 or more recruiters, 158 pre-placement offers
Placement outcome at one conducting IIM
Source: IIM Indore, Final Placement Report, Batch of 2024-26
Total guaranteed cash component, domestic offers: Consulting mean INR 31.21 lakh across 146 offers; Finance mean INR 33.10 lakh across 80; Product and category management mean INR 30.89 lakh across 19; General management mean INR 25.48 lakh across 56; Sales and marketing mean INR 25.23 lakh across 37. Across all 393 domestic offers the fixed yearly cash mean was INR 26.99 lakh and the median INR 25.32 lakh
Audited salary by function at one IIM
Source: IIM Ahmedabad MBA Placement Report, Finals 2025, audited by B2K Analytics under the Indian Placement Reporting Standards
If you fail
Wait before retaking
One year. CAT is conducted once annually, on November 29 in 2026, so the next attempt is the following November. There is no in-year retake and no candidate-initiated rescheduling; once a centre is allotted, the Information Bulletin states no change is permitted.
Attempt limit
None. The IIMs impose no cap on the number of CAT attempts and no upper age limit for the test itself.
Retake fee
The full registration fee again for each attempt: INR 2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates and INR 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates. Fees once paid are not refunded under any circumstances, including if you do not appear.
There is no pass or fail, so a repeat attempt carries no record of the earlier one. Because a CAT score is valid until December 31 of the following year, a candidate holding a CAT 2026 score can apply with it through the 2027 admission cycle while also sitting CAT 2027. The disclaimer in the Information Bulletin is worth reading: incorrect information or process violation detected at any stage leads to disqualification and a bar from appearing for CAT in future, applied retrospectively if detected in later years.
Exam Domains & Topics
Section I, always first. Reading comprehension has dominated this section in recent years, with the remaining questions drawn from para-summary, odd sentence out and para-jumbles.
Key Topics to Master:
- Reading comprehension passages of roughly 450 to 700 words with 4 to 6 questions each
- Inference, tone and main-idea questions rather than fact retrieval
- Para-summary: compressing a paragraph into one option without adding or dropping meaning
- Odd sentence out from a set of five
- Para-jumbles, usually delivered as type-in-the-answer questions
- Critical reasoning style questions on assumption, strengthening and weakening
Section II, always second. Questions arrive in sets, so choosing which sets to attempt is the whole game. A set you cannot crack costs you every question in it.
Key Topics to Master:
- Tables, bar and line charts, pie charts and mixed-format data
- Caselets where the data is embedded in prose rather than a chart
- Arrangements: linear, circular, matrix and grid-based seating or assignment
- Selection and distribution puzzles with multiple constraints
- Games, tournaments and scheduling sets
- Venn diagrams, network and routing problems
Section III, always last, which means fatigue is a real factor. Arithmetic and algebra have carried the largest share in recent papers, with geometry, number system and modern maths filling the rest.
Key Topics to Master:
- Arithmetic: percentages, ratio and proportion, averages and mixtures, time-speed-distance, time and work, profit and loss, simple and compound interest
- Algebra: linear and quadratic equations, inequalities, functions, logarithms, maxima and minima
- Number system: factors, remainders, divisibility, base systems, last-digit and cyclicity problems
- Geometry and mensuration: triangles, circles, quadrilaterals, coordinate geometry, solids
- Modern maths: permutations and combinations, probability, set theory, sequences and series
- Approximation and option-elimination techniques for questions that resist a clean solve
CAT locks each section for 40 minutes with no return. Selection, order of attempt and the decision to abandon a set are skills the paper tests as hard as it tests mathematics.
