CAT answer key 2023 will be uploaded at iimcat.ac.in. Get latest updates on response sheet release date, score vs percentile, cut off, percentile predictor, result date, and more.
Students can predict their overall performance by using CAT 2024 Percentile Predictor tool before the declaration of the actual result.
Try NowTeam Careers360 | December 5, 2023 | 09:47 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Common Admission Test (CAT) answer key 2023 is expected by the first week of December 2023. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM Lucknow) will upload the CAT official answer key 2023 on the official website, iimcat.ac.in 2023. Students who wrote CAT exam 2023 will be able to download the provisional CAT 2023 answer key and CAT 2023 response sheet using their login credentials.
About CAT 2023 answer key release date, CAT 2023 exam convenor Sanjay Singh told Careers360, "At this point, I cannot give a date for the release of the CAT answer key, but we will release it soon, by the first week of December.”
Candidates will be allowed to check the CAT 2023 slot 1, 2, 3 answer keys and challenge the provisional answers by paying the requisite fee per question.
On the basis of objections raised by candidates, the exam authority will release the CAT 2023 final answer key. CAT 2023 result will be declared on the basis of the final answer key.
CAT 2023 saw 2.88 lakh candidates out of 3.28 lakh applicants who registered (88% approximately).
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Updates on CAT 2023 answer key, CAT 2023 response sheet release date, CAT result 2023, CAT 2023 marks vs percentile, CAT cut off 2023, CAT 2023 percentile predictor, and more.
CAT 2023 admit card will available on the official website, iimcat.ac.in . Seat matrix of IIMs is as follow:
IIM Name | Seat intake | IIM Name | Seat intake |
IIM Ahmedabad | 385 | IIM Kashipur | 210 |
IIM Calcutta | 462 | IIM Nagpur | 60 |
IIM Bangalore | 412 | IIM Ranchi | 155 |
IIM Udaipur | 180 | IIM Kozhikode | 353 |
IIM Shillong | 120 | IIM Visakhapatnam | 60 |
IIM Bodhgaya | 60 | IIM Raipur | 210 |
IIM Sirmaur | 60 | IIM Rohtak | 180 |
IIM Indore | 550 | IIM Amritsar | 60 |
IIM Sambalpur | 140 | IIM Trichy | 180 |
IIM Lucknow | 436 | IIM Jammu | 45 |
Rank | Institute |
1 | IIM Ahmedabad |
2 | IIM Bangalore |
3 | IIM Kozhikode |
4 | IIM Calcutta |
5 | IIT Delhi |
6 | IIM Lucknow |
7 | NIIE, Mumbai |
8 | IIM Indore |
9 | XLRI Jamshedpur |
10 | IIT Bombay |
CAT 2023 score are also accepted for admission into management programmes of IITs. Some of the IITs accepting the CAT 2023 score are following:
NIRF rankings 2023 | Institute | Department |
5 | IIT Delhi | Department of Management Studies |
10 | IIT Bombay | Shailesh Jha Mehta School of Business |
15 | IIT Kharagpur | Vinod Gupta School of Management |
16 | IIT Madras | Department of Management Studies |
18 | IIT Roorkee | Department of Management Studies |
23 | IIT Kanpur | Department of Management Studies |
The CAT 2023 exam had 66 questions in the following three sections:
VARC: 24
DILR: 20
QA: 22
The CAT 2023 answer key link will be hosted on the official website, iimcat.ac.in. Applicants can login using the user id and password.
A total of 3.28 lakh had registered for CAT 2023, of which 2.88 lakh appeared for the exam. A total 88 per cent students appeared in the CAT 2023.
The CAT 2023 response sheet will be uploaded along with the answer key on the official website, iimcat.ac.in. The CAT 2023 responses will show the answers marked by the candidate in the exam.
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM Lucknow) hasn't yet announced the date to release CAT 2023 result. It will likely declare the CAT 2023 result in January 2024 on the official website, iimcat.ac.in.
