CAT Exam

Common Admission Test Exam

What is CAT Exam?

CAT (Common Admission Test) - Indian Institute of Management (IIM) are considered as Indian's premier national institutes providing quality management education and research. IIMs primarily offer post graduate, Doctorial and executive education programmes. The programme of IIMs is the two-year post graduate programme. These two programmes are residdential in nature.

Admission to the two year post graduate programmes in IIMs is based on Merit and involves a rigorous selection process comprising of a Personal Interview, Written Ability Test / Group Discussions, and scores in the Common Admission Test which is commonly known as CAT.

CAT is a management aptitude test conducted by the IIMs primarily to evaluate and shortlist candidates for the post graduate programme. It is computer-based exam and candidate has to follow the due process of registering in order to appear for this exam conducted once a year.

CAT (Common Admission Test) is a national level entrance examination, which is conducted for admission to management programs in Indian Institutes of Management (IIM's) and top B-Schools across the country. It tests a candidate on his quantitative ability, data interpretation skills, verbal ability and logical reasoning.

CAT also serves as the eligibility criteria for being admitted into the business administration courses in various IIM's spread across the country. The test is designed to evaluate the management aptitude of students by testing his analytical and communication skills. It demands up to three to four months of intense preparation.

The test is open to all graduates. Usually, CAT examination will be held in November every year. CAT is conducted online at the examination centres. In August 2011, it was announced that the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian I

Institutes of Technology (IITs) would also use the CAT scores, instead of Joint Management Test (JMET).

IIMs spread across the country offer post-graduate, doctoral and executive education programmes.

The flagship programme is the two-year post-graduate programme, which is residential in nature. The admission to the two-year post-graduate programmes in IIMs is purely based on merit in the Common Admission Test (CAT).

Common Admission Test (CAT) Result 2023 released

IIM Lucknow released the CAT 2023 results on 21 December, 2023. The CAT Scorecard download link is now active onthe iimcat.aci.in website, and test takers must login to get their results.

CAT result are generally revealed in the first week of January, but the scorecards for CAT 2023 was released on were released on 21 December. IIM Lucknow followed suit and issued the CAT 2023 scorecard. Some students were able to obtain their CAT 2023 scorecards, however others were unable to enter the login window at 5:00 PM., the link to obtain the CAT Result 2023 PDF was made available to all.

14 Individials received a perfect score, and 29 received a 99.99 percentile. There are additional 29 people who have 99.98 perdentiles. This year, a total of 2.88 lakh applicants took the CAT exam.

The CAT 2023 answer key was made available on 05 December, 2023, and the session for filling objections expired on 08 December 08, 2023. If any of the complaints are judged to be genuine, the corrected solution key will be made available before or alongside the 2023 IIM CAT results.

Following the announcement of the CAT 2023 results, the admission procedure for MBA / PGDM courses in 2024 will begin. Personal Interview (PI) shortlisted will begin at IIMs in January 2024. Other MBA Programs will start their admissions and selection processes at the same time.

How to Download CAT 2023 Result?

Over 2.88 exam takers will have their CAT 2023 results announced. The following is the procedure for downloading the CAT scorecard 2023:

Step 1: Visit the CAT 2023 Official Website - iimcat.ac.in.

Step 2: Select "CAT 2023 Scorecard Download".

Step 3: Enter your CAT 2023 ID and Password here.

Step 4: Select the "Scorecard" tab.

Step 5: Download the CAT 2023 Result PDF.

Step 6: Previous Years' CAT Result Trends

Step 7: The table below shows the CAT Result declaration dates for the previous five years.

CAT Exam Highlights 

Exam name  Common Admission Test (CAT) 
Organised by  Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs)
Exam level  National 
Frequency Once a year 
Mode of exam Computer-based  
Number of IIMs 20
Application fee   Rs 2400
Application mode  Online 
Admit card mode  Online 
Duration of the exam  3 hours 
Type of questions  MCQ and Non-MCQ 
Official website www.iimcat.ac.in
Help desk number 1800-210-8720 (Toll Free)
E-mail  cat2023-helpdesk@iiml.ac.in 

CAT 2023 Registration to Start from 02 August 2023

The Common Admission Test (CAT 2023) has been announced by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow. It is accessible to candidates on the official website; iimcat.ac.in. The CAT 2023 registration period will run from August 2 at 10 a.m. to September 13 at 5 p.m. On October 25, the Exam Admit Cards will be out. The aspirants are expected to keep track of the website for further information and notification.

Steps for CAT Registration 2023:

By following the given below instructions, candidates can register themselves for the CAT 2023 Exam:

Step 1: Visit the official website of CAT 2023; iimcat.ac.in.

Step 2: On the homepage, click on, “New Candidate Registration”.

Step 3: Create your login account by entering the required credentials.  