Key Topics to Master:
- Set selection in DILR: reading all sets in the first 4 to 5 minutes before committing
- Abandoning a partly solved set rather than sinking another 8 minutes into it
- Using the on-screen calculator only where it saves time, since it is basic and slow
- Managing the negative marking trade-off between accuracy and attempts
- Answering every type-in-the-answer question, because those carry no penalty
- Recovering from a bad section, since the next section starts with a clean 40 minutes
Recommended Study Plan
- 1Sit a full-length mock under exam conditions: 120 minutes, three 40-minute locked sections, no breaks
- 2Record raw score, accuracy and attempts separately for VARC, DILR and QA
- 3Download the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin from iimcat.ac.in and confirm your eligibility on the 50 percent or 45 percent rule
- 4Read the IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta 2026-28 shortlisting criteria so you know the sectional percentiles you are aiming at
- 5Register on iimcat.ac.in before the 5:00 p.m. September 15, 2026 deadline if you have not already
- 1Rebuild arithmetic from percentages through ratio, averages, mixtures and time-speed-distance using Arun Sharma's How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT
- 2Memorize squares to 30, cubes to 20, reciprocals to 1/20 and common fraction-to-percentage conversions
- 3Read one long-form non-fiction article a day from Aeon, The Economist or 3 Quarks Daily and write a 40-word summary of each
- 4Solve 20 arithmetic questions daily with a 90-second cap per question
- 5Work the official CAT mock on iimcat.ac.in once to learn the interface, the on-screen calculator and the section timer
- 1Cover linear and quadratic equations, inequalities, functions and logarithms
- 2Drill remainders, factors, divisibility and cyclicity from Nishit Sinha's Pearson Guide to Quantitative Aptitude
- 3Solve four DILR sets a day from past CAT papers, timing each set separately and noting which ones you should have skipped
- 4Build a personal taxonomy of DILR sets: pure data, caselet, arrangement, distribution, games, network
- 5Start a running error log with three columns: question, why it went wrong, what rule prevents the repeat
- 1Cover triangles, circles, quadrilaterals, coordinate geometry and mensuration, and memorize the standard formulas cold
- 2Work permutations, combinations, probability and set theory with 30 questions per topic
- 3Attack VARC by question type: 20 para-summary questions, then 20 odd-sentence-out, then 20 para-jumbles, in blocks
- 4For every reading comprehension passage, mark the option you eliminated last and write one line on why the correct answer beat it
- 5Solve two full DILR sections from past papers each week under a 40-minute lock
- 1Work through released CAT papers from the last eight years, one section at a time under the 40-minute lock
- 2Rank your DILR set-selection decisions after each attempt: which set you should have opened first and which you should have left
- 3Rebuild any QA topic where accuracy is below 70 percent rather than adding new topics
- 4Practise 10 type-in-the-answer questions a day, since they carry no negative marking and are pure upside
- 5Test the on-screen calculator against mental arithmetic on 20 calculation-heavy questions and record which was faster
- 1Sit two full-length mocks per week at 8:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. slot times to match the three CAT sessions
- 2Spend three hours analysing every mock, which is more time than the mock itself takes
- 3Fix a section-entry rule for each section and stop changing it: for example, read all DILR sets in minutes 0 to 4, commit to three, review at minute 30
- 4Track percentile movement rather than raw score, since scaled scores and percentiles are what institutes read
- 5Convert your error log into a one-page list of recurring mistakes and read it before every mock
- 1Cut to one mock, then stop taking full mocks four days before the test
- 2Download the admit card, which is available from November 4, 2026, and print it
- 3Affix a copy of the same photograph you uploaded at registration onto the admit card, as the CAT registration guide requires
- 4Confirm your allotted centre address and do a travel dry run if the city is unfamiliar, since no centre change is permitted once allotted
- 5Revise formula sheets and the error log only, and sleep on the same schedule as your test session
- 1Apply separately to each IIM through its own portal, because CAT registration alone does not apply you to any programme
- 2Prepare for the Writing Ability Test or Analytical Writing Test and personal interview from December, since IIM Ahmedabad publishes shortlists tentatively in the second week of January
- 3Rehearse for a personal interview weighted at 48 of 100 final-selection points at IIM Calcutta and a 0.50 multiplication factor at IIM Ahmedabad
- 4Assemble work-experience proof: employer letters on letterhead with start date, end date, designation and payslips, which IIM Calcutta requires
- 5Track that a CAT 2026 score expires on December 31, 2027 and plan any repeat attempt accordingly
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Best Study Resources
CAT 2026 Information Bulletin and Registration Guide (iimcat.ac.in)
Official documentsThe only binding source on eligibility, fees, reservation, test date, admit card window and score validity. IIM Indore released both on July 26, 2026.
Free
Official CAT mock test on iimcat.ac.in
Official interface tutorialThe IIMs publish a mock so candidates can learn the exact test interface, section timer and on-screen calculator before test day. The CAT 2026 press release names it explicitly.
Free
Released CAT question papers, 2017 onward
Past papersThe IIMs release each year's question paper and response sheet to candidates. Nothing else reproduces the real difficulty calibration, especially in DILR.
Free
How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Arun Sharma (McGraw Hill)
BookThe standard QA text in India, organized by topic with difficulty-graded level of difficulty exercises.