Candidates can follow these steps to download the CAT 2023 answer key, which will be released soon:
Candidates aspiring for admission into top Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will have to get 97 or above percentile in CAT 2023 exam.
Institute | Cut-off percentile |
IIM Ahmedabad | 99-100 |
IIM Bangalore | 99-100 |
IIM Calcutta | 99 |
IIM Lucknow | 97-98 |
IIM Indore | 97-98 |
The CAT 2023 result will also be used for admission by these top non-IIM colleges:
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM Lucknow) will release the CAT 2023 answer key on the official website, iimcat.ac.in. Candidates will be allotted three marks for every correct answer and one mark will be deducted for every wrong response.
Candidates can login using their user id and password to download the CAT 2023 answer key.
Year | Date |
2022 | December 1 |
2021 | December 8 |
2020 | December 8 |
2019 | November 29 |
CAT 2023 question paper consisted 66 questions. Out of them, 24 were in Section I or Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), 20 were in Section II or Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and 22 were in Section 3 or Quantitative Ability (QA) 22.
The CAT 2023 slot 3 answer key is likely to be issued in the first week of December.
Students can check the CAT 2023 answer key and their individual response sheet by logging in using the user ID and password.
IIM Lucknow will issue the CAT answer key 2023 on the official website soon, iimcat.ac.in.
Candidates can use the CAT 2023 provisional answer key to calculate their probable scores in the exam.
Candidates who appeared for the CAT 2023 exam can check the expected cut-offs for top IIMs
Institute | Cut-off percentile |
IIM Ahmedabad | 99-100 |
IIM Bangalore | 99-100 |
IIM Calcutta | 99 |
IIM Lucknow | 97-98 |
IIM Indore | 97-98 |
Registered: 3.28 lakh
Appeared: 2.88 lakh
Attendance: 88 per cent
The CAT 2023 answer key will be made live on the official website, iimcat.ac.in. Eligible candidates can login using the user id and password.
CAT exam 2023 result is expected to be announced in January 2024. The exact date is not yet announced. The CAT 2023 result will be announced on the official website, iimcat.ac.in.
The CAT 2023 response sheet will show the responses marked by the candidate on CAT exam.
CAT exam 2023 result is likely to be declared in January 2024. There is no confirmation on the exact date.
VARC: 24
DILR: 20
QA: 22
Total: 66 questions
The CAT 2023 exam was held on November 26 in three slots and at 375 test centres across 167 cities in India.
A total of 3.28 lakh candidates registered for CAT 2023 exam of them, around 2.88 lakh or 88 per cent appeared for the exam.
IIM Lucknow is expected to issue the CAT 2023 question paper along with candidate's CAT response sheet in few days.
A total of 66 questions were there in all slots of CAT exam 2023. The CAT 2023 exam pattern was similar to previous year's pattern.
NIRF rankings 2023 | Institute | Name of the Department |
5 | IIT Delhi | Department of Management Studies |
10 | IIT Bombay | Shailesh Jha Mehta School of Business |
15 | IIT Kharagpur | Vinod Gupta School of Management |
16 | IIT Madras | Department of Management Studies |
18 | IIT Roorkee | Department of Management Studies |
23 | IIT Kanpur | Department of Management Studies |
Students need the following credentials to download the CAT answer key 2023 in PDF format:
CAT answer key 2023 will be available on CAT official website, iimcat.ac.in.
CAT 2023 answer key is expected to be out by first week of December 2023.
IIM Lucknow's information bulletin says CAT exam 2023 result is expected to be declared in January 2024.
Parameter | Weight |
CAT 2023 score | 55 |
PI | 20 |
Academic performance and work experience score | 20 |
Gender diversity | 05 |
Total | 100 |
Year | CAT exam date | CAT answer key release date | Availability |
2023 | November 26 | December first week | --- |
2022 | November 27 | December 1 | 3 days |
2021 | November 28 | December 8 | 10 days |
2020 | November 29 | December 8 | 9 days |
2019 | November 24 | November 29 | 5 days |
CAT response sheet 2023 is expected to be available soon on the official website iimcat.ac.in.
