馃搳 Exam reference
CAT
India 路 Management, Law & Design 路 India 路 IIMs & top MBA programs
This page is Quantrion's public reference. Full exam prep and paid courses open after learners are on the platform. Reviewed October 2026. If this page and the official notice differ, the notice wins.
Official source: IIM CATCAT is the Common Admission Test for the MBA and other postgraduate management programmes at the IIMs and many other schools that accept the score. One of the IIMs conducts it each year. The result is a scaled score and a percentile. A percentile compares you with other test takers. It is not the percentage of questions you got right.
Who it is for
Graduates, and final-year students if the year's eligibility allows, who want a management programme. Each IIM and each non-IIM school sets its own shortlist. CAT does not allot a seat by itself.
How it is structured
The test has three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. There is a time limit for each section. Some questions are multiple choice with negative marking, and some are typed answers without negative marking. The information bulletin for that year is the pattern.
Topics
- Reading comprehension
- Verbal ability
- Data interpretation
- Logical reasoning
- Arithmetic, algebra, and geometry
- Section time limits and percentile
How to prepare
Take timed section tests before full mocks. Accuracy matters more than attempting every question, because multiple-choice items carry negative marks. Read the current bulletin on iimcat.ac.in for section order, duration, and eligibility, then check each institute's own shortlist rules.
Watch-outs
A coaching percentile predictor is not the IIM cutoff. Each campus can weight class X, class XII, graduation marks, and work experience differently. Register only through iimcat.ac.in.
Tell me when prep opens
Leave an email for CAT. This does not start a paid course.