IIM cut offs for admission to MBA/PGP programmes of top institutes are generally between 98 to 100 percentile. The IIM cutoff 2026 for MBA admission are in the same range, as reported after the release of MBA PI shortlist 2026. Check CAT cut off for IIMs (general and reserved) categories.
IIM cutoff is usually high for top campuses (BLACKI); in the range of 97 to 100 percentile for full-time MBA programme. These cut offs vary category wise. CAT cut off for IIM for General category candidates is higher than Reserved category candidates. MBA aspirants who have scored 98+ percentile in the CAT 2025 exam can expect to get admisison into IIM.
Qualifying CAT cut offs are released prior to the second stage of the IIM admission process 2026 i.e. Written Ability Test/Personal Interview (WAT/PI) round and final cut offs are known after admissions. CAT cut off for IIM is determined individually by each campus. CAT test takers are invited for WAT/PI round only if they have scored as much or above the minimum IIM cut off percentile in CAT exam. In this article, we have provided all the information related to the IIM CAT percentile cut off for MBA admission.
- What is IIM CAT Cut Off?
- IIM Call Cut Off vs Shortlist Cut Off – What is The Difference?
- IIM CAT Percentile Cut Off: Campus Wise
- IIMs with Lowest Cut Offs
- IIM Cut Offs of Previous Years
- IIM Cut Off 2025
- IIM Cut Off 2019 (Bodh Gaya)
- IIM Selection Procedure and Admission Criteria 2026
- Final Selection through IIM CAT Cut Off: Parameters and Weightage
- Campus wise: IIM CAT Cut Off, Shortlist and Admission Criteria
What is IIM CAT Cut Off?
IIM cut off refers to the minimum CAT percentile a candidate has to get as CAT score to be eligible for WAT/PI round of the institutes. The IIM cut offs are different for different categories of students. While the minimum CAT cut off for IIMs for General category is usually 95-100, the cut offs for reserved category students is 85-95. The CAT percentile for IIM admission vary campus wise. IIM BLACKI minimum percentile for CAT 2025 was between 97-100 percentile. Usually, for IIM Ahmedabad, the cut off for General category is 99-100 percentile. For IIM Calcutta, it is around 92-99 percentile (category-wise). However, if your academic record is exceptional, CAT score lower than 95 may get you an IIM.
The CAT cutoff for IIM MBA admissions vary slightly every year. Some of the determining factors that decide IIM CAT cut offs are:
- Difficulty Level of CAT exam – If the difficulty level is high, the cut off percentile for that year will be comparatively lower. This happens because of the lower average scores in the examination.
- Number of students who took CAT – The final CAT cut off percentile for IIMs would also depend on the number of students appearing in CAT. Higher the number, higher will be the qualifying CAT cut off, and vice versa.
- Number of seats available – The number of available seats in a particular IIM can vary annually. Any increase or decrease in the number of available seats will directly reflect on the cut-off percentile required for IIM.
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Commonly asked questions
The CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore hovers between 97-100 percentile. The qualifying CAT cut off required for being eligible for IIM Bangalore's Written Ability test (What) and Personal Interview PI is 85 percentile for General category students, whereas for SC candidates, it is 70 percentile. For ST candidates, it is 65 percentile and for PwD candidates it is 60 percentile. Given below are the sectional and overall qualifying CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore.
- General category: 80 VARC 75 DILR 75 Quantitative Aptitude 85 (Overall)
- NC-OBC category: 75 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
- EWS category: 70 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
- SC category: 65 VARC 60 DILR 60 Quantitative Aptitude 70 (Overall)
- ST category: 55 VARC 55 DILR 55 Quantitative Aptitude 65 (Overall)
- PwD category: 50 VARC 50 DILR 50 Quantitative Aptitude 60 (Overall)
The candidates needs to have passed graduation with alteast 60% marks. A valid score in the accepted exams is also needed. Th exems include CAT, NET and WAT, etc.
Yes, it is necessary to meet the sectional as well as overall cut-off to get shortlisted for the Personal Interview (PI) round for final seat allotment to the MBA programme at IIM Sirmaur. Candidates willing to take admission to the MBA programme at IIM Sirmaur must have an overall and sectional percentile above 90 in their CAT exam. Hence, candidates are advised to prepare well for their CAT exam to secure a valid percentile leading to final seat allotment to the said programme at IIM Sirmaur.
