CAT 2025: Eligibility Criteria, Pattern, Dates, Colleges & others for CAT

About CAT

• The Common Admission Test (CAT) is an all-India test conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) as an entrance exam for admission to the Post-graduate and Fellow Programs in management courses of several management institutes all over India including the IIMs.

• The CAT score is used separately by each institute along with other parameters, i.e. academic performance, work experience, group discussion, written assessment, interview performance etc. to select candidates. 
• To sit for the CAT exam, candidates must meet certain eligibility criteria, including educational qualification, age limit, minimum marks, and reservation policy.

This EduRev article, provides an in-depth overview of the eligibility requirements to help you determine your eligibility for the CAT exam. 

CAT 2025  Highlights

 Read below the key highlights of the CAT exam 2025.

 Read this EduRev article to know more about CAT Exam:
CAT Exam 2025  Handbook: Exam Date, Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Registration, Eligibility, and More

CAT 2025  Important Dates

The notification for CAT 2025  registration will be released in August. Stay updated about exam notifications, dates, and other essential information by visiting the official website

Here are some of the tentative dates of CAT 2025 :

CAT 2025  Eligibility Criteria

CAT is an entrance exam for admission to PG-level management courses. Thus, the minimum qualification required is graduation. Check the CAT 2025  eligibility criteria below: 

• In order to be eligible for CAT Exam, an aspirant must be a graduate degree holder in any stream. 
• Candidates appearing in the final year/semester of their degree program can also apply for CAT 2025 .
• The minimum percentage criteria (45% and 50% for Gen. and reserved categories, respectively) were removed from CAT eligibility.
• As for CAT Age Limit, there is no minimum/ maximum limit defined. There is also no restriction on the number of attempts.
• There are no specifications about work experience in the CAT eligibility criteria. There are no limitations in the case of experience. Therefore, both the freshers and experienced candidates can take the exam. However, some of the B-schools do consider work experience during admission.
• For ST, SC, NC-OBC, and DA candidates, if shortlisted, are required to show their original caste/class and/or disability certificate and submit a copy of the certificate at the time of the interview.

Reservation:

Note: Candidates must verify eligibility on http://www.iimcat.ac.in before applying.

CAT 2025 Exam Pattern

CAT Exam is divided into 3 sections:

• Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
• Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI)
• Quantitative Ability (QA)

The table below shows the CAT Exam pattern for 2025:

Each section has a sectional time limit of 40 minutes, and candidates are not allowed to switch between the sections. 

EduRev also provides with strategies and techniques to help prepare for the Common Admission Test (CAT). Experts have provided a step-by-step guide that will help you prepare for different sections of the exam.

Note: In case of changes in the CAT Exam Pattern, IIMs notify the candidates on their official website (https://iimcat.ac.in/). Students should visit the site for mock tests/ tutorials and the latest exam pattern. These mock tutorials will be uploaded in the month of October.

CAT Sections and Weightage

The CAT question paper has three sections. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA).
Here's the table below for the sectional distribution of questions and marks:

EduRev also provides strategies and techniques to help prepare for the Common Admission Test (CAT). Experts have provided with step by step guide which will help you to prepare for different sections of the exam.

 CAT Reservation Criteria

• As defined in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act 2016), “person with benchmark disability” means a person with not less than forty percent (40%) of a specified disability where specified disability has not been defined in measurable terms and includes a person with a disability where specified disability has been defined in measurable terms, as certified by the certifying authority.
• “Specified Disability” means the disabilities as specified in the Schedule of the RPwD Act 2016.
  The categories of disability are:
  (a) Blindness and low vision.
  (b) Deaf and hard of hearing.
  (c) Locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, and muscular dystrophy.
  (d) Autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability, and mental illness.
  (e) Multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d).
  (f) Other 'specified disabilities' mentioned in 'The Schedule' of the RPwD Act 2016.
• For the purpose of being considered for reservations, the applicable Central Government list as of the last date of CAT registration shall be binding. No subsequent changes will be effective for CAT 2019 and any subsequent selection process of the IIMs.
• The candidates should read the updated description of the selection process followed by each IIM on their respective websites. No change in the category will be entertained after CAT registration. The applicants are advised to pay attention while registering.

CAT Registration and Fee

• Candidates must register online at http://www.iimcat.ac.in from the first week of August 2025.

• Select four preferred test cities; allocation is subject to availability.

• Maintain a valid email ID and mobile number throughout the process.

• Upload scanned copies of photo, signature, and category certificates (SC/ST/PwD/EWS).

• Refer to the Step-by-Step Process article to know the registration process in detail.

Payment of CAT Registration Fee:

• Fees are non-refundable and paid once, regardless of the number of institutes applied to.

• SC/ST/PwD candidates must upload valid certificates during registration.

Candidates must declare and maintain a valid and unique email account and a mobile phone number throughout the selection process. 

 CAT Syllabus

• There is no specific syllabus for CAT 2025 . The experts have laid out the CAT syllabus 2025  based on the previous years’ exam analysis and the topics covered. While there might be a few topics that will be added to the syllabus and some topics might get omitted, the overall syllabus is likely to remain the same.

