CAT 2025: Exam Date, Registration, Eligibility, Syllabus, and More

CAT entrance exam is conducted every year and CAT exam 2025 will be held across 170 cities in India. The exam will be conducted in three sessions on 24^th November 2025 (Tentatively). Possibly the CAT 2025 exam will be conducted by IIM Kozhikode. Candidates who wish to take admission in MBA program in 2026 must appear for the CAT 2025 exam. Check all the details about the exam below:

The Common Admission Test, popularly known as CAT is conducted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcultta. It is a computer-based test conducted for aspirants who want admission in management programs of IIM Institutes at different locations across India and for other top management institutes. The CAT is an National Level Management Aptitude Test which is conducted once in a year for admission in management courses like MBA, PGDM, etc. in prestigious institutes.

Here are the Highlights of CAT 2025 candidates need to know:

MBA CAT exam date 2025 along with all other important dates for candidates are listed in the table below:

Before the candidates process for the registration, they must check if they are eligible for the test or not. The CAT Exam Eligibility criteria is given below:

• 50% aggregate marks (45% for SC, ST, and PwD category candidates) or an equivalent CGPA in the bachelor’s degree required from a recognised university.
• Aspirants who have completed degrees like CA / CS / ICWA can also apply for the exam; they need to ensure that they meet the basic percentage criteria.
• There is no age limit to be eligible for the exam which means candidates at any age can apply for IIM entrance exam (CAT).

* Candidates in the final year of graduation or awaiting results are also eligible to apply. They would get provisional admission only after submitting a certificate from the Registrar/Principal of the Institute / University.

* Candidates with prior work experience are preferred during admissions in IIM. However, students with no prior work experience are also eligible to apply for CAT.

Candidates who are eligible to apply for CAT Exam 2025 can process for registration. The candidates can complete their CAT registration 2025 from 1^st August 2025 - 20^th September 2025.

CAT 2025 exam will be conducted on 24^th November 2025. Candidates can complete their CAT 2025 application form with the process given below:

• Visit the official website: iimcat.ac.in.
• Look for the ‘new candidate registration’ option.
• Enter the required details like candidate’s name, date of birth, contact number, email ID, nationality, etc.
• Fill the CAPTCHA code as shown on the screen.
• You will receive an OTP for verification on your contact number.
• Your login credentials will be shared on your registered e-mail. Log in using the same.
• Fill in all the required personal and educational details.
• Upload the required documents including the candidate's passport size photograph and scanned signature.
• Select the preferred institute, course, and the test centre.
• Pay the CAT application / registration fee via your preferred payment mode.

Ensuring that the candidates fit within the CAT eligibility criteria and completing the exam registration, they can check out the syllabus for the exam. Students must have proper understanding about the CAT syllabus 2025 to prepare for the exam.

To get an idea about sections which will be included along with the important topics, check the below listed CAT exam 2025 syllabus:

• VARC - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
  • Para Jumbles
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Para Summary
  • Odd Sentence Out
• DILR - Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
  • Puzzles with Additional Data
  • Set Theory (Variables)
  • Set Theory + Puzzles
  • Coding-Decoding
  • Series
• QA - Quantitative Aptitude
  • Arithmetic
  • Number System
  • Mensuration
  • Algebra
  • Geometry

The full syllabus of CAT is available in a PDF format from where candidates can find all the detailed topics included in each section. CAT Syllabus PDF can be downloaded to prepare well for the exam.

The CAT exam pattern 2025 includes three sections including Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). There will be both MCQs and Non-MCQ questions included in the exam.

The candidates can check the table given below for the necessary highlights of CAT exam pattern including all three sections:

To appear for CAT 2025, the candidates will need a valid Admit Card. Once the registration for the exam is successfully done and the slot is booked, the candidates can download their Admit Card.

Candidates must note that the CAT 2025 Admit Card is issued only through online mode. Below listed process need to be followed to download the admit card for the exam:

• Visit the official website: iimcat.ac.in
• Navigate the ‘Login’ tab and enter required credentials.
• Look for the ‘Admit Card’ section and click on Download.

While completing CAT exam 2025 registration, selecting the preferred test centre is a crucial step for candidates. They must know the available centres across the country and choose one nearby home for which travelling is convenient for them.

Check the below-listed state-wise exam centres for CAT exam for mba across India:

CAT is a National level exam; candidates must prepare hard to crack the exam to get admission either in IIM or any other top management institute accepting the CAT entrance exam score. Below-listed are some CAT preparation tips for candidates:

• Go through the whole CAT exam syllabus and make a study plan accordingly.
• Understand the concepts, list down your doubts and manage time to resolve all of them.
• Identify the strengths & weaknesses; prepare strong topics and then try to give time to the weak areas.
• Manage time well and prepare section-wise to ensure that any topic is not missed out.
• It is advised to practise with CAT exam Sample Question papers and practise CAT mock tests.
• Don’t forget to revise regularly so that concepts become clear with time and there will be no scope for confusion.
• Review yourself to enhance the quality of preparation for the CAT 2025 exam.