Click here to learn more about the cut-off details for the MBA programme at IIM Sirmaur.
IIM Call Cut Off vs Shortlist Cut Off – What is The Difference?
IIM CAT cut offs are of two types – qualifying and final. Qualifying IIM CAT cutoff is released as part of IIM admission policy. It is the minimum CAT score required by a candidate of a particular category to be eligible for PI shortlisting. Clearing the qualifying CAT cut off does not mean you have been shortlisted. Your interview call will depend upon whether you meet the IIM call cut off or the final CAT cut off which way higher.
IIM CAT Percentile Cut Off: Campus Wise
The final IIM cut offs are not released public ally by the institutes. Given below are estimated CAT cut offs based on previous years' trends. Nonetheless, candidates can use this table as a reference point to plan their MBA admission.
| IIM campus | Expected CAT Cut Off 2025 (in percentile) |
|---|---|
| IIM Ahmedabad | IIM Bangalore | IIM Calcutta | 99-100 |
| IIM Lucknow | IIM Indore | IIM Kozhikode | 97-98 |
| IIM Amritsar | IIM Nagpur | IIM Sambalpur | 95-96 |
| IIM Trichi | IIM Raipur | IIM Ranchi | IIM Kashipur | 94-95 |
| IIM Vizag | IIM Udaipur | IIM Bodhgaya | 92-94 |
| IIM Shillong | IIM Sirmaur | 94 |
Commonly asked questions
The minimum CAT percentile required for admission is different for each category. The institute does not release the CAT cutoff publicly and is instead only available via login.
Hence, according to the estimated CAT cutoff for the General AI category, students would need a percentile of at least 94 to qualify for the 2nd round of admissions, which involves WAT, GD and PI. Students can click here for more information.
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IIMs with Lowest Cut Offs
In newer IIMs, the CAT cut offs are lower as compared to rest of the campuses. Given below are IIMs with lowest cut offs.
- IIM Ranchi - 92+ percentile
- IIM Raipur - 90 + percentile
- IIM Kashipur - 90+ percentile
- IIM Udaipur - 90+ percentile
Even for Reserved category students, the IIM cut offs don't drop. Which is why it is imperative to score 90+ percentile in CAT for IIM admission.
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- CAT 2025 question paper PDF download slot 1, 2 and 3
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IIM Cut Offs of Previous Years
Those who shall have an idea of their performance in the CAT exam and know the expected score, they can guess which IIMs will take them in. The knowledge of CAT cut off for IIM is of great help in this process. It allows students to make an informed decision when the application window for WAT and PI rounds opens. In case you want to calculate your expected CAT score, use this CAT Percentile Predictor by Shiksha. Download Institute and category-wise CAT cut off PDF
IIM Cut Off 2025
Given below are the qualifying CAT cut offs and final cutoffs (estimated) for all IIMs, for 2025 batch. CAT cut off for IIM MBA batch 2026 are expected to be same.
| IIM |
Qualifying CAT Cut Off for IIM |
Final CAT Cut Off for IIM |
|---|---|---|
| 95 |
99-100 |
|
| 85 |
99-100 |
|
| 85 |
98-99 |
|
| 90 |
97-99 |
|
| 90 |
97-98 |
|
| 85 |
97-98 |
|
| 75 |
90 |
|
| 92 |
92-94 |
|
| 95 |
96-97 |
|
| 80 |
94-95 |
|
| 93 |
94-95 |
|
| 92 |
94-95 |
|
| 85 |
94-95 |
|
| 90 |
94-95 |
|
| 92 |
94-95 |
|
| 92 |
95-96 |
|
| 92 |
94-95 |
|
| 85 |
95-96 |
|
| 92 |
94-95 |
|
| 92 |
94-95 |
IIM Cut Off 2019 (Bodh Gaya)
Of the 21 IIMs, IIM Bodh Gaya released official CAT cut offs publicly in 2019. Check the tables below for section-wise cut offs for male and female candidates.
