CAT21 October 20266 min read
CAT Full Form, and Which IIM Actually Conducts It
CAT stands for Common Admission Test. See why a different IIM runs it each year, what that does to the paper, and how the 68 question structure is scored.
Key takeaways
- CAT stands for the Common Admission Test, the entrance exam for the IIMs and for more than a thousand other business schools.
- IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2026. The organising IIM changes between cycles.
- The paper has three sections in a fixed order: VARC, then DILR, then QA, with 40 minutes each and no switching.
- Recent papers have carried 68 questions for 204 marks, with 3 marks for a correct answer and 1 deducted for a wrong MCQ.
- TITA questions carry no negative marking, which changes how you should treat them.
- Your result is a percentile, not a mark, calculated against everyone who sat the exam in all slots.
- There is no age limit and no attempt limit. A bachelor degree with the required percentage is the only eligibility bar.
What CAT stands for
Common Admission Test. The Indian Institutes of Management run it jointly, once a year, usually on a Sunday in late November.
Common is the operative word. Before CAT, each institute tested applicants separately. Today one score is read by all the IIMs and by over a thousand other business schools across India, which is why a single November morning carries so much weight.
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Which IIM conducts it, and why that question matters
The conducting IIM rotates. Responsibility passes between the older institutes, and the IIM in charge is announced several months before the exam, usually around July or August when registrations open. IIM Kozhikode ran the 2025 edition. IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2026; see the official CAT 2026 advertisement.
This is more than trivia. The conducting IIM has latitude over the paper, and uses it. Question counts, the split between MCQ and non-MCQ, the balance inside DILR and the overall difficulty have all moved between cycles because a different institute was setting the paper.
| Cycle | Total questions | Duration | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 onwards | 100 | 180 minutes | Three fixed sections introduced |
| 2020 | 76 | 120 minutes | Shortened during the pandemic |
| 2021 to 2023 | Around 66 | 120 minutes | Shorter format retained |
| Recent cycles | 68 | 120 minutes | VARC 24, DILR 22, QA 22 |
Never treat a question count as a fixed rule. The IIMs do not commit to the structure in advance, and the shape you practised against in September may not be the shape you sit in November. The three sections and their fixed order were introduced in 2015. The 40 minute sectional limit belongs to the shorter format introduced in 2020.
How the paper is built
| Section | Questions | Minutes | Maximum marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension | 24 | 40 | 72 |
| Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning | 22 | 40 | 66 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 22 | 40 | 66 |
| Total | 68 | 120 | 204 |
The order is fixed and you cannot move between sections. When the 40 minutes on VARC end, VARC closes, whatever you had left. A strong quantitative candidate cannot borrow time from the section they find easy, which is the single biggest structural difference between CAT and most exams candidates have sat before.
The marking scheme, and the question type that changes your strategy
Every question is worth 3 marks. A wrong multiple choice answer costs you 1 mark. Questions left blank cost nothing.
Then there are TITA questions, short for type in the answer, where you key in the response rather than picking an option. TITA questions carry no negative marking at all.
Work out what that does. On an MCQ, a blind guess has a one in four chance of gaining 3 and a three in four chance of losing 1, which is roughly break even and not worth the clock. On a TITA question, a guess costs nothing and can only gain, so there is no reason to ever leave one blank. Candidates who do not separate the two types in their head give away marks on one side and waste time on the other.
Why your score is a percentile
CAT results do not arrive as a mark out of 204. They arrive as a percentile, calculated after the raw scores from every slot have been scaled to account for differences in difficulty between them.
A 99 percentile means you finished ahead of 99 per cent of everyone who sat the exam, and the raw score behind that number moves every year with the difficulty of the paper. This is why asking how many marks you need for 99 percentile has no fixed answer, and why anyone quoting one with confidence is guessing. You also receive a percentile for each section separately, and most IIMs set sectional cutoffs alongside the overall one.
Who can apply
A bachelor degree with at least 50 per cent marks, or 45 per cent for SC, ST and PwD candidates. Final year students can apply on the usual condition of producing results by a deadline.
There is no age limit and no cap on attempts. Candidates in their thirties sit CAT, and repeat attempts are common and carry no penalty. The exam itself is open in a way that the admission process afterwards, with its weighting on academic record and work experience, sometimes is not.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the full form of CAT?
Common Admission Test. It is the entrance exam for the Indian Institutes of Management and is accepted by over a thousand other business schools in India.
Which IIM conducts CAT?
IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2026. The organising institute changes between cycles; check the official CAT website for the cycle you are applying to.
How many questions are there in CAT?
Recent papers have had 68 questions across three sections. The IIMs do not guarantee the count in advance, and it has ranged from 66 to 100 in the last decade.
Is there negative marking in CAT?
Yes, 1 mark for a wrong multiple choice answer against 3 for a correct one. Type in the answer questions carry no negative marking.
Is there an age limit for CAT?
No. There is no age limit and no restriction on the number of attempts. The degree threshold is 50 per cent, or 45 per cent for SC, ST and PwD candidates. Final year students may apply subject to the stated conditions.
Disclaimer: The CAT paper structure, question count and conducting institute are decided by the IIMs for each cycle and have changed several times. The details above reflect recent cycles and are given for general guidance. Always confirm against the official announcement on iimcat.ac.in.