Last updated: October 12, 2026
CAT Exam 2026 will be held on Sunday, November 29, 2026, in three slots. IIM Indore is conducting the exam this year. Last year (CAT 2025, held on November 30) it was IIM Kozhikode.
This page covers the full CAT 2026 schedule — registration, correction window, admit card, exam day, answer key and result dates. For eligibility criteria, exam pattern, syllabus, cut-offs, and what happens after the exam, see the complete CAT 2026 exam guide.
The CAT official notification was released on July 26, 2026. Students can check all the important dates and access the official CAT 2026 notification on the official website iimcat.ac.in.
Candidates are evaluated on their quantitative aptitude, data interpretation, logical reasoning, verbal ability, and reading comprehension in the CAT aptitude test. It is administered in computer-based test mode at specific locations throughout India.
For all the information regarding the Common Admission Test 2026, including the CAT exam date for MBA, CAT exam fees, and the release of the CAT exam 2026 registration date, CAT 2026 exam dates and time, keep reading this article.
CAT Exam Date 2026
For your information, we have compiled the table below that shows the schedule for the CAT 2026 exam dates. Memorize this schedule and begin preparing for the CAT 2026 as soon as possible.
Following the announcement of the notification on July 26, 2026, the full schedule of the CAT 2026 exam is now accessible on the website iimcat.ac.in.
The CAT 2026 last date — for registration, correction, and fee payment — has passed; here are the remaining dates.:
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CAT Exam Events
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CAT Exam Date 2026
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Status |
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CAT 2026 Notification Release
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July 26, 2026
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Done |
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Registration starts
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August 03, 2026 (10:00 AM)
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Done |
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CAT 2026 Registration deadline |
September 15, 2026 |
Extended |
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Registration Last Date (Extended)
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September 22, 2026 (05:00 PM)
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Closed |
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Registration Fee Submission Last Date |
September 24, 2026 (05:00 PM) |
Closed |
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CAT form correction Window Opening
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October 5, 10:00 AM to October 6, 5:00 PM, 2026
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Closed |
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CAT admit card 2026 Release
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November 04, 2026
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Upcoming |
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CAT 2026 exam date and day
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November 29, 2026 (Sunday)
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Upcoming |
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Provisional answer key and response sheet |
First week of December 2026 |
Expected |
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CAT Final answer key release
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Third week of December 2026
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Expected |
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Declaration of the CAT 2026 result
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Third/Fourth week of December 2026
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Expected |
CAT 2026 Exam Time : Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3 Timings
CAT 2026 will be held on Sunday, November 29, 2026, in three slots. Each slot lasts 2 hours (120 minutes), with 40 minutes allowed for each of the three sections. Timings below follow the pattern used in CAT 2025. Your own slot and reporting time are printed on your admit card.
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Slot
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Exam timing
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Duration
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Slot 1 (morning)
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8:30 AM to 10:30 AM
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2 hours
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Slot 2 (afternoon)
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12:30 PM to 2:30 PM
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2 hours
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Slot 3 (evening)
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4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
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2 hours
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Reporting and entry times: Reporting is typically about 90 minutes before the exam starts, and entry closes about 15 minutes before it starts.
Things to know about exam day
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The three slots are all held on the same day, November 29, 2026.
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Sections are timed. The screen moves to the next section automatically after 40 minutes, and you cannot go back.
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Candidates with benchmark disabilities (PwD) get extra time: 53 minutes 20 seconds per section.
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Carry a printed admit card and a valid photo ID. See our CAT admit card 2026 page for the full list.
Previous year slot timings: CAT 2025 used the same three slots (8:30 AM to 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM and 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM).
CAT Exam 2026 - Overview
The CAT exam 2026 will run for two hours in three slots. Every section of the CAT exam 2026 will have a time limit, and incorrect answers will result in a negative mark, except for TITA questions.
The following are some crucial details regarding CAT 2026 for applicants planning to take the exam.
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The CAT exam will take place in 170 cities in 2026 in 3 slots.
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The CAT exam 2026 will run for two hours.
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The convener of the CAT 2026 exam this year will be IIM Indore.
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The CAT Exam Date 2026 is scheduled to be held on November 29, 2026.
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Approximately 3.20 Lakhs applicants have registered for CAT 2026 Exam.
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Particulars
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CAT Exam Details
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CAT Full Form
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Common Admission Test (CAT)
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Level
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National
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CAT exam 2026 Administrator
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Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore
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CAT exam notification date
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July 26, 2026
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Eligibility criteria for the CAT 2026 exam
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Graduation with 50 % aggregate (45 % for SC/ST students)
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Frequency
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Once a Year
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Mode of filling the CAT 2026 application form
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Online CBT
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CAT 2026 exam marking scheme
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Negative marking of -1 mark for each wrong answer
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CAT 2026 exam fees
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INR 2,700 for the General/OBC/EWS category
INR 1,350 for SC/ST/PwD
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CAT exam 2026 syllabus
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Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
Quantitative Ability (QA)
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Number of cities
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170
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Official CAT 2026 website
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https://iimcat.ac.in
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CAT 2026 Registration Last Date: Closed on September 22
CAT 2026 registration is closed. The last date to register was extended from September 15 to September 22, 2026 (5:00 PM), as per the notice issued on September 15, 2026. Candidates who registered by September 22 could pay the application fee until September 24, 2026 (5:00 PM).