Step 4: Fill out the application form in the prescribed format.

Step 5: Pay the fee and upload the scanned copies of the documents.

Step 6: Click on submit.

CAT 2023 Exam Dates

Candidates who are appear for the CAT Exam 2023 are advised to check all the important dates such as registration date, application date, application date, admit card date, exam date, result date and counselling date.

Event Date
CAT Notification 2023 July 31, 2023
CAT Registration  August 02 to September 15, 2023
CAT correction facility  To be announced
CAT 2023 Admit Card  25 October, 2023
CAT Exam date  26 November, 2023
CAT answer key  December, 2023 (Tentative) 
CAT result  January, 2024 (Tentative)

For more details click here

CCAT Eligibility 2023

The candidates must hold a Bachelor's Degree, with at least 50% Marks or Equivalent CGPA [45% in case of candidates, belonging to the Schedule Caste (SC), Scheduled Test (ST) and Persons with Disability (PwD) Categories], awarded by any University or educational institution as incorporated by an Act Parliament or State Legistature in India or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, or posses an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD. Government of India. Candidates are advised to check the CAT eligibility details meticulously before applying online.

The percentage of marks obtained by the candidate would be calculated based on the practice of marks would be based on proceduresas certified by the respective University / Institution. If any University / Institution confirms that there is no scheme for converting CGPA into equivalent marks, the equivalence would be established by dividing the candidate's CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA, and multiplying the result with 100.

Candidates appearing for the final year of Bachelor's degree / equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting results can also apply.

However, it is may be noted that such candidates, if selected, will be allowed to join the programme provisionally, only if they submit a certificate from the Principle / Registrar of their University / Institution (Issued on or before the date as stipulated by the respective IIM) stating that they have completed all the requirements for obtaining the Bachelor's degree / equivalent qualification on the date of the issue of the certificate. IIMs may verify eligibility at various stages of the selection process.

Courses In IIMs Through CAT 

The CAT examination is conducted for admission to several Post Graduate Programmes (PGP), Doctoral and Executive programmes in IIMs spread across the country. Some institutes even offer Fellowship Programmes in Management (FPM) which is equal to PhD. List of courses offered in IIMs. 

  • PGP (Post Graduate Program in Management)
  • PGP- FABM (Food and Agribusiness Management)
  • PGPEM (PGP in Enterprise Management)
  • PGPPM (PGP in Public Policy and Management)
  • EPGP (Executive Post Graduate Program in Management)
  • PGPSM (PGP in Sustainable Management)
  • PGPWE (PGP in Management for Working Executive)
  • PGPBM (PGP in Business Management)
  • FPM (Fellow Program in Management)

List Of IIMs In India 

There are a total of 20 IIMs across the country. Explore the complete list of IIMs with the year of establishment and state located.

S.No. Name of the Institute State Located Year Of Establishment
1. IIM Ahmedabad Gujarat 1961
2. IIM Amritsar Punjab 2015
3. IIM Bangalore Karnataka 1973
4. IIM Bodh Gaya 2015 2015
5. IIM Calcutta West Bengal 1961
6. IIM Indore Madhya Pradesh 1996
7. IIM Jammu Jammu & Kashmir 2016
8. IIM Kashipur Uttarakhand 2011
9. IIM Kozhikode Kerala 1996
10. IIM Lucknow Uttar Pradesh 1984
11. IIM Nagpur Maharashtra 2015
12. IIM Raipur Chhattisgarh 2010
13. IIM Ranchi Jharkhand 2010
14. IIM Rohtak Haryana 2010
15. IIM Sambalpur Odisha 2015
16. IIM Shillong Meghalaya 2007
17. IIM Sirmaur Himachal Pradesh 2015
18. IIM Tiruchirappalli Tamil Nadu 2011
19. IIM Udaipur Rajasthan 2011
20. IIM Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh 2015

CAT Registration 2023

Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national level MBA Entrance Examination and it is conducted yearly once for admission to MBA / PGP Courses offered by IIMS - Indian Institute of Management and other B-Schools accepting CAT Scores.

Candidates who are aiming to appear for the CAT entrance test should submit the registration form successfully. The CAT 2023 registration window opens at 10.00 AM on 02 August, 2023 and will close at 5.00 PM on 13 September, 2023.

At the time of registration, candidates have to select any siz cities as per their preference from the drop-down menu. After the last date of registration, candidates will be allotted one among the six preferred cities subject of availability. In the rare case that a candidate is not allotted any of the preferred cities, he / she will be allotted a nerby city. The candidates can download the admit cards from 25 October, 2023 until 26 November, 2023. Explore the CAT registration process step by step. 

Note: All the candidates must declare and maintain a valid and unique email id and a mobile phone number throughout the selection process.

CAT Application Fee 2023

Candidates have to pay the prescribed application fee to complete the CAT registration process. The application fee can be paid through net banking, debit card, credit card, BillDesk, PayU and Paytm.

