CAT Exam, IIM MBA Admissions 2027. PGDM Placements
CAT Exam: The Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM-I) will officially release the CAT 2026 notification on its website — iimcat.ac.in. This marks the beginning of the much-awaited admission season for MBA 2027 029 aspirants aiming for the IIMs and other top B-schools in India.
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CAT 2026 Convenor this year is IIM Indore (Indian Institute of Management Indore).
CAT 2026: As per the the trends CAT 2026 Exam to be held in Nov last week,
The latest percentile data released by IIM Kozhikode offers valuable insights into how India’s top-performing MBA aspirants are distributed across gender, academic background, and geography.
CAT Admit card: The CAT admit card is a mandatory document for entrance exam candidates, containing exam center details, timing, and key guidelines. The CAT 2026 admit card is scheduled for release on November 4, 2026.
At the very top, 12 candidates achieved a perfect 100 percentile. While males dominated numerically (10 males, 2 
females), academic diversity stood out – 9 of the 12 toppers were from non-engineering backgrounds, underlining a clear shift in competitive dynamics.
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These candidates represented eight states, with Delhi contributing the highest number, followed by Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
CAT 2025 Convenor this year is IIM Kozhikode (Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode).
Official Press Release: Common Admission Test 2026 (CAT Exam)
More than 300 Business Schools across the country accept CAT Score which include the 21 IIMs, 12 DMS IITs, 15 NIT, 3 IIITs, 20+ Government Institutes (FMS DU, UoH, ANU, JNU and Others); 250+ private MBA Colleges across the country.
26 candidates scored 99.99 percentile. This group showed a more balanced academic 
mix, with 12 engineers and 14 non-engineers, though gender skew remained (22 males, 4 females). Haryana emerged as the leading state, while Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra continued their strong presence. Southern and eastern states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh also featured prominently.
Another 26 candidates secured 99.98 percentile, where non-engineers clearly dominated (18) and female representation improved slightly (5 females). Uttar Pradesh led this bracket, followed by Delhi, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Haryana.
Compare Business Schools: MDI G vs SPJIMR vs IIFT vs XLRI
Some of the top private Colleges are SPJIMR, MDI Gurgaon, IMI Delhi, IMT G, XIM University, MICA, BITSOM, TAPMI, K J Somaiya Institute of Management, VIT Business Schools VIT University, FORE School of Management, IFMR GSB Krea University and others.
Recently IBS Hyderabad recently opens application for MBA Admission 2027 -29 batch.
The CAT exam is conducted for admission to post graduate management programmes offered at 22 IIMs and all other top B Schools of the country. The 20 IIMs include the seven flagship IIMs and 13 newer IIMs. As NITIE gets rechristened, the country will get one more IIM, making the total count to 21.
The most popular and most awaited Management Entrance Test of the country – the CAT 2025 will be a computer-based test to be held on November 30th this year, in three sessions.
The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA [45% in the case of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons with Disability (PwD) categories], awarded by any University or educational institution as incorporated by an Act of Parliament or State legislature in India or declared to be deemed as an University under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification recognised by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
Section No. | Section Name | Time | MCQs | TITA | Total |
I | Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension | 40 min | 20 | 4 | 24 |
II | Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning | 40 min | 12 | 10 | 22 |
III | Quantitative Ability | 40 min | 14 | 8 | 22 |
Total | – | 120 min | 46 | 22 | 68 |
CAT Exam Pattern : The duration of the test will be 120 minutes. There will be three sections:
Section I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension; Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning; Section III: Quantitative Ability.