Typically INR 700 to 900
How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for the CAT by Arun Sharma (McGraw Hill)
BookCovers the caselet and chart formats that dominate the DILR section, with enough sets to build selection instinct.
Typically INR 600 to 800
The Pearson Guide to Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit K. Sinha
BookStronger than most on number system and modern maths, and useful as a second source when a topic refuses to click from one explanation.
Typically INR 700 to 900
TIME, IMS and Career Launcher national mock series
Mock test seriesThe value is the national percentile benchmark against tens of thousands of other candidates, not the questions themselves.
Roughly INR 3,000 to 9,000 depending on package
2IIM and Cracku online courses
Online courseStructured video coverage with topic tests, useful for candidates without access to a classroom programme.
Roughly INR 5,000 to 25,000
Aeon, The Economist and 3 Quarks Daily
Reading practiceLong-form argumentative non-fiction in the register CAT reading comprehension passages are drawn from. Read for argument structure, not for facts.
Free to subscription
IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta published admission policies
Official selection criteriaEach IIM publishes its own sectional and overall percentile minima and its composite score weights. Read the ones for your target institutes before you set a percentile goal.
Free
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Chasing a high overall percentile while one section stays weak
Every IIM screens on sectional percentiles as well as overall. IIM Ahmedabad required 85 in each of VARC, DILR and QA from General and EWS candidates for its 2026-28 batch. A 99 overall built on a 70 in DILR fails that screen outright.
Treating a negative raw score in one section as recoverable
Both IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta require a raw score above zero, or non-negative, in every section as a separate condition. Over-guessing MCQs in your worst section can disqualify you even if your percentiles clear the bar.
Starting DILR by solving the first set on screen
Spend the first four to five minutes reading every set before committing to any. The section is 22 questions in about five to six sets; picking the wrong three costs you the section, and there is no way back once the 40 minutes are gone.
Leaving type-in-the-answer questions blank
TITA questions carry no negative marking in recent CAT papers. An unattempted TITA and a wrong TITA both score zero, so every TITA you can narrow to a plausible value is free expected marks.
Banking time in an easy section
The 40-minute sectional lock does not roll over. Finishing VARC in 32 minutes gives you eight minutes of staring at a locked screen, not eight extra minutes for Quant. Use spare time to re-check the two questions you were least sure about.
Taking mocks without analysing them
Budget roughly three hours of analysis per two-hour mock. The value is in the error log: which question you should have skipped, which set you should have opened first, which topic your accuracy collapses in.
Assuming CAT registration applies you to the IIMs
It does not. The CAT 2026 Information Bulletin states that each IIM runs its own admission process, and separate advertisements may appear for programmes other than the PGP. You apply to each institute through its own portal after or alongside CAT registration.
Ignoring the interview weight while optimising percentile
IIM Calcutta gives the personal interview 48 of 100 points in final selection and CAT only 30. IIM Ahmedabad applies a 0.50 multiplication factor to the normalised personal interview score. Interview preparation started in December is late, not early.
Missing a certificate deadline for a reserved category
For CAT 2026, NC-OBC certificates must be issued on or after April 1, 2026 and EWS certificates must be valid for 2026-27 and assessed for financial year 2025-26. The bulletin warns that failure to upload the complete document set may lead to disqualification from the entire admission process, and no category change is entertained after registration.
Turning up without the photograph affixed to the admit card
The CAT registration guide states you must bring printed copies of the same photograph you uploaded and affix one to the admit card on test day. Keep spare copies. The uploaded photo must be less than six months old, on a white background, at a minimum resolution of 150 pixels per inch.
Exam Day Tips
- 1
Carry the printed admit card with the same photograph you uploaded at registration physically affixed to it, plus spare copies of that photograph.
- 2
Carry the original photo identity document you declared, and if you are claiming a reserved category, the SC, ST, NC-OBC, EWS or PwBD certificate as required.
- 3
Your allotted centre cannot be changed once assigned, so confirm the address from the admit card and plan the trip the day before. CAT 2026 runs in three sessions on November 29, 2026.
- 4
Plan around a locked 40 minutes per section. Set an internal marker at 20 minutes in each section and check whether you are on your planned attempt count.
- 5
In VARC, do not read all passages first. Open the passage you can commit to, finish its question set, then move, because switching back and forth burns reading time twice.
- 6
In DILR, read every set before solving anything, then commit to the ones whose constraint structure you can already see. Abandon a set the moment you are eight minutes in with nothing filled.
