L
LLLOS.ai
LLOS.ai
L

Study in India · Entrance exam

CAT

Common Admission Test

Official site ↗

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

← Every exam

Rules and exam details are read from the official pages of the bodies that set them — NTA, UPSC, NMC, ICAI, BCI, UGC and others — and each page lists its sources. Fees and pay are rough 2026 ranges, not quotes. Rules change every year: confirm on the official site before you apply or pay. LLOS takes no commission from any college or coaching centre. Looking beyond India? Study abroad. Still in Class 10? Stream Explorer.