No change in the category will be entertained after CAT Registration. The applicants are advised to pay attention while registering.

  • For General Category Candidates – Rs 2400/-
  • For NC - OBC Category Candidates – Rs 2400/-
  • For SC/ST/PwD Category Candidates – Rs 1200/- 
  • For All Others – Rs 2400/-

Please note that a candidate needs to pay the registration fee only once, irrespective of the number of Institutes he / she is applying for. SC / ST and PwD candidates must upload of their SC / ST / PwD certificates at the time of registration. Fees once paid cannot be refunded under any circumstances.

CAT Reservation Criteria 2023

As per the legal requirements, 15% of the seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) Candidates, 7.5% for Schedule Tribe (ST) Candidates, 27% for Other Backward Classes candidates belonging to the "Non-Creamy" Layer (NC-OBC), up to 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidates and 5% for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwD).

As defined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act 2016), "Person with Benchmark Disability" means a persons with not less than forty percent (40%) of a specified disability where the specified disability has not been defined in measurable terms and includes a person with disability where the specified disability has been defined in measurable terms, as certified by the certifying authority. "Sepcified disability" means the disabilities as specified in the Schedule of the RPwD Act 2016. The Categories of disability are:

  • Blindness and low vision
  • Deaf and hard of hearing,
  • Locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy
  • Autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness, and
  • Multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d)
  • Other 'specified disabilities' mentioned in 'The Schedule' of the RPwD Act 2016

CAT Test Centres

The CAT 2023 test is going to be conducted in centres spread across around 155 test cities. Test cities will be mentioned below and the name of the test centre will be indicated in the Admit Card. IIMs reserve the right to change or cancel any test centre/city/change the test time and date at their own discretion. 

State Test Cities
Andaman & Nicobar Islands Port Blair
Andhra Pradesh Guntur, Kakinada, Kurnool, Nellore, Rajahmundry,  Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam
Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar
Assam Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Silchar
Bihar Aurangabad, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Purnea
Chandigarh Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh Bhilai, Raipur
Delhi Delhi, New Delhi
Goa Madgaon, Verna
Gujarat Ahmedabad, Anand, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara
Haryana Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Palwal, Panipath, Rohtak, Sonipat
Himachal Pradesh Shimla
Jammu & Kashmir Jammu
Jharkhand Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Ranchi
Karnataka Belgaum, Bengaluru, Bidar, Chikkaballapur, Davanagere, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Ramnagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi
Kerala Kasaragod, Kochi, Kollam, Kozhikode, Malappuram,  Thrissur, Trivandrum
Madhya Pradesh Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Sagar
Maharashtra Ahmednagar, Amravati, Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Kolhapur,  Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded,  Nashik, Pune, Ratnagiri, Satara, Solapur, Thane
Meghalaya Shillong
Odisha Balasore, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Rourkela
Puducherry Puducherry
Punjab Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar,  Ludhiana, Mohali, Pathankot, Patiala, Ropar, Sangrur
Rajasthan Ajmer, Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Sikar, Udaipur
Tamil Nadu Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Namakkal, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelvelli
Telangana Hyderabad, Karim Nagar, Khammam
Uttar Pradesh Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Meerut, Noida, Varanasi
Uttarakhand Dehradun, Roorkee
West Bengal Asansol, Burdwan, Durgapur, Hooghly, Howrah, Kalyani, Kolkata, Siliguri

CAT Exam Pattern 

CAT 2023 Exam Pattern will remain the same as the last year's CAT Paper Pattern.

CAT 2023 exam will be conducted in online mode likely on 26 November, 2023. CAT is a computer-based test carrying a total of 100 questions. It contains both multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and non-MCQ questions. The duration of the exam is three hours. Candidates can fill the registration form of CAT 2023 from 02 August, 2023 to 13 September, 2023. Check the complete details of the CAT exam pattern here.

Name of Section  No of Questions  Duration 
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) 24 40 minutes 
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) 20 40 minutes 
Quantitative Ability (QA) 22 40 minutes 
Total 66 120 minutes 

CAT Admit Card 2023

The organising institute is responsible for issuing the CAT admit card. The online CAT admit card will be released from 25 October to 26  November, 2023. Candidates should download the admit card and check all the details such as personal and test venue details besides exam day guidelines. One should also save the soft copy of the admit card until the end of the admission process. According to the sources, the CAT admit card 2023 will be released on 25 October, 2023 Check the steps to download CAT admit card online. 

CAT Syllabus 

The CAT exam consists of three subjects namely, Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC). The syllabus remains the same for every year despite the changes in the number of questions. We advise students to check the CAT syllabus before preparation that gives an overall view of weightage topics. Download the CAT syllabus pdf file here. 

