MBA · Entrance Exams

CAT 2026 Registration, Exam Date, Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Fee, Eligibility and Free CAT Mock Tests

The Common Admission Test is the entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Management and is accepted by several hundred other business schools. It runs three sections — verbal ability and reading comprehension, data interpretation and logical reasoning, and quantitative ability — in a fixed order, each with its own forty-minute limit.

That sectional timing is the defining constraint, and it is stricter than it first appears. You cannot move between sections, and you cannot return to one whose time has expired. Each section is effectively a separate forty-minute examination, and a strategy that works across a two-hour paper does not survive the transition.

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CAT · checked 19 September 2026

CAT at a glance, from the official notices

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

Free CAT mock testCAT syllabusToday’s current affairs
22Sep 2026

Next deadline

CAT: the facts that matter now

  1. 01

    Notification 25–26 July 2026; registration 3 August, 10 a.m., to 22 September 2026, 5 p.m. (extended from 15 September); admit cards 4 November…

    2026 cycle

  2. 02

    IIM Kozhikode, 30 November 2025: about 2.95 lakh registered and 2.58 lakh appeared; result 24 December 2025; 12 candidates at 100 percentile

    CAT 2025

  3. 03

    The Indian Institutes of Management in rotation — IIM Indore for CAT 2026 (convener Prof. Aditya Billore) — once a year, computer-based, for the…

    Conducted by

  4. 04

    8:30 – 10:30 a.m., 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., at about 170 test cities; the slot and city are on the admit card

    Slots

Notification

CAT notification and key dates

Checked 15 September 2026 against the CAT 2026 notification and schedule published by IIM Indore on iimcat.ac.in (the site serves its pages through a TCS iON portal that blocks some automated readers, so the dates below were cross-checked in the notification as reported on 25–26 July 2026). CAT 2026 registration closes at 5 p.m. on 22 September 2026 after an extension from 15 September; the examination is on Sunday 29 November 2026 in three slots and the result is expected in the first week of January 2027.

CAT 2026 — the cycle.
EventDate
Notification25–26 July 2026 (IIM Indore)
Registration opens3 August 2026, 10 a.m.
Registration closes22 September 2026, 5 p.m. — extended from 15 September
Admit cards4 November 2026
ExaminationSunday 29 November 2026 — slots 8:30–10:30 a.m., 12:30–2:30 p.m., 4:30–6:30 p.m.
Answer key and objectionsEarly December (2025: response sheets and keys within a week of the test)
ResultFirst week of January 2027 (expected)
IIM shortlists, WAT and PIJanuary to April 2027
CAT 2025 at a glance — the reference cycle (IIM Kozhikode).
ItemFigure
Examination30 November 2025, three slots
Registered / appearedAbout 2.95 lakh (1.85 lakh men, 1.10 lakh women) / about 2.58 lakh
Result24 December 2025
100 percentile12 candidates, nine of them from non-engineering backgrounds
Pattern68 questions — VARC 24, DILR 22, QA 22 — in 120 minutes with 40 minutes per section

What is new in CAT 2026

The conducting IIM and the registration extension are the changes; the pattern of 68 questions with sectional timing has been stable since CAT 2024 and IIM Indore’s notification retains it, with the exact question split confirmed only on the day. The IIMs — 22 with IIM Guwahati, the newest, admitting through CAT from 2026-27 — and the non-IIM schools — FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, MDI Gurgaon, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and others — publish their own cut-offs and profile weights separately, so the CAT percentile is the entry ticket rather than the final rank.

Overview

What CAT is, and who it suits

CAT is a test of reasoning under time pressure rather than of knowledge. Its syllabus, in the sense other examinations have one, is thin — school-level mathematics, English comprehension, and logical puzzles. What it examines is how quickly and accurately you can think when the clock is against you, and how well you choose which problems to engage with.

The results are reported as percentiles, both overall and section by section, and business schools generally apply sectional cutoffs as well as an overall one. That makes balance across the three sections more important than peak performance in any single one — a candidate with an outstanding quantitative score and a weak verbal percentile may be excluded from calls that a more even candidate receives.