  Sections	Topics Covered
  Quantitative Aptitude	Number: Number System, Sequence, Series, and Progression Arithmetic: Averages, Simplification, Ratio and Proportion, Percentages, Profit and Loss, Speed, Time and Distance Algebra: Functions, Quadratic and Linear Equations, Inequalities, Logarithms Geometry and Mensuration: Geometry, Mensuration, Coordinate Geometry Modern Maths: Permutations and Combinations, Probability, Set Theory, Maxima and Minima, Trigonometry
  Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension	Reading Comprehension Passages, Analogies, Antonyms, Contextual Usage, Fill in the Blanks, Para Jumbles, Para Completion, Fact-Inference-Judgment, Sentence Correction, Meaning/Usage Match
  Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning	Tables, Pie Charts, Bar Graphs, Caselets, Data Sufficiency, Seating Arrangement, Blood Relations, Logical Deduction, Cause and Effect, Binary Logic, Calendars, Clocks, Cubes, Venn Diagrams

Get access to smart strategies and clear techniques designed to boost your CAT preparation. With expert guidance and a step-by-step approach, you'll be able to confidently tackle each section of the exam and improve your performance. Some useful links are listed below: 

• How to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT? 
• How to Prepare for VARC?
• How to Prepare DILR for CAT?

CAT 2025 Admit Card 

• Admit cards for the management exam will be available on the official CAT website.
• CAT Hall Ticket contains personal details and exam-related details such as the test venue and session.
• It is a provisional document and must be supported at the test centre with a valid photo ID issued by the Government of India.

 Documents Required with Admit Card

• Aadhaar Card
• Voter ID Card
• Passport
• PAN Card
• Driving License
• Photo ID issued by a current educational institute or employer, among others

CAT 2025  Result

• Scorecards will be released on http://www.iimcat.ac.in in the 1st week of January 2026.

• Candidates receive SMS notifications with their CAT percentile.

• The score is valid for one year (until December 31, 2026).

Steps to Download Scorecard:

1. Visit http://www.iimcat.ac.in.

2. Click “Download CAT Score Card.”

3. Log in with User ID and Password.

4. Download and save the scorecard.

Note: Keep the scorecard for B-school applications.

Top Colleges Under CAT

• IIMs: IIMs are the member institutes that conduct and accept CAT scores by default and do not need any Institutional registration for CAT.
• Non-IIMs: All the Non-IIMs, whether Government or Private University Departments, university-affiliated colleges, Autonomous MBA colleges, or Private PGDM colleges, have to sign the MoU to accept the CAT score and have to pay the requisite Institutional CAT Registration fee to IIMS. Presently, there are 20 IIMs.
  Other prominent B- Schools (not in any particular order) that accept CAT scores are:

  S.P. Jain Institute of Management Research	IMT Ghaziabad
  NITIE	K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research
  Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi	MICA Ahmedabad
  MDI Gurgaon	SJMSOM (IIT-Bombay)
  VGSOM (IIT Kharagpur)	Department of Management Studies (NIT Trichy)
  DMS (IIT-Delhi)	TAPMI
  IMI Delhi	XIM-B

Table: Cut off for Top IIMs

CAT Exam Preparation and Study Material

To prepare for CAT (Common Admission Test), you should focus on mastering the core concepts of all three sections Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning. 

You should also spend significant time on topic-wise tests, section-wise mock tests  & complete mock tests as CAT Exam is all about attempting the questions smartly to excel in the exam. 

Here’s a CAT Preparation table, which provides links to all the important courses & guidance documents to help you prepare for the CAT Exam in an effective way, which would save your time and effort.

EduRev offers a comprehensive package of EduRev Infinity for CAT which includes everything that an aspirant would need for CAT Preparation. All the courses in the EduRev Infinity for CAT have been curated by the mentors of toppers like Anshul Goyal (IIM L), Arijit Goswami (IIM K), Abhinav Gupta (IIM K) & others.

Frequently Asked Questions related to CAT

Question 1: Who is eligible to take the exam?

Candidates need a bachelor’s degree (no minimum marks) or must be in the final year. No age or attempt limits apply.

Question 2: I am not pursuing or completed my Bachelor’s degree or any Professional degree like CA/CS/ICWA etc., Am I eligible to appear for CAT?

Any candidate who has not completed a Bachelor’s degree or any professional degree like CA/CS/ICWA etc is not eligible to apply for CAT.

Question 3: What is the exam pattern of CAT 2025?

A 2-hour CBT with 66 questions (VARC: 24, DILR: 20, QA: 22), 40 minutes per section. Marking: +3 for correct, -1 for wrong MCQs, no negative for TITA.

Question 4: Is there any age restriction for taking the CAT exam?

No, there is no age restriction to take CAT

Question 5: I have not completed my graduation course but I am in the final year of a professional course, am I eligible for CAT?

No, only candidates who are in final year of their Bachelor’s degree are eligible to apply for CAT. Candidates in the final year of their professional degree are not allowed to apply for CAT. Moreover, any candidate applying for CAT 2025  also has to qualify the minimum percentage criteria for CAT 2025 .

Question 6: How to change details in CAT Application?

There are three ways in which you can change / edit the information that you have submitted in your CAT Exam application.
1. Change Prior to the Payment of Fees:
     a. Details you can change: Academic Details, Exam Centres, Courses Selected
     b. Details you can’t change: Name, State, Date of Birth, Email ID, Phone Number
2. Re-register for CAT Exam: For this you will need a fresh email id and phone number and would also have to repay the requisite exam fees
3. During CAT Application Correction Window: Generally, CAT Application Correction Window is announced 10 days after the last day of registration. The window stays open for three days during which candidates can change the following details
      a. Percentage of Marks entered in the application form
      b. Work experience listed in the application form
      c. Course details entered in the form
      d. Test centres