IIM CAT Cut Off 2025: Know Expected and Previous Years' CAT Cutoff Percentile
Common Admission Test 2026 ( CAT )
CAT 2026 exam
29 Nov '26
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
IIM Bangalore considers two kinds of CAT scores for MBA admission - Qualifying and Final score. Qualifying CAT score is the minimum sectional and overall CAT score used to shortlist students for the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds. Candidates above minimum cutoffs in the sectional percentile ranks, the overall percentile rank and having a positive (greater than zero) raw score in all sections of CAT are considered for the next stage. The final CAT score is cutoffs are the basis of which the candidates are called for final selection after the AWT and PI rounds are over.
IIM Jammu accepts variety of exams depending upon the course. The college accepts CAT score for admission into it's flagship course MBA. The college accepts the score of CAT/GMAT/GRE/GATE/JRF for PhD admissions. Admission into IPM programme is given based on score of JIPMAT scores.
IIM Sambalpur released the qualifying CAT percentile for shortlisting candidates for the first stage of admission. As per the official website, the overall CAT cutoff percentile for MBA admission at IIM Sambalpur is 90, while for the sectional cutoff, the percentile is 65 for the students belonging to the General AI quota. For other categories, the cutoff details are provided below:
Category | QA | DILR | VARC | Overall Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 65 | 65 | 65 | *90 |
EWS | 60 | 60 | 60 | 80 |
NC-OBC | 55 | 55 | 55 | 75 |
SC | 40 | 40 | 40 | 55 |
ST | 35 | 35 | 35 | 40 |
| DAP | 35 | 35 | 35 | 40 |
*For Male candidates with one year of work experience and female candidates, the minimum overall percentile will be reduced to 85 in the General category.
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)
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 IIM Sirmaur CAT cutoff 2024 will not be released on a public platform and will only be accessible for students who appeared for the entrance exam. The institute released the qualifying CAT percentile, wherein the overall percentile is 95 and the section cutoff percentile is 70 for the General AI category students. The final cutoff is always higher than the qualifying cutoff. So, considering the qualifying cutoff, it is expected that CAT final cutoff will range between 92 to 95 for the General category students.
Category | VARC percentile | DILR percentile | QA Percentile | Overall percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 |
EWS | 63 | 63 | 63 | 72 |
NC-OBC | 63 | 63 | 63 | 72 |
SC | 40 | 40 | 40 | 45 |
ST | 30 | 30 | 30 | 35 |
PwD | 30 | 30 | 30 | 35 |
Note: The above-mentioned data is not the actual CAT 2023 Qualifying Cutoff and is the estimated data based on the previous year's qualifying cutoff. The actual data might be on the higher side for 2023.
To get admission in IIM Kashipur MBA, students have to clear the CAT cutoff. The cutoff for the general category AI quota was 95. For NC-OBC candidates, it is 81 percentile, for SC candidates it is 66 percentile whereas for SC and PwD candidates, it is 40 percentile. Students can check the official site of the institute to know more.
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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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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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