Year | VA | DI-LR | Quant |
CAT 2021 | VARC 26. RC -18 (All MCQs), Verbal-8 (Non MCQs) | DILR 24. DI-14, LR-10, MCQs-18, Non-MCQs-6 | Total 26. MCQs-18; Non-MCQs-8 |
CAT 2020 | VARC 26. RC -18 (All MCQs), Verbal-8 (Non MCQs) | DILR 24. DI-14, LR-10, MCQs-18, Non-MCQs-6 | Total 26. MCQs-18; Non-MCQs-8 |
CAT 2019 | VARC-34. RC-24, (All MCQs), Verbal-10 (non MCQs) | DILR-32, DI-16, LR-16, MCQs-24, Non-MCQs-8 | Total-34. MCQs 23, Non-MCQs-11 |
CAT 2018 | VARC-34. RC-24, (All MCQs), Verbal-10 (2 MCQs, 7 non MCQs) | DILR-32, DI-16, LR-16, MCQs-24, Non-MCQs-8 | Total-34. MCQs 22, Non-MCQs-12 |
CAT 2017 | VARC-34. RC-24, (All MCQs), Verbal-10 (3 MCQs, 7 non MCQs) | DILR-32, DI-16, LR-16, MCQs-24, Non-MCQs-8 | Total-34. MCQs 23, Non-MCQs-11 |
CAT 2016 | VARC-34, RC-24, (All MCQs), Verbal-10 (All non MCQs) | DILR-32, DI-16, LR-16, MCQs-24, Non-MCQs-8 | Quant-34, MCQ-27, Non-MCQs-7 |
CAT 2015 | VARC -34, RC-24 (MCQs), Verbal-10 (Non MCQs) | DILR-32, DI-16, LR-16, MCQs-24, Non-MCQs-8 | Quant-34, MCQs-24, Non-MCQs-10 |
CAT 2014 | 50 VARC-34 LR-16 | – | 50 Quant-34 DI-16 |
CAT Preparation & MockTest & Trends
Important Dates
CAT | Common Admission Test |
Exam Date | Nov 30, 2025 |
Conducting Body | IIM Kozhikode |
CAT Exam Shift | 3 Shift |
CAT Exam Mode | Online |
CAT Exam Time | 2 Hours |
CAT Registration Date | Aug 01, 225 |
CAT Registration closing | Sep 13th, 2025 |
CAT Exam Fees | 2500 |
How to Apply for CAT Exam | Application process is online only |
Cat Result Date | Dec last week, 2025 |
CAT Registration Trends: (All Data in lakhs)
Year | No. of Registered | No. Of Appeared |
2024 | 3.3 | 2.93 |
2023 | 3.3 | 2.88 |
2022 | 2.550 | 2.22 |
2021 | 2.300 | 1.91 |
2020 | 2.300 | 1.90 |
2019 | 2.440 | 2.09 |
2018 | 2.400 | 2.09 |
2017 | 2.310 | 1.99 |
2016 | 2.320 | 1.95 |
2015 | 2.160 | 1.79 |
2014 | 1.969 | 1.67 |
How to Apply: Candidates can apply for CAT online through the official site of IIM CAT. The last date to register for CAT this year is Sep 15, 2025 (Tentative).
Reservation: As per the legal requirements, 15% of the seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, 7.5% for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates, 27% for Other Backward Classes candidates belonging to the “Non-Creamy” layer (NC-OBC), up to 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidates and 5% for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwD).
CAT Admit card to be out in the first week of Nov 2025
As per trends CAT Results to be out in the 1st week of Jan 2026,
Old IIMs ( IIM A B C, L, K, I ) Closed application with CAT Registration. MDI Gurgaon and SPJIMR closed application before CAT Exam
Check your best options through CAT Score
CAT Cut offs
ISB Admission 2027: Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad and Mohali opens application for Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) program [Global MBA equivalent], full-time residential program for professionals or the batch 2027. Candidates can apply online. Application closing in three rounds, R1 Application Deadline: September 20, 2026.
Also Read:
- All about Quantitative Aptitude. Complete overview on QA for CAT Exam
- How to crack verbal Ability section in CAT Exam
- Top 50 CAT Score accepting MBA Colleges
- Top 150 Business Schools based on ROI 2O25
FAQ
he Common Admission Test (CAT) is a premier national-level management entrance examination conducted annually on a rotational basis by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for admission to elite MBA, PGDM, and doctoral programmes across India.
No, there is no upper age limit for taking the CAT exam. Both fresh graduates and working professionals with varying years of corporate experience are eligible to apply.
CAT is a computer-based test (CBT) lasting 120 minutes (2 hours). It is typically divided into three strict sectional time-slots of 40 minutes each:
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
The question paper typically features around 68 questions carrying a total of 204 marks.
Correct Answer: +3 marks
Wrong Answer (MCQs): -1 mark (negative marking)
Non-MCQs / Unanswered Questions: No negative marking.
In addition to all 22 IIMs, CAT scores are officially accepted by over 300+ premier B-schools across India, including top-tier private institutions like , MDI Gurgaon, FMS Delhi, SJOMSOM, VGSOM, DMS IIT, IMT G, BITSOM and Others
Because CAT is conducted across multiple slots (morning, afternoon, and evening) with varying levels of question paper difficulty, IIMs use a robust normalization process. This accounts for differences in slot difficulties, converting raw scores into scaled scores and percentiles to ensure absolute fairness.