CAT Question Papers 

The previous year question papers and sample papers help aspirants in preparation.

One should start their CAT preparation by solving these papers. Aspirants can download CAT question papers here. 

CAT Result 2023 Declaration

IIM Lucknow will declare CAT 2023 results. The CAT Result 2023 will be declared in the second week of January 2024 on the CAT official website - iimcat.ac.in.

CAT Exam Analysis 2023

The CAT 2023 examination will be held across the country on 26 November, 2023. The results of the examination were released in the second week of January, 2024. The competition in this examination will not be easy because this is the only way to get admission to the pioneer management institutes (IIMs) in the country besides top business schools. 

Candidates can appeare for the CAT 2023 examination at more than 150 test centres. The examination was held in two sessions – morning and evening. Aspirants who have appeared for the examination found that the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) section was tough. While other sections such as Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Aptitude (QA) were moderate compared to last year. 

Verbal Ability And Reading Comprehension (VARC)

VARC : 4 RC Passages with 18 MCQs; VA 8 Non-MCQs are subdivided into Para Summaries, Para Jumbles & Context Sentences.

This section was a little bit tough to many test-takers. The pattern of the paper was different from the sample paper provided by the CAT organising body. The paragraphs in the reading comprehension consisted of around 500 words. For every passage, the candidates found 1-2 inference-based questions. In verbal ability, test takers have found four questions on para-jumbled, three questions on summary and three questions on odd sentence out.  

Data Interpretation And Logical Reasoning (DILR)

DILR : Data Interpretation : 14 Questions, Logical Reasoning : 10 Questions, All in sets of 6 & 4 Questions.

The DILR section surprised the candidates. The questions were easily cracked and there was an increase in the accuracy level. Very few sets had one difficult question. The logical reasoning sets were moderate to easy. However, the data interpretation questions were moderate. Many found that the questions on matrix adjacent cells, committees research/teaching/economist and petrol pumps were easy to do. 

Quantitative Ability (QA)

QA : High on Arithmetic, Geometry, Log, Algebra, Roots, etc.

The options in the MCQ were confusing to many test-takers. The number system and logarithm questions had two questions each. However, the question paper was dominated by arithmetic and geometry. 

A candidate who has attempted more than 60 out of 100 questions accurately can expect a good score. The good attempt for VARC and DILR is more than 24 and 16, respectively. However, a good attempt for quantitative aptitude is more than 20 questions. 

CAT 2023 SCORE

Candidate's CAT 2023 Scorecards will be made accessible on the CAT Website. Candidates may also be intimated individual on SMS. The CAT Results are likely to be declared by the second week of January, 2024. The CAT 2023 score is valid only till 31 December, 2024 and will be accordingly be accessible on the website. Thereafter, no quires related to the issuance of CAT 2023 Score cards will be entertained.

Notifications

CAT 2023 Admit Card revised date has been released

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow has released the revised date for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2023 Admit Card. CAT 2023 Admit Card 2023 will be issued on online mode. CAT Admit Card 2023 will release on 07 November, 2023 instead of 25 October, 2023.

19 October 2023
Common Admission Test (CAT) 2023 Registration Begins on 02 August, 2023.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow has announced the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2023.

CAT 2023 Registration Period will begin from 02 August, 2023 at 10.00 AM and end up on 13 September, 2023 at 5:00 PM. The CAT Admit Card will be issued on 25 October, 2023. Candidates who are interested can check & register on the official website - iimcat.ac.in.

31 July 2023
CAT 2022 Answer Key released on the official website

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) has released the Answer Kesys for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2022 on the official website.

Candidates who have appeared for the CAT 2022 Examination, can check & download their answer keys on the official website - iimcat.ac.in.

1 December 2022
CAT 2022 Admit Card will be released on 27 October, 2022.

Indian Institute of Management, IIM Bangalore is going to release the CAT Admit Card 2022 on 27 October, 2022 (Thursday).

Candidates who are interested for the CAT Exam 2022 can download their admit card from the official website - iimcat.ac.in.

CAT Exam 2022 is going to be conducted on 27 November, 2022.

26 October 2022
IIM CAT 2022 Admit Card to be released

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) has released the schedule that Common Admission Test (CAT) Exam will be held in November, 2022.

The CAT Exam will be conducted on 27 November, 2022 and admit cards will be released on 27 October, 2022 at 5:00 PM on the offiical website - iimcat.ac.in.

Candidates who are going appear for CAT Examination and download their admit card on offiical website - iimcat.ac.in.

17 October 2022
IIM Bangalore to close CAT 2022 Registration today
CAT 2022 Registration will end on 21 September, 2022
CAT 2022: IIM Bangalore to closd CAT registration tomorrow
IIM Bangalore will close CAT 2022 Registration on 14 September, 2022.
CAT Exam 2022 : How to prepare, Daily Schedule.
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