Know this. A high percentile is not enough on its own: most IIMs give significant weight to Class 10, 12 and graduation marks, so a candidate with weak school marks needs a much higher CAT score for the same call.
- Run by
- The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), with one IIM convening each year by rotation
- Admits you to
- Postgraduate (MBA/PGP) and doctoral programmes at all IIMs, plus many non-IIM business schools (such as FMS Delhi, IITs' management schools, SPJIMR, MDI) that the IIMs list as permitted users of CAT scores. IIMs play no role in those schools' selection.
- Who can sit
- A bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (45% for SC, ST and PwBD), or a professional qualification (CA, CS, CMA, FIAI) with the same percentage. Final-year students and those awaiting results may apply and join provisionally. There is no age limit.
- Pattern
- Computer-based test in three sessions on one day at centres in about 170 cities. The test has three separately timed sections — Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability — about two hours in all, with MCQs and non-MCQ (type-in) questions. After CAT, each IIM shortlists separately for writing tests and interviews, weighing CAT score with academics, work experience and diversity.
- When
- Notification in late July; registration August to mid-September; test on a Sunday in late November; result in the first week of January.
- Limits
- No age limit and no limit on attempts.
Courses it leads to
Sources, checked 2026-09-28: iimcat.ac.in · iimcat.ac.in