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Detail
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CAT 2026
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Registration start date
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August 3, 2026
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Original last date
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September 15, 2026
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Extended last date
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September 22, 2026, 5:00 PM
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Fee payment last date
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September 24, 2026, 5:00 PM
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Application fee
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Rs 2,700 (General / OBC / EWS); Rs 1,350 (SC / ST / PwD)
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What if you have registered? Use the correction window on October 5 and 6 to fix your photo, signature or test city preferences (details below).
What if you missed it? The CAT form is not reopened after the deadline. Many MBA colleges accept other exams, such as XAT, CMAT, MAT and ATMA, and some are still open. If you are considering an MBA in Delhi-NCR, see our MBA admissions page. For a full walkthrough of the registration process, see CAT registration 2026.
CAT 2026 Application Correction Window: October 5 to 6
IIM Indore has announced the CAT 2026 application correction (edit) window. It opens on October 5, 2026, at 10:00 AM and closes on October 6, 2026, at 5:00 PM. It is open only to candidates who have registered and paid the application fee.
What you can change: photograph, signature and test city preferences. What you cannot change: personal and academic details. The window is not a way to re-register.
How to edit your form
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Open your application and choose the option to edit it.
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Update the photo, signature or test city preferences.
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Save the application and keep a copy of the updated form.
No extension is expected after the deadline, so complete your edits well before 5:00 PM on October 6.
CAT Admit Card 2026 Release Date : November 04, 2026
The CAT 2026 admit card is scheduled for release on November 4, 2026, and can be downloaded from iimcat.ac.in until the exam day, November 29, 2026. You will need your user ID and password. The admit card shows your exam slot, reporting time and test centre.
For the download steps, documents to carry and exam-day rules, see our CAT admit card 2026 page.
CAT 2026 Answer Key Release Date
IIM Indore is expected to release the provisional answer key and response sheet in the first week of December 2026, a few days after the exam. After that, candidates get a short window to raise objections, followed by the final answer key and then the result.
CAT 2025 as a guide:
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Step
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CAT 2025 date
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Exam held
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November 30, 2025
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Provisional answer key and response sheet
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December 4, 2025
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Objection window
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December 8 to 10, 2025
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Final answer key
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December 17, 2025
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If CAT 2026 follows the same pattern, the provisional key for the November 29 exam should come around December 3 to 5, 2026.
How to check: log in to iimcat.ac.in with your CAT ID and password to view your response sheet and the answer key. The objection fee is Rs 1,500 per question and is refunded only if the objection is accepted. The final key is the basis for the result.
For slot-wise keys and the objection process, see our CAT answer key page.
CAT 2026 Result Date
The CAT 2026 result is expected in the third or fourth week of December 2026, after the final answer key. You can download your scorecard from iimcat.ac.in. The scorecard stays valid through the 2027 admission cycle. For percentile details and next steps, see CAT result 2026.
CAT 2026 Exam Pattern and Syllabus at a Glance
CAT 2026 is a computer-based test with 68 questions, 204 marks and 120 minutes, split into three timed sections. The pattern below follows CAT 2025, and no change has been announced for 2026. For the full breakdown, see our CAT exam pattern and CAT exam syllabus guides.
CAT 2026 Exam Pattern
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Feature
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Details
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Mode
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Computer-based test (CBT)
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Exam date and slots
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November 29, 2026; 3 slots
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Total duration
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120 minutes (2 hours)
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Time per section
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40 minutes each (53 minutes 20 seconds for PwD candidates)
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Sections, in order
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VARC, DILR, QA
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Total questions
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68
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Total marks
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204
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Question types
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MCQs and non-MCQs (TITA, "type in the answer")
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Language
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English
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Section-wise questions and marks (CAT 2025 pattern)
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Section
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Questions
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MCQs
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TITA
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Marks
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Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
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24
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21
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3
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72
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Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
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22
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16
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6
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66
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Quantitative Ability (QA)
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22
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14
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8
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66
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Total
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68
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51
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17
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204
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The MCQ and TITA split can vary from year to year, but the section totals have stayed steady.
Marking scheme
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+3 marks for every correct answer.
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-1 mark for every wrong MCQ answer.
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No negative marking for TITA questions.
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No marks deducted for unattempted questions.
Section timing: each section is locked at 40 minutes. When time runs out, the screen moves to the next section, and you cannot go back to a section you have finished.
