Vaishnavi Shukla | October 7, 2026 | 01:59 PM IST | 3 mins read
IIM Bangalore: The minimum CAT cut-off requirement for general category students has remained unchanged at 85 percentile for MBA admissions 2027-29
Ace CAT with confidence! Download the Past 10 Years' CAT Question Papers with detailed answers to understand exam trends, improve accuracy, and maximize your percentile.
Download Ebook
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore has announced its admission policy for postgraduate programmes in management (PGP) through the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026. IIMB follows a two-stage admission process, and notably, the criteria for both stages have remained unchanged.
CAT 2026: Mock Test Series | Past 10 years CAT QP's | 2025 Weightage
Sample Papers: Quant | VARC | DILR | 10 Most Repeated Concepts in Quant
PYQ's: Quant | VARC | DILR | RC | Functions Ques | Time and Work Ques
Career Launcher: Race to 99%ile: 10-Hour CAT Masterclass | Open Mock before Actual Exam
According to IIM Bangalore’s MBA admission 2027 brochure, the minimum CAT cut-off requirement for all category students has remained unchanged. Also, the stage 2 selection criteria for personal interview, writing tests, work experience, and other parameters have remained the same as last year.
However, the basic criteria have to be fulfilled for IIMB’s MBA admission for the academic year 2027-29.
Also read IIM Ahmedabad revises MBA admission 2027 policy; CAT percentiles replace scores for PI shortlisting
The basic criteria for applying to IIM Bangalore’s MBA programme include one of the following:
Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in any discipline with a minimum of 50% marks or equivalent cumulative grade point average (CGPA). Candidates from SC, ST, and PwD categories should have a minimum of 45% or equivalent CGPA.
Or, applicants must have a professional degree certificate focused on finance, cost management, or corporate governance, such as CA, CS, CMA, etc.
A first shortlist is prepared comprising candidates who have secured a predetermined minimum score on all sections of CAT 2026. These CAT cut-offs are used for preparing the first shortlist. The scores of those called for the PI round are higher.
The minimum CAT cut-offs required are shown in the table below.
Category | VARC | DILR | QA | Aggregate |
General | 80 | 75 | 75 | 85 |
NC-OBC | 70 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
EWS | 70 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
SC | 65 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
ST | 55 | 55 | 55 | 65 |
PWD | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
CAT scores are mandatory for admissions. IIM Indore will conduct CAT 2026 on November 29 across the country in three shifts.
For candidates in the first shortlist, a pre-PI (Personal Interview) score is created, with weightage for different components as shown in the table below.
Stage 1 selection | Weightage |
55% | |
Class 10 | 10% |
Class 12 | 10% |
Bachelor’s degree | 10% |
Work experience/professional course | 10% |
Gender diversity | 5% |
“Based on the pre-PI score, a certain number of candidates from each category are selected for the next stage in the admission process,” the IIMB admission brochure reads.
The next stage of the admissions process at IIMB consists of a personal interview (PI) and a Written Ability Test (WAT), where candidates will be required to write a note. The weightage for each round of assessment is shown in the table below.
MBA Admission 2027: Stage 2 | Weightage |
Personal interview | 40 |
WAT | 10 |
CAT | 25 |
Class 10 | 5 |
Class 12 | 5 |
Bachelor’s degree | 5 |
Work experience | 10 |
The 25 points for CAT are derived from the performance in each of the three sections, including VARC at 8.75 points, DILR at 10 points, and QA at 6.25 points.
However, the final offers of admission to candidates from each category will be made based on post-PI scores.
Also read IIM Fees vs Placements: Soaring cost, stagnant salaries, students in debt
The list of required documents given below has to be submitted as part of the application process.
Additionally, the submission of two reference letters is mandatory. Candidates must provide details (email ID and contact details) of two persons as referees in the online application.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.