| IIM Bodh Gaya cut off for male candidates |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category |
Overall |
QA |
DILR |
VARC |
| General |
91 |
80 |
80 |
80 |
| EWS |
70 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
| NC-OBC |
73 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
| SC |
50 |
45 |
45 |
45 |
| ST |
38 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
| PWD |
35 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
| IIM Bodh Gaya cut off for female candidates |
||||
| Category |
Overall |
QA |
DILR |
VARC |
| General |
88 |
75 |
75 |
75 |
| EWS |
70 |
55 |
55 |
55 |
| NC-OBC |
70 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
| SC |
50 |
43 |
43 |
43 |
| ST |
35 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
IIM Cut Offs 2018
| IIMs |
CAT cut off 2018 (in percentile) |
|---|---|
| IIM Ahmedabad |
98 |
| IIM Bangalore |
99 |
| IIM Calcutta |
98 |
| IIM Lucknow |
97 |
| IIM Indore |
92 |
| IIM Kozhikode |
95.5 |
| IIM Rohtak |
94 |
| IIM Kashipur |
93 |
| IIM Shillong |
92 |
| IIM Trichy |
93 |
| IIM Udaipur |
94 |
IIM Cut Offs 2017 and 2016
| IIM | CAT cut off 2017 (in percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (in percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| IIM Ahmedabad | 100 | 100 |
| IIM Bangalore | 90.72 | 92.48 |
| IIM Kozhikode | 95.16 | 94.82 |
| IIM Indore | 90.05 | 90.01 |
| IIM Trichy | 95 | 96 |
| IIM Raipur | 95 | 96 |
| IIM Rohtak | 95 | 96 |
| IIM Udaipur | 95 | 96 |
| IIM Sirmaur | 95 | 81.23 |
| IIM Nagpur | 90.09 | 90.08 |
| IIM Visakhapatnam | 90.09 | 90.02 |
| IIM Amritsar | 94.76 | 94.9 |
| IIM Sambalpur | 95 | NA |
*These cut-off scores have been obtained by Shiksha through Right To Information Act.
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The three main criteria for selection are CAT score, WAT/GD-PI, academic record. IIM admission process includes selection in three phases. Check below:
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 days ago
Yes, candidates can get admission in IIM Indore without CAT for two programmes: Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) and Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP). Admission into IPM is based on the IPMAT (Integrated Program in Management Aptitude Test), followed by a Written Abilit
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
Yes, candidates can get admission in CGC University, Mohali without taking CAT based on valid score in CGCUET which is conducted by the university if they also fulfill the eligibility criteria.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
Yes. CUSAT has two main campuses offering B.Tech: the main campus in Kochi (School of Engineering) and the Kuttanad campus (CUCEK). The main campus cutoffs are significantly tighter than those for CUCEK.
V
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 5 days ago
No, CAT is not compulsory to get admission in MBA at SVNIT Surat. The college considers a valid score in entrance exams such as: CAT/GMAT/GRE/XAT/CMAT/MAT for admission into MBA. Other than this, the institute also conducts its own exam for MBA admissions.
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
Yes, CAT is one of the compulsory exams to be eligible for MBA course at Assam Institute of Management. The institute offers admission to MBA programme based on score of national-level entrance exam (CAT/CMAT/MAT/XAT/ATMA). CAT exam being one of it becomes essential to take admission in the same col
a
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 5 days ago
Christ Delhi NCR does accepts CAT scores for admission in MBA programme. However, aspirants with MAT, CMAT, ATMA or any other Management entrance exam scores can also get admission. Selected candidates also need to pass GDPI, written assessment and micro-presentation rounds.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 5 days ago
No, CAT is not compulsory to get admission in MBA at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University. Applicanta are given admission based on their performance in CMAT entrance exam. It is followed by personal interview to get shortlisted.
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, you can get admission to the MBA programme at Manipal University Jaipur, but not through direct admission without meeting the admission criteria.
For the regular MBA, you generally need:
A bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks.
A valid CAT/MAT/CMAT/XAT/GMAT score.
Selection is based on your aca
C
Beginner-Level 3
Answered a week ago
As a current student at DBS Global University, I can say that yes, the university accepts a valid CAT score for MBA admissions. If you meet the eligibility criteria, then you can apply through your CAT score, and you do not have to take the universities entrance exam. The best thing about DBS, is t
C
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a week ago
SAGE University, Indore has not mentioned any other accepted entrance exams other than SEE for MBA courses. Generally, CAT is an accepted entrance exam for MBA courses. Therefore, candidate should get confirmation by asking this from admission desk.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Vipra Shrivastava is MA in English Literature from Delhi University with extensive experience in content writing of over 14 years. She has been handling content for Management, Accounting and Commerce streams for 8
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