CAT 2026 on November 29; what changes this year?

CAT 2026: The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Indore will hold CAT 2026 on November 29 in three sessions, at 170 test centres across the country. This year’s fee for the Common Admission Test (CAT 2026) has been revised and increased for all category students.

The application fee for General, EWS, and NC-OBC category candidates has been increased to Rs 2,700, up from Rs 2,600 last year. For SC, ST, and PwD candidates, the fee has been revised from Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,350.

As per the schedule, CAT 2026 registration will begin on August 3, and the deadline for filling out the application form is September 15. IIM Indore will issue the CAT 2026 admit card from November 4 to 29, and the results will be announced in the first week of January 2027.

CAT 2026 scores will remain valid until December 31, 2027.

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CAT Eligibility Criteria 2026

The eligibility criteria for CAT 2026 are as follows.

• Candidates must have a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from a recognised university.
• Graduates must have secured a minimum of 50% in the open category for their bachelor's degree and a minimum of 45% for SC/ST/PWD candidates.
• Candidates with professional courses like CA/CS/ICWA/CMA can also apply.
• Final-year bachelor's degree students can also apply. However, they will have to submit the certificate of completion from the principal or registrar of their university or institution
• Candidates with work experience will have some added preference/ weightage. But work experience is not mandatory as per the CAT eligibility.
• The respective caste/tribe must be listed in the GOI schedule.
• No age criteria.

Last year, roughly 2.58 lakh candidates took CAT exam, and among them, 12 achieved a perfect 100th percentile score, including 10 male and 2 female MBA aspirants. CAT scores carry about 40% weightage in the MBA admission criteria at several IIMs.

Also read IIM Fees vs Placements: Soaring cost, stagnant salaries, students in debt

CAT 2026 Reservation Criteria

The reservation criteria for the CAT 2026 exam are shown in the table below.

Candidates applying for CAT 2026 are advised to maintain a valid and unique email account and a mobile phone number throughout the selection process.

CAT 2026: IIMs offering PGP courses

The list of IIMs offering post graduate programmes (PGP) in management is given in the table below.

IIM CAT MBA entrance exam is held for admission to management courses in IIMs in several cities including Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Guwahati, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur, Visakhapatnam and other B-schools across the country.