The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) announced in August that it will accept CAT 2023 scores for admission to two MBA programmes -- MBA in International Business and MBA in Business Analytics. Earlier, the institute used to conduct MBA admissions through the entrance exams conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The newly formed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai has set MBA fee at Rs 21 lakh. The institute will be offering three MBA programmes including MBA, MBA in sustainability and management, and MBA in operations and supply chain management. The IIM Mumbai fee is higher than other new IIMs including IIM Sirmaur, IIM Sambalpur and IIM Bodh Gaya.
Read More: IIM Mumbai sets MBA fees at Rs 21 lakh, just below IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore
After releasing CAT answer key 2023, IIM Lucknow will prepare CAT 2023 result on the basis of candidate's scores and other factors. CAT result 2023 will be released in the form of CAT 2023 percentile.
B-school | CAT percentile |
Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar | 70 Percentile |
Shiv Nadar University, Dadar | 70 Percentile |
Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi | 70 Percentile |
VIT Business School, Vellore | 70 Percentile |
Apeejay School of Management, New Delhi | 70 Percentile |
B- school | Accepted CAT percentile |
Acharya Institute of Technology, Bangalore | 60 Percentile |
NSHM Knowledge Campus, Kolkata | 60 Percentile |
Veltech Business School, Chennai | 60 Percentile |
Universal Business School, Raigad | 60 Percentile |
Skyline Business School, Delhi | 60 Percentile |
IIMs | Minimum overall cut-off |
IIM Ahmedabad | 80 percentile |
IIM Bangalore | 90.6 percentile |
IIM Calcutta | 90 percentile |
IIM Lucknow | 90 percentile |
IIM Indore | 90.5 percentile |
IIM Kozhikode | 90 percentile |
IIM Lucknow recorded 100% summer placements for the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) and Postgraduate Programme in Agribusiness Management (PGP-ABM) batches. Students bagged 576 job offers across various roles including consulting, finance, general management, product management, sales and marketing, operations and retail, and e-commerce. The top recruiters were Accenture, Aditya Birla Group, Adobe, Alvarez & Marsal, Amazon, Arthur D Little, Atlassian, Avendus Capital, Bain & Company, Bernstein, Boston Consulting Group among others.
While the IIM Lucknow has not announced a fixed date for CAT 2023 answer key release, the exam convenor did say that CAT answer key 2023 will tentatively be uploaded by the first week of December.
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai will use CAT 2023 scores for admission to its management programmes. The institute will be offering the following courses:
CAT exam 2023 result is expected to be declared in January 2024. The exact date is not yet announced.
Institute | Cut-off percentile |
IIM Ahmedabad | 99-100 |
IIM Bangalore | 99-100 |
IIM Calcutta | 99 |
IIM Lucknow | 97-98 |
IIM Indore | 97-98 |
CAT official answer key was issued on December 1 last year.
CAT answer key 2023 will be issued separately for all three slots- slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3 but on the same day. The CAT 2023 slot 3 answer key is expected to be available in the first week of December.
The CAT 2023 response sheet shows record of responses marked by the candidate on exam day.
IIM Lucknow is expected to issue the CAT 2023 question paper along with candidate's CAT response sheet in few days.
CAT answer key 2023 will be issued separately for all three slots- slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3 but on the same day. The CAT 2023 slot 2 answer key is expected to be available in the first week of December.
CAT 2023 slot 2 solution will be available on the answer key. CAT 2023 answer key will be be available at iimcat.ac.in.
The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national-level entrance exam for admission to MBA programmes at Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) and other top business schools in India.
Some of the coaching institutes may provide CAT answer key 2023 but they are not the CAT official answer key. The official CAT answer key 2023 will be out at iiimcat.ac.in .