- 7
In QA, do one sweep for questions you can finish in under 90 seconds, then a second sweep for the rest. Arithmetic questions usually sit in the first sweep.
- 8
Use the on-screen calculator only for multi-digit multiplication and division. It is a basic calculator and clicking through it is slower than mental arithmetic for most CAT numbers.
- 9
Answer every type-in-the-answer question you can narrow down, since incorrect non-MCQ answers carry no penalty in recent CAT papers.
- 10
A bad section is not a failed exam. The next section starts fresh with its own 40 minutes and its own percentile, and sectional percentiles are computed independently.
- 11
If you need a scribe, arrange the scribe yourself and submit the Scribe Affidavit form from the CAT 2026 website. The registration form captures PwBD category, disability percentage, UDID number, wheelchair support and scribe requirement at the time of applying.
Career Paths & Salary Ranges
Management consultant
The largest single destination. Consulting took 41 percent of offers at IIM Indore in 2026 and 45 percent of the career pathway at IIM Bangalore, where Accenture Strategy alone made 94 offers and Boston Consulting Group (27), Bain (23), EY-Parthenon India (22), Kearney (13), Deloitte (10) and McKinsey (9) made another 104 between them.
Consulting function at IIM Ahmedabad: mean total guaranteed cash INR 31.21 lakh, median INR 31.50 lakh across 146 audited offers (IIM Ahmedabad MBA Placement Report, Finals 2025, audited by B2K Analytics)
Investment banking, markets and corporate finance
Finance took 20 percent of IIM Indore's 2026 offers, with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Nomura and The D. E. Shaw Group recruiting. Roles span investment banking, equity research, portfolio management, credit risk and treasury.
Finance function at IIM Ahmedabad: mean total guaranteed cash INR 33.10 lakh, median INR 29.93 lakh across 80 audited offers, the highest mean of any function with more than 20 offers, and the widest spread, topping out at INR 65.00 lakh (IIM Ahmedabad MBA Placement Report, Finals 2025, audited by B2K Analytics)
Product manager or business analytics lead
IT, Analytics and Product Management took 11 percent of IIM Indore's 2026 final-placement offers. Recruiters included Accenture ATCI, Amazon, American Express, Genpact, IDFC FIRST Bank, Microsoft, Optum, Walmart and Wipro, for roles in product management, program management, data analytics and risk analytics. At IIM Bangalore, technology and product management took 15 percent of the Class of 2026 career pathway.
Product and category management at IIM Ahmedabad: mean total guaranteed cash INR 30.89 lakh, median INR 30.00 lakh across 19 audited offers (IIM Ahmedabad MBA Placement Report, Finals 2025, audited by B2K Analytics)
Sales and marketing manager
FMCG and consumer recruiters at IIM Indore included Hindustan Unilever, ITC, PepsiCo, Marico, Godrej, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products, hiring into category lead, B2B sales, product marketing, growth marketing and institutional sales roles. This domain's share of offers fell from 24 percent at the summer-internship stage to 13 percent at final placements.
Sales and marketing function at IIM Ahmedabad: mean total guaranteed cash INR 25.23 lakh, median INR 25.00 lakh across 37 audited offers, the lowest mean of any function with more than 20 offers (IIM Ahmedabad MBA Placement Report, Finals 2025, audited by B2K Analytics)
General management, operations and strategy
General management, HR and operations took 15 percent of IIM Indore's 2026 offers. Titles include chief of staff, corporate strategy, founder's office, supply chain manager and key account manager, at firms including Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, JSW, IndiGo and Flipkart.
General management function at IIM Ahmedabad: mean total guaranteed cash INR 25.48 lakh, median INR 25.00 lakh across 56 audited offers; the top of the IIM Indore Class of 2026 distribution reached INR 82.54 lakh (IIM Ahmedabad MBA Placement Report, Finals 2025, audited by B2K Analytics; IIM Indore Final Placement Report 2026)
Pre-placement offer route via the summer internship
Not a job title but the fastest route to one. IIM Indore reports 158 pre-placement offers from 67 recruiters for the Class of 2024-26, covering 27 percent of the cohort before final placements even began.
IIM Indore summer placements, Batch of 2025-27: average stipend INR 2.63 lakh for the internship period, median INR 2.50 lakh, highest INR 7.92 lakh (IIM Indore Consolidated Placement Report)
Prerequisites & Requirements
- A bachelor's degree with at least 50 percent marks or equivalent CGPA, relaxed to 45 percent for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities candidates, from a university incorporated by an Act of Parliament or a state legislature, a deemed university under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956, or an equivalent qualification recognised by the Ministry of Education.