The three sections

  • Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension — dominated by reading comprehension passages, with para jumbles, para summary and odd-sentence-out questions in the remainder.
  • Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning — sets rather than standalone questions — the section where set selection matters most and where scores vary most between candidates.
  • Quantitative Ability — arithmetic, algebra, geometry, number systems and modern mathematics, at a level that rarely exceeds school syllabus but is applied unconventionally.

Sectional cutoffs mean balance beats brilliance

Most schools that accept CAT apply sectional percentile requirements alongside the overall one. A candidate who is exceptional in one section and weak in another can miss calls that a more balanced candidate with a similar overall percentile receives. The practical implication is to spend disproportionate time on your weakest section, which is the opposite of what most candidates instinctively do.

Eligibility

Who can apply for CAT

CAT eligibility, from the CAT 2026 notification. The IIMs verify the degree and category documents at the interview stage and admission; NTA-style scrutiny at application does not apply.

Who may apply.
ConditionRule
DegreeA bachelor’s degree from a recognised university or institution with at least 50 per cent marks or equivalent CGPA; 45 per cent for SC, ST and PwD candidates
Final yearCandidates in the final year, or awaiting results, may apply; admission is provisional until the degree with the required percentage is produced by the date each IIM fixes
Professional degreesCA, CS and ICWA holders are eligible on the same terms
Age and attemptsNo upper age limit and no limit on the number of attempts
NationalityIndian and foreign nationals alike; the IIMs’ own reservation rules apply to seats

Also from the notification

  • Reservation — the IIMs follow the central reservation policy — 15 per cent SC, 7.5 ST, 27 NC-OBC, up to 10 EWS and 5 PwD — with the certificates in the prescribed formats uploaded at registration or produced at the interview.
  • One application — a single CAT registration serves all the IIMs; the programmes and IIMs are ticked in the form and cannot be added after closing.
  • Non-IIM schools — apply separately to each with the CAT score; their deadlines fall between November and January.

Selection process

How CAT selection works

Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.

Stages change between cycles. Confirm the structure in the notification for the cycle you are sitting.
StageFormatWhat it involves
CAT — the computer-based test120 minutes, three sections of 40 minutes in a fixed orderVerbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, then Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, then Quantitative Ability; the section timer locks each section. MCQs score +3/−1, type-in-the-answer questions +3/0. Raw scores are scaled and normalised across the three slots into an overall and three sectional percentiles.
Score card and shortlistsPercentiles on iimcat.ac.in in late December or early JanuaryEach IIM and every other school applies its own sectional and overall cut-offs and its own weights for class 10 and 12 marks, graduation, work experience, gender and academic diversity to shortlist for the next round — and the weights differ enough that the same percentile shortlists at some IIMs and not others.
Written ability test, personal interview and final offerFebruary to AprilThe shortlisted candidates sit a written ability test or group discussion and a personal interview at the IIM; the final merit combines the CAT score, the interview and the profile weights the institute publishes in its admission policy.

Registration to admission

How CAT runs, from the August registration to the November test, the percentile and the IIM interviews

The steps follow the CAT 2026 notification and the way recent cycles have run.

The CAT process

  1. Register on iimcat.ac.in Create the profile with an e-mail, a mobile number and the date of birth, then complete the application: personal and category details, class 10 and 12 marks, graduation details and work experience, the IIM programmes applied for, and up to five test-city preferences. Upload the photograph, signature and the category or PwD certificate.
  2. Pay the fee ₹2,700 (General, EWS, NC-OBC) or ₹1,350 (SC, ST, PwD) online; the registration is complete only when the payment succeeds and the form is submitted before the closing time (5 p.m. on 22 September 2026).
  3. Admit card Downloaded from the candidate login from 4 November 2026 with the slot, city and centre; carry it with a photo-ID. PwD candidates get a scribe and compensatory time under the notification’s rules.
  4. Test day Three slots of two hours with reporting about 90 minutes before; the section order is fixed and the on-screen calculator is available. The candidate response sheet is released within days for review.
  5. Objection window and result Provisional answer keys open to objections for a fee; the final score card with the scaled score and the overall and sectional percentiles is published in the candidate login in late December or early January.
  6. Shortlists, WAT and PI Each IIM publishes its shortlist on its own criteria in January and February, conducts the written ability test and personal interview through March, and releases final offers in April and May; the common admission process (CAP) covers several newer IIMs together.