A look at the CAT exam dates and CAT answer key release dates from past years shows:
Year | CAT exam date | CAT answer key release date | No. of days |
2023 | November 26 | December first week | --- |
2022 | November 27 | December 1 | 3 days |
2021 | November 28 | December 8 | 10 days |
2020 | November 29 | December 8 | 9 days |
2019 | November 24 | November 29 | 5 days |
CAT 2023 slot 2 answer key can only be accessed by those candidates who appeared in slot 2 CAT exam 2023. The CAT 2023 slot 2 answer key will be available at iimcat.ac.in
According to reports, CAT answer key release date is the first week of December. This means that CAT 2023 answer key will be released between Dec 1 to 7. Last year, iim cat 2023 answer key was released by IIM Bangalore on December 1; three days after of the CAT exam date which was November 27.
Candidates may note that the cat answer key 2023 pdf download will be available soon. Candidates will have tologin and download the same. The CAT answer key pdf 2023 will also be released by leading coaching centres after IIM Lucknow releases it.
Students need these credentials to access the CAT response sheet 2023
CAT response sheet and CAT 2023 answer key will not include candidates' score.
CAT response sheet 2023 is expected to release soon on the official website, iimcat.ac.in. Exact date for the same is not yet announced.
CAT 2023 slot 3 answer key can only be accessed by those candidates who appeared in slot 3 CAT exam 2023. The CAT 2023 slot 3 answer key will be available at iimcat.ac.in
CAT response sheet 2023 is expected to be available soon on the official website iimcat.ac.in.
The CAT 2023 answer key will be available for download until the last date of raising objection.
CAT Percentile | CAT VARC Score | CAT DILR Score | CAT QA Score | Overall CAT Score |
99+ | 34-35 | 28-30 | 36-37 | 98-102 |
98+ | 32-33 | 27-28 | 30-32 | 90-93 |
95+ | 32-34 | 20-21 | 28-30 | 80-82 |
90+ | 29-30 | 17-19 | 26-27 | 72-75 |
85+ | 24-29 | 14-15 | 20-22 | 59-61 |
80+ | 20-23 | 11-13 | 15-16 | 46-48 |
CAT answer key 2023 will be issued separately for all three slots- slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3. The CAT answer key 2023 is expected to be available in the first week of December.
CAT answer key 2023 will be available on CAT official website, iimcat.ac.in.
Around 2.88 lakh candidates appeared for CAT 2023 exam on November 26 in three shifts.
Students need the following credentials to download the CAT answer key 2023 in PDF format:
The total number of questions in all the slots of CAT 2023 was 66.
Candidates will need 27 marks in each section of CAT 2023 to secure more than 99 percentile.
IIM Lucknow will release response sheet of CAT 2023 soon on the official website, iimcat.ac.in along with CAT answer key 2023, it will help candidates to calculate their probable CAT 2023 exam scores.
IIM Lucknow's information bulletin says CAT exam 2023 result is expected to be declared in January 2024.
The CAT exam result 2023 will be valid only till December 31, 2024
Rank | Institute |
1 | IIM Ahmedabad |
2 | IIM Bangalore |
3 | IIM Kozhikode |
4 | IIM Calcutta |
5 | IIT Delhi |
6 | IIM Lucknow |
7 | NIIE, Mumbai |
8 | IIM Indore |
9 | XLRI Jamshedpur |
10 | IIT Bombay |
Private coaching institutions that had students writing the CAT exam 2023 have also posted unofficial CAT 2023 answer keys for Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3. However, the official CAT 2023 answer key is the one available at the CAT official website, iimcat.ac.in.
The CAT exam result 2023 will be valid for admission to IIMs and other participating B-Schools till December 31, 2024. Any candidate aiming for an IIM seat after that will have to appear for the IIM CAT exam again.