Candidates must follow the CAT guidelines on the main CAT exam date 2025. If any student fails to do so, strict actions can be taken by the authorities. Check the CAT exam guidelines listed below:

• Do not bring any kind of prohibited items on the exam day such as food or beverages, any electronic devices, etc.
• Bring your CAT Admit Card 2025 and a Photo ID issued by the government for verification purposes.
• Bring the medical certificate and other needed documents if the application is under the PwD Quota.
• Follow the dress code and safety rules prescribed by the authorities.
• Complete your test within the allotted time and do not leave the exam hall in between.
• Arrive early; do not be late in any case otherwise you may not get the entry inside the centre.

Sample papers or model question papers are basically the CAT previous year question paper with which candidates can get an idea about the CAT Exam Pattern, the type of questions, marking criteria, etc. Previous year's CAT exam question paper help the candidates make their preparation strong and minimise the chances of errors.

It is important to solve previous year’s question papers and practise with these because the chances are high that current year's paper will be more or less based on past year’s CAT question paper. While checking the old papers, candidates will find out that there are questions from three sections including VARC, DILR, and QA. Candidates have the time frame of 120 minutes to solve the MCQ and Non-MCQ based questions. It is better for the candidates to prepare by solving the past year model papers by setting the given time limit. It will help them analyse where they need to speed up and if they are able to solve the paper within 120 minutes.

The previous year papers are curated in a PDF with the previous year questions, the section-wise solutions, etc. Candidates can click this link to download CAT exam Model Question Papers PDF.

Many aspirants appear for the CAT exam every year which makes it tough for students to rank high. Mock Tests are designed to help the candidates make their chances of clearing the exam with the highest percentile. CAT 2025 Mock Test will be released by the authorities on the official website approximately a week prior to issuing the CAT Admit Card. To access the Mock Tests, candidates need to Login on the official website; these practice tests can be accessed from home.

It is advised to the candidates to appear for CAT Mock Tests / Practice Tests so that they can check whether they need to improve. There are three sections in the CAT 2025 Syllabus, so with the help of mock tests, students get to know for which section they are performing their best and where they are lacking. The CAT Mock Test will have a similar pattern as per the actual CAT 2025 exam.

Every year, for the CAT exam, each IIM Institute releases their Cut-Off Scores. The cut-off is a score benchmark (minimum marks) Institutes set for the students to achieve in order to take admissions in respective programs like MBA or PGDM.

Before processing further after appearing for CAT 2025 exam, candidates must check the Cut-off list released by individual IIM Institutes in order to get an Idea how much they need to score. After checking the CAT 2025 cut-off, it is advised to check the whole selection process as every management institute has their own criteria for admissions.

The CAT 2025 Result will be declared on 19th December 2025 by the exam conducting body i.e., IIM Calcutta. Candidates are required to visit the exam’s official website that is “iimcat.ac.in” to check their CAT result 2025. As every year results, the CAT exam result will be in percentile format. Candidates will get section-wise and overall percentile on their scorecard. 

To check the results and download the scorecard, below listed steps need to be followed:

• Log in on the official website i.e.,“iimcat.ac.in”.
• Navigate the tab: 'CAT 2025 result/scorecard'.
• Click on ‘Download’ within the scorecard section.
• Save the CAT Scorecard PDF for further use.

After the CAT exam which will be conducted on 24^th November 2025, the answer key will be released on the official website. It will be uploaded after 3-4 days of the CAT 2025 exam date.

The authorities also provide an option to raise an objection regarding the answer key if any candidate finds errors in it. In such a case, candidates can fill an online form through the objection window which remains open for 3-4 days when the answer key is uploaded on the official website. If the authorities find any objections, the answer key will be reviewed and revised.

To download the answer key, candidates need to follow the below-listed steps:

• Visit the official website of CAT and login with accurate credentials.
• Look for the ‘CAT 2025 Answer Key’ option.
• Download the answer key and the students can save it as a PDF.

Every management college or institute may have their unique process for selection of candidates after declaration of CAT exam results. One of the top management institutes, IIM, makes selection for their MBA programs through CAT scores. This is not the only criteria but it is a crucial one. After clearing the CAT exam, students need to pass the written ability tests conducted by the Institute and their PI round.

For regular MBA programs in most of the IIM Institutes, the admission process would include the below listed steps:

• Candidates will be shortlisted on the basis of their CAT scores.
• After that, WAT will be conducted which the students need to clear.
• Personal Interview will be conducted which needs to be passed.
• Final selection will be offered to the students.

There are various institutes accepting CAT scores for admissions in their MBA or other management programs as per their admission criteria. The list of IIMs accepting CAT 2025 exam scores with approximate number of available seats is given below:

There are various other Participating Institutes of CAT 2025 apart from IIMs. Some of the other top MBA colleges accepting CAT as an entrance test are listed below:

• Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB)
• SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai
• Jagran Institute of Management Studies (JIMS)
• K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai
• Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
• T.A. Pai Management Institute - TAPMI Manipal
• Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad
• National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, Hyderabad
• MNNIT - Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad
• Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
• Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Business Management, Kolkata

Check: Colleges Accepting CAT