CAT Eligibility Criteria 2025: Age Limit & Reservation Criteria for General, SC/ST/PwD
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25
Applying for CAT 2025? Check here latest CAT exam eligibility criteria is graduation or equivalent degree in any stream from a recognised university. Candidates with other professional qualifications can also appear for the national level MBA entrance exam conducted by the IIMs. Get all the information related to eligibility criteria of CAT 2025 exam below.
CAT exam eligibility criteria 2025 has been prescribed by the IIMs in line with AICTE guidelines for PG education. Common Admission Test or CAT is conducted for admission to MBA/PGDM programmes offered by IIMs and over 1,300 other B-schools in India. Since MBA is a post graduation programme, the basic CAT eligibility criteria is graduation or an equivalent degree, i.e. every CAT aspirant must have completed graduation or be in the final year of the degree course. The minimum marks criteria apply to both Reserved and Unreserved category students and the aggregate percent is different for both categories.
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CAT exam 2025 registrations started from August 1, 2025 and the last date to apply is September 20, 2025. Candidates interested in appearing in CAT exam 2025 must know the minimum requirement to be eligible for the exam, before filling the application form. Detailed CAT exam eligibility criteria 2025 has been shared below in detail. Check here who can give CAT exam?
- CAT Exam Eligibility 2025 - Graduation Marks
- CAT Eligibility Criteria: General and NC-OBC Candidates
- CAT Eligibility Criteria for SC, ST and PwD Candidates
- CAT Exam Eligibility Criteria 2025: Equivalent Degrees
- CAT Age Limit
- Who is Not Eligible to Apply for the CAT Exam 2025?
- Difference between IIM Eligibility and CAT Eligibility Criteria
- CAT Reservation Criteria 2025
CAT Exam Eligibility 2025 - Graduation Marks
Check below, the CAT exam eligibility criteria and minimum marks required for General and Reserved category students:
| Academic Qualification for CAT | Affiliation Required | Pass Percentage Required |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering Degree – BTech/ BE | Recognized by MHRD/AICTE * | 50% for General/EWS/NC-OBC & 45% for SC, ST, PwD candidates |
| Bachelor’s Degree in any stream from any University | Recognized by UGC | 50% for General/EWS/NC-OBC & 45% for SC, ST, PwD candidates |
| Students in their final year of Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) are also eligible to take CAT exam | Continuing graduation from University Recognized by MHRD/AICTE or UGC | 50% for General/EWS/NC-OBC & 45% for SC, ST, PwD candidates |
| (CA/CS/ICWA/Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India (FIAI) |
Certification granting organisation | 50% for General/EWS/NC-OBC & 45% for SC, ST, PwD candidates |
Candidates who have post graduation degree can mention their PG qualification in the CAT form 2025. It is optional to fill PG details. However, mentioning PG qualification can be beneficial for students at the time of PI and admission shortlisting. Similarly, the option of mentioning professional degrees or additional degrees is also there in the CAT 2025 application form.
CAT Eligibility Criteria: General and NC-OBC Candidates
- Candidates must hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent from a university or educational institution recognized by the Government of India
- Candidates must have scored minimum 50 per cent aggregate in graduation (or equivalent) in any stream
- Candidates must be in their final year of graduation or awaiting result
- Candidates must have professional degrees like CA/CS/ICWA with minimum 50 per cent aggregate
CAT Eligibility Criteria for SC, ST and PwD Candidates
- Candidates belonging to SC/ST/PwD categories must have scored minimum 45 per cent aggregate in graduation (or equivalent) in any stream
- Candidates must be in their final year of graduation or awaiting result
- Candidates must have professional degrees like CA/CS/ICWA with minimum 45 per cent aggregate are also eligible to apply
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CAT Exam Eligibility Criteria 2025: Equivalent Degrees
- In case the marking scheme of any candidate’s bachelor’s degree is in grades or CGPA, percentage of marks would be calculated on the basis of practice as followed by the respective University/Institution.
- If any University/Institution confirms that they do not follow any scheme for converting CGPA into marks, the calculation will be done by dividing the candidate’s CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA, and multiplying the result with 100.
CAT Age Limit
There is no age limit to appear for CAT exam. Candidates can be as young as 20 years old or 40 years old. The PG level entrance exam and accepted for several Executive MBA, PhD and FPM programmes too, thus is open for both fresh graduates and working professionals (at any stage of their career).
Who is Not Eligible to Apply for the CAT Exam 2025?
Given below are six situations under which a candidate is not eligible to apply for CAT exam 2025.
- If the candidate has not scored 50 per cent in graduation (45 per cent for SC/ST/PwD candidates)
- Candidates who don’t have either a bachelor’s degree or any equivalent degree like CA/CS/ICWA
- Candidates whose two years average in bachelor's degree does not make up 50 per cent (45 per cent or SC/ST/PwD candidates)
- Candidates who are not in the final year of their bachelor’s degree programme
- Candidates who are pursuing (not completed) professional degree like CA/CS/ICWA
- If the candidates' bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) is not recognized by UGC/AICTE/MHRD-Govt
Difference between IIM Eligibility and CAT Eligibility Criteria
The basic academic eligibility criteria of CAT and IIM are same. However, while to appear in CAT exam, one has to fulfill mainly academic criteria which is graduation, to be eligible for admission to the IIMs, one has to meet the CAT cut off percentile.