IIM Name | Seat intake | IIM Name | Seat intake |
IIM Ahmedabad | 385 | IIM Kashipur | 210 |
IIM Calcutta | 462 | IIM Nagpur | 60 |
IIM Bangalore | 412 | IIM Ranchi | 155 |
IIM Udaipur | 180 | IIM Kozhikode | 353 |
IIM Shillong | 120 | IIM Visakhapatnam | 60 |
IIM Bodhgaya | 60 | IIM Raipur | 210 |
IIM Sirmaur | 60 | IIM Rohtak | 180 |
IIM Indore | 550 | IIM Amritsar | 60 |
IIM Sambalpur | 140 | IIM Trichy | 180 |
IIM Lucknow | 436 | IIM Jammu | 45 |
CAT 2023 candidates found slot 3 to be easier in comparison to slot 1 and slot 2 exams. The sectional analysis of CAT 2023 slot 3 is given below:
VARC
DILR
QA
The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) do use CAT scores for admissions to management programmes. However, their admission criteria also includes academic qualification, diversity, work experience, personal interview, and more. An analysis of the IIM admission criteria of top IIMs shows that while good CAT 2023 scores will help you qualify for PI and WAT, the institutes look for students with high academic scores and relevant work experience.
Read More: CAT 2023: IIM admission criteria go far beyond CAT scores; these are the factors
In IIM Ahmedabad's summer placement 2023, 40 companies participated ranging across the fields of banking, financial services and insurance, consumer technology, core manufacturing and infrastructure, education technology, gaming and sports, IT consulting and analytics, and more. TCS remained the top recruiter with 19 job offers.
Since the CAT exam 2023 was conducted in three different sessions, CAT 2023 scores will be normalised in order to ensure fairness in the CAT 2023 result. As per the normalisation process followed for the exam, IIM Lucknow will normalise the scores across different forms. Thereafter, the scores will be normalised across different sections. These will be called 'scaled' scores which will be used to calculate CAT 2023 percentile and for shortlisting of candidates.
CAT 2023 slot 1 was 'doable' with the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) section being lengthy and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) being inference-based, said coaching institute's analysis. The analysis of VARC section is given below:
As per analysis of the NIRF rankings of IIMs from the 2021-22 session, the median salary of graduates of top IIMs who were placed increased in 2021-22 with Rs 31.50 lakh at IIM Bangalore. While the lowest median salary of placed students increased by 58.46%, the highest median salary saw a hike of 14.13%.
Read More: MBA placement rates, salaries at IIMs, top B-schools, post Covid-19: Analysis
Expected CAT cut off 2023 for admission to the participating IIMs is given below.
Institute | Cut-off |
IIM Ahmedabad | 99-100 |
IIM Bangalore | 99-100 |
IIM Calcutta | 99 |
IIM Lucknow | 97-98 |
IIM Indore | 97-98 |
IIM Kozhikode | 97-98 |
IIM Amritsar | 95-96 |
IIM Nagpur | 95-96 |
CAT 2023 exam authority will follow the steps given below to determine a candidate's overall percentile as well as sectional percentile:
IIM Lucknow is expected to release CAT response sheet 2023 along with CAT answer key 2023 in the first week of December 2023 as told by the exam convenor. The CAT 2023 response sheet will include responses marked by candidates in the exam held on November 26. Students will be able to match their responses with the provisional answers provided by the exam authority to calculate their CAT 2023 score.
IIM Name | Seat intake | IIM Name | Seat intake |
IIM Ahmedabad | 385 | IIM Kashipur | 210 |
IIM Calcutta | 462 | IIM Nagpur | 60 |
IIM Bangalore | 412 | IIM Ranchi | 155 |
IIM Udaipur | 180 | IIM Kozhikode | 353 |
IIM Shillong | 120 | IIM Visakhapatnam | 60 |
IIM Bodhgaya | 60 | IIM Raipur | 210 |
IIM Sirmaur | 60 | IIM Rohtak | 180 |
IIM Indore | 550 | IIM Amritsar | 60 |
IIM Sambalpur | 140 | IIM Trichy | 180 |
IIM Lucknow | 436 | IIM Jammu | 45 |
CAT 2023 percentile predictor will help candidates who appeared for the exam know their admission chances in participating IIMs and other management colleges. The CAT percentile predictor will use candidate's expected score in each section and date of birth or registration number to predict the percentile and admission chances based on the percentile.