CAT 2026 Syllabus
The IIMs do not publish a detailed CAT syllabus. The topics below are drawn from past papers and are expected to stay the same as in CAT 2025.
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Section
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Main topics
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VARC
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Reading comprehension (long and short passages), para jumbles, para summary, picking the odd sentence out
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DILR
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Data tables, charts and graphs, caselets, Venn diagrams, seating arrangements, team formation and scheduling, clocks and calendars, blood relations, syllogisms
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QA
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Arithmetic (percentages, ratio, time-speed-distance, time and work, profit and loss, mixtures), algebra, number system, geometry, mensuration, modern maths (permutations, combinations, probability)
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Where the marks are: VARC has the most questions (24), followed by DILR and QA with 22 each. In DILR the questions come in sets, so choosing which sets to attempt matters more than attempting everything.
CAT Exam Dates of Previous Years (2021 to 2025)
The CAT is held once a year, almost always on the last Sunday of November, and each year a different IIM conducts it by rotation.
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Year
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CAT exam date
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Conducting IIM
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CAT 2021
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November 28, 2021
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IIM Ahmedabad
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CAT 2022
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November 27, 2022
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IIM Bangalore
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CAT 2023
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November 26, 2023
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IIM Lucknow
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CAT 2024
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November 24, 2024
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IIM Calcutta
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CAT 2025
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November 30, 2025
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IIM Kozhikode
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CAT 2026
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November 29, 2026
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IIM Indore
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Which IIM Is Conducting CAT 2026?
IIM Indore is the convenor of CAT 2026. IIMs take turns conducting the exam: IIM Kozhikode conducted CAT 2025 and IIM Calcutta conducted CAT 2024 (see the table above).
How Many Candidates Registered for CAT 2026?
IIM Indore has not published an official final registration figure for CAT 2026 yet. For comparison, registrations in recent years were:
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Year
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Registered candidates
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CAT 2023
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about 3.33 lakh
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CAT 2024
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about 3.29 lakh
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CAT 2025
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about 2.95 lakh (about 2.58 lakh appeared)
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CAT 2026 |
about 3.20 lakh (Approx.) |
CAT Official Website and Login
The only official website for CAT 2026 is iimcat.ac.in, run by IIM Indore. You use it to:
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log in to your application and make corrections,
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download your admit card,
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view your response sheet and the answer key,
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download your scorecard.
Be careful with look-alike sites. The official site never asks you to pay through a third-party link or share your password.
What Happens After CAT 2026? WAT-PI and Selection Process
Getting your CAT 2026 result isn't the final step — it's the start of a separate selection round run by each IIM and B-school individually. Scoring well improves your odds, but final admission depends on this next stage too.
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Shortlisting: IIMs release their own shortlists based on your CAT percentile, category, academic profile and (for some IIMs) work experience — not on percentile alone.
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WAT-PI rounds: Shortlisted candidates are called for a Writing Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI); some institutes also hold a Group Discussion (GD).
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Final selection: Each IIM combines your CAT score, academic record, and WAT-PI performance — in its own weighted formula — to release the final merit list.
Each IIM's shortlisting criteria, WAT-PI weightage and interview process differ. For the full breakdown, see the IIM Selection Procedure section of our
complete CAT 2026 guide.
If you're also exploring MBA options in Delhi-NCR alongside your CAT attempt — including colleges that accept CAT, XAT, CMAT and MAT scores — see our
MBA admissions 2026 page.
Also read :
FAQs CAT Exam Date 2026
Q1. When is the CAT exam in 2026?
The CAT 2026 exam will be held on Sunday, November 29, 2026, in three slots. IIM Indore is the conducting institute.
Q2. What was the last date to apply for CAT 2026?
The last date to register was September 22, 2026 (5:00 PM), extended from September 15. The fee payment window ran until September 24, 2026 (5:00 PM). Registration is now closed.
Q3. What are the CAT 2026 slot timings?
Slot 1: 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM. Slot 2: 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Slot 3: 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Your slot is shown on your admit card.
Q4. When is the CAT 2026 correction window?
It opens on October 5, 2026, at 10:00 AM and closes on October 6, 2026, at 5:00 PM. You can edit your photo, signature and test city preferences.
Q5. When will the CAT 2026 admit card be released?
The admit card is scheduled for November 4, 2026, and stays available until exam day.
Q6. Which IIM is conducting CAT 2026?
IIM Indore. IIM Kozhikode conducted CAT 2025.
Q7. When will the CAT 2026 answer key be released?
It is expected in the first week of December 2026. In 2025 the provisional key came on December 4 and the final key on December 17.
Q8. When will the CAT 2026 result be declared?
It is expected in the third or fourth week of December 2026.
Q9. How many times a year is CAT held, and in which month?
Once a year, usually on the last Sunday of November.
Q10. What is the CAT 2026 application fee?
Rs 2,700 for General, OBC and EWS candidates, and Rs 1,350 for SC, ST and PwD candidates.