CAT Exam
CAT is the Common admission test conducted every year. Every year, this exam has been conducted in computer mode. There are more than 500 centres in India that conduct this exam every year. It is conducted in 3 slots.
CAT entrance exams have been conducted in 3 sections including VARC (Verbal Ability Reading Comprehension, DILR ( Data Interpretation Logical Reasoning) & QA (Quantitative Ability). The official exam notification will be released in July 2026 and give the complete information about the exam to students. Check CAT 2026 details to know CAT 2026 registration date , exam date, exam pattern, admit card, cut off marks, etc. The application forms for CAT 2026 Exam will start in august 2026, and allow candidates to become eligible for this entrance exam. Here are the CAT exam details you should know
|
Category |
Details |
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Exam Name |
Common Admission Test (CAT) |
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Conducting Body |
Indian Institutes of Management, Kozhikode (Expected) |
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Official Website |
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Medium of exam |
English |
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Exam Level |
National |
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Frequency |
Annual |
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Exam Mode |
Computer-Based Test (CBT) |
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Selection Process |
CAT scores, Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI) for some IIMs |
CAT Exam Pattern
The candidates who are preparing for the exam should know about the latest CAT exam pattern. It helps the students to cover every subject and save their time and effort. According to the exam pattern, there are a total 66 MCQ questions asked in this exam. The exam duration is 120 minutes. There are 3 sections in this exam. Candidates can get 40 minutes to finish every section. If the candidates are unable to finish the first section within 40 minutes, then the next section starts automatically
Here are the section-wise exam pattern given below will help you in CAT preparation
|
Section |
Marks |
Time Limit |
|
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
24 questions x 3 Marks for the right answer |
40 minutes (fixed) |
|
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) |
20 questions x 3 Marks for the right answer |
40 minutes (fixed) |
|
Quantitative Ability (QA) |
22 questions x 3 Marks for the right answer |
40 minutes (fixed) |
CAT Exam Eligibility
The students who want to appear in this exam should meet the CAT exam eligibility criteria.
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A candidate must have the bachelor degree from any stream with 50 % passing marks for general and NC-OBC categories.
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The candidates of SC, ST and PWD category need to achieve 45% marks in bachelor to become eligible for management courses in top CAT Colleges.
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Candidates who are in their final year of graduation are also eligible to appear in CAT.
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If the candidate has a professional degree in CS/CA/ICWA/FIAI, then they are also eligible for this paper.
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There is no age limit set for CAT, so you do not need to meet your age requirements
CAT 2026 Exam Dates
According to the CAT notification 2026, it is expected that the exam will be conducted on 30 November, 2026. Moreover, here are the important CAT 2026 dates you should know for better CAT preparation
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Events |
Dates (Expected) |
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Release of CAT 2026 notification |
30 July 2026 |
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CAT 2026 registration start date |
1 August, 2026 |
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CAT 2026 registration last date |
13 September, 2026 |
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CAT 2026 application correction date |
September 25-28, 2026 |
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CAT 2026 admit card release date |
7 November, 2026 |
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CAT 2026 exam date |
30 November, 2026 |
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CAT 2026 answer key release date |
5 December, 2026 |
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CAT 2026 results date |
21 December, 2026 |
Top CAT Colleges
There are many Top MBA colleges in India that accept CAT scores. Check CAT 2026 details on the list of colleges with the CAT 2026 Cut-offs for IIMs that give admission to students in management courses.
|
Name of the College |
CAT Cutoffs (Tentative) percentile |
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Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad |
99-100 |
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Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore |
99-100 |
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Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata |
99 |
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Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow |
97-98 |
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Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi |
98-99 |
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Indian Institute of Management, (IIM) Kozhikode |
97-98 |
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National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai |
86-97 |
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Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai |
81-90 |
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Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi |
— |
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Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai |
96 |
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee-Indian Institute of Information Technology And Management (ABV-IIITM), Gwalior |
70-80 |
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Indian Institute of Management, Indore |
97-98 |
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Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur |
80-90 |
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Dept. of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi |
90 |
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Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai |
86-88 |
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Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur |
92-94 |
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Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli |
94-95 |
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Indian Institute of Management, Raipur |
94-95 |
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Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi |
94-95 |
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MHRM Department of Humanities and Social Science, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur |
85-87 |
CAT Exam Fee
The candidates who want to sit in the CAT exam should pay the CAT Exam fee. These fees vary according to the category of candidates. For example, the general category candidates need to pay Rs 2400 fees. The category of SC/ST/PwD candidates need to pay Rs 1200 fees, through online payment modes. They can pay these fees by credit card, debit card, and net banking payment modes. It is non-refundable exam fees
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Mode of Payment |
Credit card, Debit card, Net banking |
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General/ EWS/ NC-OBC |
Rs. 2600/- |
|
SC/ ST PwD |
Rs. 1300/- |
CAT Exam Syllabus
The exam authority has set the CAT Exam syllabus. The syllabus is broken down into three sections , data interpretation and logical reasoning, verbal ability and reading comprehension, and quantitative analysis. Here are the comprehensive CAT syllabus that prepares the students according to the CAT exam pattern
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Section |
Topics |
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Quantitative Ability (QA) |
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Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) |
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Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
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