- Candidates in the final year of a bachelor's degree, and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting results, may apply. If selected they join provisionally and must produce a certificate from the Principal or Registrar by the date each IIM stipulates.
- A completed professional degree in CA, CS, ICWA or CMA, or Fellowship of the Institute of Actuaries of India, with the required percentage, is an accepted alternative to a bachelor's degree.
- Where a university awards CGPA and confirms it has no conversion scheme, the equivalence is calculated by dividing the candidate's CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying by 100.
- There is no age limit for CAT itself and no restriction on the number of attempts. Individual institutes may impose their own age rules: IIM Ahmedabad requires PGP entrants to be 19 years old as on June 30, 2026.
- There is no work experience requirement, though IIM Calcutta awards up to 8 of 100 final-selection points for work experience and IIM Ahmedabad awards up to 5 application-rating points at 0.20 per month beyond 11 months.
- A valid and unique email address and mobile number that you keep active through the entire selection process, which the Information Bulletin lists as a requirement rather than a suggestion.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CAT 2026 registration fee?
INR 2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates and INR 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates. The fee is paid once no matter how many institutes you apply to, and SC, ST and PwBD candidates must upload their category certificate at registration. Fees once paid are not refunded under any circumstances.
When is CAT 2026 and when do results come out?
CAT 2026 is on Sunday, November 29, 2026 in three sessions. Registration ran from 10:00 a.m. on August 3, 2026 to 5:00 p.m. on September 15, 2026. Admit cards are downloadable from November 4, 2026 until test day. The Information Bulletin states results are likely to be declared by the first week of January 2027, with scorecards on the CAT website and an SMS intimation.
How long is a CAT score valid?
A CAT 2026 score is valid only until December 31, 2027 and will be accessible on the CAT website until then. After that date the IIMs will not entertain queries about issuing CAT 2026 scorecards, so download and archive your scorecard as soon as it is released.
How many questions are on the CAT paper?
The IIMs do not announce the count in advance and the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin does not state one. CAT 2024 and CAT 2025 each had 68 questions: 24 in Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, 22 in Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning and 22 in Quantitative Ability. The duration and the 40-minute sectional lock are confirmed in the CAT 2026 press release.
What is the marking scheme and is there negative marking?
The IIMs do not publish the marking scheme in the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin or press release. In recent CAT papers the on-screen instructions have awarded 3 marks for a correct answer, deducted 1 mark for an incorrect multiple-choice answer, and applied no penalty to incorrect type-in-the-answer questions. Read the instruction screen on test day rather than assuming.
How does the CAT score scale work?
CAT reports scaled scores and percentile ranks, not raw marks alone. Because the test runs in three sessions on the same day with different question sets, raw scores are converted to a common scale before percentiles are computed. Your scorecard shows a scaled score and a percentile rank for each of the three sections and for the total.
What percentile do I need for the top IIMs?
It depends on the institute and your category, and the published minimum is only a screening floor. For its PGP 2026-28 batch IIM Ahmedabad required General and EWS candidates to clear 95 overall and 85 in each section, NC-OBC 90 and 80, SC 85 and 75, and ST 75 and 65, with a positive raw score in all three sections. IIM Calcutta required open-category candidates to clear 85 overall with 80 VARC, 80 DILR and 75 QA. IIM Calcutta warns that actual cut-offs may be much higher than these minima.
Does a 99 percentile guarantee an IIM seat?
No. Clearing the percentile screen only makes you eligible for the composite score stage. IIM Calcutta's shortlisting composite gives CAT 56 of 85 points, Class 12 marks 15, Class 10 marks 10 and gender diversity 4. Its final-selection composite gives the personal interview 48 of 100, CAT 30, the writing ability test 8, academic diversity 6 and work experience 8. IIM Ahmedabad weights shortlisting 0.65 CAT and 0.35 application rating.
How many times can I take CAT?
There is no limit on attempts and no upper age limit. CAT runs once a year, so a repeat attempt means waiting a full year. Because scores are valid until December 31 of the year after the test, a candidate can hold one live score while sitting the next attempt.
What happens if I do badly or fail to clear cutoffs?
Nothing happens to your record, because CAT has no pass or fail. You simply will not clear the percentile screens at the institutes you targeted. Many candidates use a below-target score at institutes with lower thresholds, including the newer IIMs and the non-IIM member institutions listed on iimcat.ac.in, and re-sit the following November.
