CAT 2026: Exam Date, Registration, Eligibility, Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Admit Card, Result & Cutoff
Course: MBA
CAT 2026: Everything You Need to Know Before You Sit for India's Toughest MBA Entrance Exam
If you're planning to get into an IIM or any of the top B-schools in India, CAT 2026 is probably already on your mind. And honestly, with lakhs of students competing for a limited number of seats every year, it makes sense to stay on top of every date, every rule, and every small detail. This guide brings together everything currently known about CAT 2026 in one place, so you don't have to jump between ten different websites to piece it together.
What is CAT, Exactly?
The Common Admission Test, or CAT, is the entrance exam conducted every year for admission into the MBA and PGDM programmes offered by the Indian Institutes of Management. It's not just an IIM thing anymore though — CAT scores are now accepted by all 22 IIMs, several IITs (including IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi), a number of NITs, and well over a thousand other management institutes across the country, including names like FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, and IIFT Delhi.
Each institute is free to set its own shortlisting and selection process — CAT is usually the first filter, followed by rounds like Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), or a Personal Interview (PI) depending on the college.
CAT 2026 Exam Date
This year, CAT 2026 will be held on Sunday, November 29, 2026, in the usual computer-based format, across roughly 170 cities in India. The exam is conducted in three separate slots on the same day:
- Slot 1: Morning
- Slot 2: Afternoon
- Slot 3: Evening
The exam is being conducted by IIM Indore this year, with Prof. Aditya Billore serving as the CAT 2026 Convener.
Registration Dates and Fees
Registration for CAT 2026 opened on August 3, 2026, and will stay open till September 15, 2026, 5:00 PM. If you're reading this before that deadline, there's still time — but don't leave it for the last week, since the website tends to slow down badly closer to the closing date.
Application fee:
- General / EWS / NC-OBC candidates: ₹2,700
- SC / ST / PWD candidates: ₹1,350
There's usually a short correction window after registration closes (expected in late September 2026), where you can fix your photograph, signature, or city preference — but not your personal or academic details. So double-check everything before you hit submit.
How to Register for CAT 2026
- Visit the official website — iimcat.ac.in
- Register using an active mobile number and email ID
- Fill in your academic, personal, and category details
- Upload the required documents and certificates
- Select up to five preferred test cities
- Pay the registration fee online
- Review your form carefully before final submission
- Download and save the confirmation page for your records
Once registration closes, you'll be allotted one of your preferred cities based on seat availability. If none of your chosen cities have room, you'll be assigned the nearest available one — so it helps to pick cities you're genuinely okay with.
Eligibility Criteria
CAT eligibility hasn't changed for 2026:
- A bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST/PwD candidates)
- No age limit — there's no upper or lower age restriction to appear for CAT
- Final-year undergraduate students can also apply, provided they submit proof of graduation later
Exam Pattern
The CAT exam pattern is expected to remain unchanged this year — 68 questions to be attempted in 120 minutes, split into three sections with 40 minutes fixed for each:
| Section | Duration |
|---|---|
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 40 minutes |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) | 40 minutes |
| Quantitative Ability (QA) | 40 minutes |
You can't shift extra time from one section to another, so time management within each section matters a lot.
Admit Card
The CAT 2026 admit card is expected to be released on November 4, 2026, and will remain downloadable till the exam day. You'll need your registration login details to access it. On exam day, carry a printed copy of the admit card along with a valid photo ID — no exceptions are made at the centre for this.
Result Date
The official CAT 2026 result is expected in the first week of January 2027, as per the notification. Based on how things have gone in previous years, some expect it a little earlier, sometime in the third or fourth week of December 2026 — but the safest bet is to plan around the official first-week-of-January window.
Once declared, scores can be downloaded from iimcat.ac.in using your login credentials, and they'll stay valid for admissions until December 31, 2027.
Quick Recap — CAT 2026 Key Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Official Notification | July 26, 2026 |
| Registration Opens | August 3, 2026 |
| Registration Closes | September 15, 2026 |
| Form Correction Window | Late September 2026 |
| Admit Card Release | November 4, 2026 |
| CAT 2026 Exam Date | November 29, 2026 |
| Result Declaration | First week of January 2027 |
A Few Things Worth Remembering
- Last year, around 2.95 lakh candidates registered for CAT, and about 2.58 lakh actually appeared — so competition is real, but so is the fact that a large chunk of registered candidates don't show up. Consistency in preparation matters more than panic.
- CAT is purely computer-based, so getting comfortable with the on-screen calculator, the timer display, and the answer-marking interface through mock tests is genuinely important — it's not just about knowing the concepts.
- Category certificates (NC-OBC, EWS) need to be current and issued within the specified financial year windows — check the official information bulletin carefully if this applies to you.