Exam pattern

CAT exam pattern and marking

The CAT exam pattern below is the structure of CAT 2024 and CAT 2025, retained in the CAT 2026 notification: 68 questions in 120 minutes across three sections with 40 minutes each in a fixed order, +3 for a correct answer, −1 for a wrong multiple-choice answer and no deduction on type-in-the-answer (TITA) questions. The exact split of MCQ and TITA questions is confirmed on the day.

CAT paper. 120 minutes, computer-based, three slots normalised.
SectionQuestionsTimeContent
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)2440 minutesFour reading-comprehension passages with 16 questions, and verbal ability — para-jumbles, para-summary, odd-sentence-out — mostly TITA
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)2240 minutesFour sets of five or six questions each — tables, charts, arrangements, games — a mix of MCQ and TITA
Quantitative Ability (QA)2240 minutesArithmetic, algebra, geometry, number system and modern maths at class-10 level with CAT-level reasoning; about a third TITA
Total68120 minutesFixed order VARC → DILR → QA
Scoring.
ItemDetail
MCQ+3 correct, −1 wrong, 0 blank
TITA+3 correct, 0 wrong or blank
Scaled scoreRaw scores of the three slots equated and scaled; the percentile is computed on the scaled score, overall and by section
Sectional cut-offsApplied by each IIM at shortlisting — typically 70–80 percentile in each section for the general category at the older IIMs alongside an overall cut-off of 90–99
CalculatorOn-screen calculator available; no rough sheets beyond those issued

Where the 99th percentile sits

With 68 questions and +3/−1, a 99-plus percentile in recent CATs has meant roughly 100–110 scaled marks out of 204 — about 40 accurate attempts. The sectional timer means each section is its own 40-minute test, and the sectional cut-offs mean a weak section cannot be carried by a strong one.

Study plan

How to prepare for CAT

CAT is a two-hour aptitude test with sectional timing, a −1 on MCQs and sectional cut-offs at the IIMs, so the preparation is three separate 40-minute tests built up over six to nine months and then mocked in the slot timing. Registration is open until 22 September; the test is ten weeks away.

Ten-week plan to CAT 2026 (29 November).
WeeksWorkOutput
1–3VARC: two reading-comprehension passages a day with timed questions; verbal ability sets. DILR: two sets a day by type. QA: arithmetic and algebra first, then geometry and number systemAccuracy above 80 per cent in each section’s sets
4–6Sectional tests of 40 minutes, three a week per section; the CAT 2025 and 2024 slot papers by sectionAttempt count per section fixed
7–9Full two-hour mocks twice a week in the slot timings, with analysis of every wrong MCQ; the third mock each week from the actual CAT 2025 papersPercentile band settled; weak set types listed
10Two mocks, then rest; admit card and centre travel sortedReady for 29 November

What 99-percentilers do

  • They select DILR sets — two of the four sets fully solved beats four half-solved; the first five minutes are for choosing.
  • They never guess an MCQ blindly — at +3/−1 a blind guess loses on average, and TITA questions are free.
  • They read every day — VARC is 24 of 68 questions and the hardest section to improve in the last month.
  • They mock in the slot — the 8:30 a.m. slot rewards a body clock set weeks before.

Practice on this site

CAT syllabus CAT previous year papers CAT mock tests CAT study material XAT guide

Sources

Official notifications and sources

Checked 15 September 2026 against the CAT 2026 notification and schedule on iimcat.ac.in as published by IIM Indore; the portal itself is the authority on every date and on the pattern announced for the day.

Official sources

CAT 2026 — official website (IIM Indore) IIM Indore IIM Ahmedabad — admissions IIM Bangalore — admissions IIM Calcutta — admissions IIM Kozhikode (CAT 2025 conducting IIM)

Exam resources

Everything for CAT

Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.