The new Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai will also offer admission to its management programmes through CAT 2023. The institute has given 55% weightage to CAT 2023 score in its admission policy 2024 while the weightage for other components is given below:
Parameter | Weight |
CAT 2023 score | 55 |
PI | 20 |
Academic performance and work experience score | 20 |
Gender diversity | 05 |
Total | 100 |
Read More: CAT Exam 2023: IIM Mumbai gives 55% weightage to test for MBA admissions
The CAT exam result 2023 will be valid only till December 31, 2024. Any candidate aiming for an IIM seat after that will have to write the IIM CAT exam again.
Candidates who appeared for CAT 2023 slot 3 exam held on November 26 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm said that the overall difficulty level was easy to moderate, and claimed that slot 3 was comparatively easier than slot 1 and 2 papers.
The CAT answer key 2023 can be challenged. To do so, candidates must login on iimcat.ac.in and raise objection through the "Objection Form". The conducting body - IIM Lucknow for CAT 2023 - will charge a fee for each question challenged.
Private coaching institutions that had students writing the CAT exam 2023 have also posted unofficial CAT 2023 answer keys for Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3. However, the official CAT 2023 answer key is the one available at the CAT official website, iimcat.ac.in.
CAT exam 2023 was conducted in three slots. For each slot, the CAT questions were distributed across categories in the following pattern:
Overall, the DILR section was judged to be the most difficult by candidates across slots. The CAT answer keys 2023 will be announced for CAT question papers administered in each of the slots. The CAT 2023 answer keys will be released at iimcat.ac.in.
IIM Lucknow's information bulletin on the CAT exam 2023 says the IIM CAT result date will likely be in January 2024.
With several top IIMs, including IIM Calcutta and IIM Kozhikode including gender diversity points in their admission criteria, more women are getting into IIMs than before.
Read More | CAT Exam 2023: Why women have a better chance of getting into IIMs than ever before
The CAT 2023 result is expected in the second week of January 2024, according the information bulletin . However, the CAT 2023 answer key is likely to come much sooner. It can be expected in the first week of December, IIM Lucknow told Careers360 today.
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode has revised its admission policy and given a weightage of 10% to gender diversity component and 5% to academic diversity. CAT 2023 scores have got a 35% weightage for PGP admissions 2024. While the institute will follow a three-step selection process for admissions to its postgraduate programmes, final shortlisting of candidates will be done on the basis of CAT 2023 scores along with performance in ability test and interview conducted by the IIM.
Read More: CAT 2023: IIM Kozhikode revises admission policy; gender diversity gets 10% weightage
CAT 2023 slot 1 was moderate in terms of difficulty level according to candidates who appeared for the exam. The first shift of CAT 2023 was conducted from 8:30 am to 10:30 am on November 26. Students found the Quantitative Aptitude (QA) section quite difficult to solve.
IIM Lucknow will release response sheet of CAT 2023 soon on the official website, iimcat.ac.in along with CAT answer key 2023. With the help of response sheet and answers, candidates will be able to calculate their probable scores in CAT exam 2023.
According to candidate reactions, the CAT 2023 slot 2 exam was difficult as students found the Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) section more difficult than the other 2 slots.
Read More: CAT Slot 2 Analysis 2023: 66 questions, moderate to difficult, quant was doable
The overall attendance of CAT exam 2023 stood at 88% this year, a jump of 1% from last year's attendance. Around 2.88 lakh candidates wrote the MBA entrance exam on November 26 in three shifts.
Students expecting CAT answer key 2023 will need the following credentials to download the CAT official answer key PDF:
Candidates who appeared for CAT 2023 exam held on November 26 can follow the steps given below to download the CAT 2023 answer key when it's out:
IIM Lucknow which conducted the CAT exam this year will upload the CAT answer key 2023 on the CAT official website 2023 -- iimcat.ac.in. The announcements section on the home page will notify students about the answer key link.
CAT exam convenor told Careers360 that CAT answer key 2023 will be released at iimcat.ac.in by the first week of December 2023. "At this point, I cannot give a date for the release of the CAT answer key, but we will release it soon, by the first week of December," he said.