Is there a retake or rescheduling option within the same year?
No. CAT is held once a year on a single day in three sessions, your session and centre are allotted, and the Information Bulletin states that once a centre is allotted no change is permitted. The IIMs reserve the right to change the test date or time if the situation warrants, but there is no candidate-initiated reschedule.
Can I edit my application after registering?
Only in a short window after the registration deadline closes, and only three fields: photograph, signature and test city preferences. The edit window is available only to candidates who paid the fee and registered successfully within the deadline. Category cannot be changed after registration under any circumstances.
What identification and materials do I need on test day?
Bring the printed admit card with the same photograph you uploaded at registration affixed to it, along with the original identity document you declared. The registration guide instructs candidates to carry printed copies of that photograph to the examination on November 29, 2026. No personal calculator is needed or permitted; the test provides a basic on-screen calculator.
What accommodations are available for candidates with disabilities?
The CAT application captures PwBD status, whether the disability is measurable, percentage of disability, UDID number, PwBD category, wheelchair support and scribe requirement. A valid disability certificate issued by the notified medical authority must be uploaded as a PDF. If you will use a scribe you arrange the scribe yourself and submit the Scribe Affidavit form published on the CAT 2026 website. Candidates are also encouraged to apply for and upload a UDID card.
Which categories get reserved seats and how much?
15 percent of seats for Scheduled Caste, 7.5 percent for Scheduled Tribe, 27 percent for Non-Creamy Other Backward Classes, up to 10 percent for Economically Weaker Sections and 5 percent for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities. For CAT 2026, NC-OBC certificates must be issued on or after April 1, 2026, and EWS certificates must be valid for 2026-27 and assessed for financial year 2025-26. The Central Government list as on the last date of registration is binding.
Do I need coaching to crack CAT?
No institute requires it and the IIMs endorse no coaching provider. What coaching supplies is structure, doubt resolution and a national percentile benchmark from a large mock pool. The benchmark is the part that is hard to replicate alone, which is why many self-study candidates buy a mock series without buying a course.
Can working professionals and final-year students apply?
Both can. Final-year students and those awaiting results may apply and join provisionally on production of a certificate from their Principal or Registrar. Work experience is not required but is rewarded: IIM Calcutta allocates up to 8 of 100 final-selection points to it, and IIM Ahmedabad awards 0.20 rating points per month of experience beyond 11 months up to a maximum of 5 points at 36 months.
How is CAT different from XAT, GMAT and the other MBA entrance tests?
CAT is 120 minutes with three locked 40-minute sections and is accepted by the 22 IIMs and the non-IIM institutions registered on iimcat.ac.in. XAT, conducted by XLRI, adds decision-making and general knowledge sections and runs in January. The GMAT is a year-round adaptive test used mainly for international programmes; IIM Ahmedabad requires foreign passport holders staying in India to take the test-centre administered GMAT Focus Edition or the GMAT in its previous format and to apply through the supernumerary quota.
Where can I get official help if something goes wrong with my application?
The CAT help desk number published in the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin is 1800 210 0175, and the CAT 2026 help desk email is [email protected]. The IIMs warn that iimcat.ac.in is the sole official website and that no other site is authorised for CAT 2026. Any dispute concerning CAT 2026 falls under the jurisdiction of the courts in Indore.
What does an IIM MBA actually cost and pay?
IIM Ahmedabad lists a programme fee of INR 27,50,000 for its PGP 2025-27 batch, of which INR 20,10,000 is tuition, excluding boarding, laptop, travel and personal expenses. On the return side, IIM Indore's Final Placement Report for the Class of 2026 records an average CTC of INR 27.27 lakh, a median of INR 25.00 lakh and a highest package of INR 82.54 lakh across 240 or more recruiters. Both numbers vary widely by institute.
Success Stories
“Worked full-time while preparing. 2 hours daily for 8 months. Focus on mocks and analysis. DILR practice made the difference in my case.”
Rohan S.
IIM-A (99.4 percentile)
“First two attempts taught me what not to do. Third attempt I focused on accuracy. Don't give up - each attempt improves your understanding.”
Anita R.
IIM-C (98.8 percentile)
“96 percentile with strong profile got me MDI. Don't obsess over 99+ only - many excellent B-schools accept 95+. Focus on overall application strength.”
Vikram K.
MDI Gurgaon
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