CAT SyllabusCAT syllabus — verbal ability and reading comprehension, data interpretation and logical reasoning, and quantitative ability topics.CAT Exam PatternCAT exam pattern 2026 — 68 questions in 120 minutes with 40 minutes per section, VARC 24, DILR 22, QA 22, +3/−1 on MCQs, no deduction on TITA, percentiles.CAT Previous PapersCAT previous year papers — learning set selection, reading comprehension patterns and the quantitative topics that recur.CAT Mock TestsCAT mock tests — sectionally timed full-length practice with analysis of selection, accuracy and pacing.CAT PreparationCAT preparation strategy — building reading speed, quantitative fundamentals and the selection judgement the test rewards.CAT Study MaterialCAT study material — quantitative, verbal and data interpretation notes with a focus on speed and application.

Related

More MBA preparation

All MBA examsEvery exam in this categoryPrevious-year papersPast papers with solutionsCurrent affairsDaily, weekly and monthlyExam updatesNotifications and results

Questions

CAT — FAQs

What does sectional timing mean for CAT strategy?

That each forty-minute section is effectively a separate examination. Time cannot be borrowed from a section you find easy, and nothing can be revisited once a section closes — so anything you meant to come back to is simply lost. It also means a bad section does not have to spread: when it ends, the next forty minutes are independent. The practical consequences are that selection decisions must be made early, especially in the reasoning section, and that flagging questions for later is not a viable strategy.

Why do sectional percentiles matter in CAT?

Because most business schools apply sectional percentile cutoffs alongside the overall one. A candidate with an outstanding quantitative percentile and a weak verbal one can miss calls that a more balanced candidate with a similar overall percentile receives. This means the highest-return use of preparation time is usually your weakest section rather than your strongest — which is the opposite of what most candidates instinctively do.

How many CAT mocks should I take?

Fewer, analysed properly, beats more taken casually. A candidate who takes fifteen mocks and spends longer analysing each than attempting it will generally outperform one who takes forty and reviews only the score. What CAT tests is decision-making under time pressure — which sets to attempt, when to abandon a question, how to spend the final minutes — and those decisions improve through review rather than through repetition alone.

What is the CAT 2026 exam date and registration deadline?

CAT 2026 is on Sunday 29 November 2026 in three slots — 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Registration on iimcat.ac.in opened on 3 August and closes at 5 p.m. on 22 September 2026, after IIM Indore extended it from 15 September; admit cards come on 4 November and the result is expected in the first week of January 2027.

What is the CAT exam pattern?

68 questions in 120 minutes across three sections taken in a fixed order with 40 minutes each: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (24), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (22) and Quantitative Ability (22). A correct answer earns three marks, a wrong multiple-choice answer loses one, and type-in-the-answer questions carry no deduction. Scores across the three slots are scaled and reported as overall and sectional percentiles.

Who is eligible for CAT, and is there an age limit?

A bachelor’s degree with at least 50 per cent marks or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent for SC, ST and PwD candidates), or final-year status with the result due before the IIM’s deadline; CA, CS and ICWA qualifications count. There is no age limit and no cap on attempts.

What is the CAT fee?

₹2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates and ₹1,350 for SC, ST and PwD candidates, paid online during registration; one fee covers all the IIM programmes selected in the form.

What was the CAT 2025 result?

IIM Kozhikode declared it on 24 December 2025: about 2.58 lakh of the 2.95 lakh registered candidates appeared on 30 November 2025 and 12 scored 100 percentile, nine of them from non-engineering backgrounds. CAT 2026 is being run by IIM Indore.

Is there negative marking in CAT?

Yes, on multiple-choice questions only: one mark is deducted for a wrong MCQ answer against three for a correct one. Type-in-the-answer questions, which have no options, carry no deduction, so they should always be attempted.

What percentile do I need for an IIM?

It depends on the IIM and the profile. The older IIMs shortlist at overall percentiles in the 90s with sectional cut-offs around 70–80 for the general category, then weight academics, work experience and diversity; the newer IIMs shortlist lower through the common admission process. Each institute publishes its criteria before the result, and a 99-plus percentile in recent CATs has meant roughly 100–110 scaled marks.

Are there free CAT mock tests?

Yes. The free CAT mock tests here follow the 2026 pattern — 68 questions in three 40-minute sections with the fixed order, +3/−1 on MCQs and no deduction on TITA — and report sectional and overall scores with an estimated percentile. Take them in the slot timings, and work through the CAT 2025 and 2024 papers first.

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