CAT is the Common Admission Test that the Indian Institutes of Management conduct for entry to their post-graduate and fellow/doctoral programmes. The CAT 2025 official advertisement lists 21 IIMs: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam. Convening rotates between IIMs: CAT 2024 was convened at IIM Calcutta and CAT 2025 fell under the jurisdiction of Kozhikode. The score is also used well beyond the IIMs; 86 non-IIM institutions used CAT 2024 scores (CAT 2024 official media release, 19 December 2024, iimcat.ac.in). That release also records 3.29 lakh registered eligible candidates for CAT 2024, of whom 2.93 lakh actually appeared.
Evidence note: Exam dates and rules change by cycle; confirm the current information bulletin before applying.
CAT is the Common Admission Test that the Indian Institutes of Management conduct for entry to their post-graduate and fellow/doctoral programmes. The CAT 2025 official advertisement lists 21 IIMs: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam. Convening rotates between IIMs: CAT 2024 was convened at IIM Calcutta and CAT 2025 fell under the jurisdiction of Kozhikode. The score is also used well beyond the IIMs; 86 non-IIM institutions used CAT 2024 scores (CAT 2024 official media release, 19 December 2024, iimcat.ac.in). That release also records 3.29 lakh registered eligible candidates for CAT 2024, of whom 2.93 lakh actually appeared.
A bachelor's degree of at least three years after 10+2, with a minimum of 50% marks or equivalent CGPA, relaxed to 45% for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Persons with Disabilities candidates (IIM Ahmedabad PGP 2026-28 admissions page). Final-year candidates and those awaiting results may apply, joining provisionally against a completion certificate. A completed professional qualification such as CA, CS or ICWA/CMA is accepted instead of the degree; IIM Bangalore also lists FIAI. Reservation follows statute: 15% SC, 7.5% ST, 27% NC-OBC, up to 10% EWS and 5% PwD.
A computer-based test held on one day in three sessions, at centres across roughly 170 test cities, with candidates ranking five preferred cities (CAT 2025 official advertisement, iimcat.ac.in). CAT 2025 carried three sections: Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (IIM Ahmedabad PGP 2026-28 admissions page). Each section is percentiled separately and IIMs apply sectional as well as overall cut-offs. Question count, sectional timing and the marking scheme are fixed by each year's information bulletin, so confirm them on the official notification.
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