Also read: IIM Shortlist, Selection and Admission Criteria
CAT Reservation Criteria 2025
There is no reservation criteria for CAT exam apart from 5 per cent relaxation of marks in graduation for SC/ST/PwD candidates. However, the IIMs follows reservation criteria fixed by the Government of India. Take a look at the table below for percentage of seats reserved for SC, ST and NC-OBC candidates:
| Categories |
Percentage of Seats Reserved in IIMs and other MBA colleges |
|---|---|
| SC |
15% |
| ST |
7.5% |
| NC-OBC |
27% |
| PwD |
5% |
What is the meaning of Person with Benchmark Disability (PwD) in CAT?
Persons with benchmark disability means a person with not less than 40 per cent of a specified disability as specified in the Schedule of the RPwD Act 2016. Given below are disabilities that fall under CAT’s PwD category:
- 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
- Multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d)
- Other 'specified disabilities' mentioned in 'The Schedule' of the RPwD Act 2016
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There is no age limit to appear for CAT. The CAT exam is open for fresh graduates as well as working professionals. Since CAT is accepted by over 1300 B-schools across India for their full-time as well as executive MBA or online professional courses, a lot of working professionals appear for the CAT to pursue such courses. CAT score is accepted by Iims for full time MBA, executive MBA and FPM programmes.
Other top MBA colleges in India also shortlist candidates for executive MBA or part-time MBA on the basis of CAT score. The minimum age limit for has to be 20 years as the minimum qualification for CAT exam graduation. Any candidate who has completed Graduation with 50 per cent aggregate (45 per cent for SC/ST candidates).
Any candidate in final year of Bachelor's degree course can appear in CAT exam. Any candidate having a professional degree like CA/CS/ICWAI with a minimum of 50 per cent in aggregate.
CAT score is valid for one year at the IIMs and top B-Schools. In some tier 3 and government institutions, CAT score of previous two years are also acceptable. Many B-schools including IIMs have an option of deferment of admission, wherein you can confirm your admission and pay the nominal fee but join the batch in the next year. It is advised that candidates take admission in the same year as their CAT attempt so that they don't have to reappear next year. Given the competition in MBA space, it is difficult to get a good college whether you have a low score or average score. So, incase one is getting a good college, they should take admission and not drop a year to appear for CAT again.
CAT fee is non-refundable. Candidates must note that under no circumstances will the CAT fee be refunded to any candidate. The fee amount of INR 2600 (INR 1300 for Reserved category students) once paid cannot be claimed for refund.
However, if the money has been deducted from your account but the payment process is interrupted, the bank will refund the amount and credit it to your account.
Since, the CAT fee is non-refundable, candidates must make no mistakes in filling the form. There is no option to edit the CAT application form apart from a few fields like – photo, signature and test city. If you have entered a personal or academic information that is incorrect or invalid and submitted the form, you cannot edit it. You will have to fill a fresh form and pay the fees again.
CAT toppers are determined on the basis of candidate percentiles. Those whose overall percentiles are 100 and 99.99, they are declared the toppers of CAT exam. To calculate CAT percentiles, raw scores of every CAT candidate is normalized on the same scale and the following formula is applied:
P = (R/N) * 100
where,
P= Percentile score
R= Rank of the candidate arrived at on the basis of scaled CAT score or the total number of test takers ranking below a particular candidate.
N= Number of candidates who appeared in CAT exam (all three sessions)
Yes, it is mandatory to qualify CAT for admission to full time MBA programmes offered by the 21 IITs, along with full-time MBA, qualifying CAT score is also required for PGP, FPM, PhD, PhD Executive, Executive MBA, Doctoral Programme, PGPx courses.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a week ago
With a 300 SC category rank in CAT, your chances for NIT Trichy MBA are relatively high. Based on 2025 data, NIT Trichy generally shortlists SC candidates with CAT percentiles around 60-65. To achieve a 300 rank under SC category, you would need about a 65-70 percentile, or a score of roughly 60-65
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There are over 170 cities where CAT exam is held. These 170 cities are spread across India consist of metropolitan cities, capital cities, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Candidate can select up to five cities for allotment of test centre. The process of test city selection is a part of CAT application process. In the CAT application form, there is a field in which candidates have to select the cities. They need to select the city of preference in order of 1 to 5. The examination authorities will try to allot the test centre in the city of first preference. Thus, candidates must fill all the five cities carefully. They must choose their home city of city of current residence as the first preference. The test city option can only be changed during the form correction window. After that, the request for change of the city will not be accepted by the exam authorities.