Eligibility criteria for IIM admission includes 50 per cent in graduation, CAT exam score. Selection is based on WAT-PI. Read all about IIM eligibility criteria for 2027 admissions below.
IIM Eligibility Criteria for full time MBA programme is graduation. Infact, for every PG programme offered by the IIMs, minimum eligibility criteria is graduation. Candidates pllaning to pursue any coursw from IIM must ensure they have completed graduation. For the full-time MBA programme Graduation with minimum 50% marks is a mandatory eligibililty criteria. For SC/SCT/PwD candidates, the minimum score requirement is 45%.
Besides, academic requirement of 50% marks,candidates also need to have scored high percentile in CAT exam, to be eligible for MBA admission. The minimum CAT percentile required is 80. Read in this article, complete details regarding IIM eligibility criteria.
- IIM Eligibility Criteria: CAT Score
- IIM Eligibility Criteria for MBA/PGP Admission 2026
- IIM Selection Criteria for MBA/PGP 2026
- Weightage for IIM Admission: MBA/PGP
IIM Eligibility Criteria: CAT Score
Having a valid CAT score is mandatory for IIM admission. None of the IIMs will accept candidature of an Indian candidate for full-time MBA without the required CAT score. Thus, IIM aspirants must make sure that they appear and clear the CAT exam with 95 percentile (for SC/ST/PwD categories, the cut off is lower). The CAT exam is conducted on the last Sunday of November every year. For admission to 2027 MBA batch, CAT 2026 will be conducted on November 29, 2026. Aspirant must try to score 98+ percentile for having a chance at the IIMs.
Also Read: CAT cut offs (previous years')
IIM Eligibility Criteria for MBA/PGP Admission 2026
- Candidate must have a bachelor’s degree with at least 50 per cent aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent in case of the candidates belonging to SC/ST/PwD categories), awarded by a recognised university. The graduation degree can be in any stream.
- Candidate must have completed professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA/Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India (FIAI)) with 50 per cent aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent in case of the candidates belonging to SC/ST/PwD categories)
- In case a candidate is awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, they would be coverted to marks as per the guidelines of the university
- In case the University/Institution does not have any scheme for converting CGPA into equivalent marks, the candidate’s CGPA by 10 and multiplying the resultant with 100, to arrive at a percentage.
Selection of candidates is based on points alloted to score range in Class 10,12 and Graduation. For example, 90 percent and above score will have 5 points whereas, 60 percent and below may have 1 or less points. Check below IIM Ahmedabad rating score for Class 10.
| Score in Class 10 (in per cent) |
Rating Score: A |
|---|---|
| Less than or equal to 55 |
1 |
| 55-60 |
2 |
| 60-70 |
3 |
| 70-80 |
5 |
| 80-90 |
8 |
| More than 90 |
10 |
In case of unavailability of Graduation certificate
- Candidates who have appeared for the final year bachelor’s degree exam and awaiting result are also eligible to apply for IIM MBA course. If selected, such candidates will be allowed to join the course but they will have to submit a certificate latest by June 30, 2027 from the Principal/Registrar of his/her University/College/Institute (issued on or before June 30, 2027) assuring that they have completed all the requirements for obtaining the bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification.
- A candidate who did not receive his/her graduation results at the time of CAT registration can produce certificates and mark sheets in original along with the photocopies at the time of admission.
- Additionally, the candidate will be required to produce a provisional certificate from the University stating that the affiliated College/Institute is authorised to issue such a certificate on behalf of the University.
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Commonly asked questions
If you have a very good CAT score but poor academic record it is quite likely that you may not be shortlisted for top IIMs as the institutes prefer candidates with overall consistency in academics. Class 12 scores holds a lot of importance in shortlisting of candidates for WAT-PI.
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)
Yes, you can apply for CAT. The main criteria of eligibility for CAT is graduation from a recognised university. So, whether the education mode is full-time or correspondence, if the university is recognised by the UGC, the candidates will be eligible to appear for the CAT exam.
IIM Selection Criteria for MBA/PGP 2026
IIM admission is broadly based on three parameters. These include:
- CAT score
- WAT and PI
- Academic record
Firstly, each CAT test taker is shortlisted on the basis of his/her CAT score viz-a-viz CAT cut-offs for that year. Minimum CAT cutoffs of the top 5 IIMs, namely IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow and IIM Kozhikode is generally 90-95 percentile, which means, those who have scored above 90-95 percentile in CAT are eligible for shortlisting for PI-WAT round. On the other hand, cut-offs of newer IIMs range between 70-80 percentile. This eligibility score however does not guarantee shortlisting for WAT/PI. Candidates are shortlisted on higher scores or the final CAT cut offs which ranges between 95 too 99.99/100 percentile.
After crossing the first hurdle of IIM eligibility, candidates have to face WAT/PI. This stage is decisive as the selection panel makes up their mind about a candidate. In the third stage, candidates are rated CAT score, academic profile, work profile and WAT-PI performance.
Also Read:
- IIM Shortlist, Selection and Admission Criteria 2026
-
What is IIM CAP 2026? Know process, criteria and participating IIMs
- IIM SAP 2026: Know Details, Process and Dates
- IIM JAP 2026: Know Details, Process and Dates
- IIM Waitlist Movement: Meaning and Past Trends
Weightage for IIM Admission: MBA/PGP
Check the table below for weights assigned to different parameters during final selection in IIMs. CAT scores account for almost 40 per cent while the performance at school and college level accounts for nearly 50 per cent in the final selection. Here’s a break up of parameters on which candidates are selected:
| IIM Selection Criteria | Weight |
|---|---|
| CAT exam score | 40 |
| Class 10 score | 20 |
| Class 12 score | 10 |
| Graduation score | 20 |
| Gender diversity | 2 |
| Work experience | 8 |
| Total | 100 |
*The above table contains parameters and weight of IIM Bangalore for CAT 2025. Weights of each parameter varies for each IIM year on year. Check: IIM admission and selection criteria.
Scores of aspirants take the CAT every year to pursue MBA/PGDM courses from the IIMs. Although the final selection is not known until one receives the call letter, the test-takers do find ways to check their eligibility for the institutes beforehand. To help CAT test takers check IIM eligibility, Shiksha offers a tool called IIM Call Predictor. This online tool helps you assess your IIM chances.
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In CAT 2025, the number of 100 percentilers was 12. Check state wise data:
Overall Percentile | Total | Gender and Discipline | State wise distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
100 | 12 | Female - 2 Male - 10 Engineering - 3 Non-Engineering - 9 | Uttar Pradesh 1 Karnataka 1 Maharashtra 1 Delhi 3 Haryana 2 Gujarat 2 Jharkhand 1 Odisha 1 |
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 13 hours ago
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For the regular MBA, you generally need:
A bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks.
A valid CAT/MAT/CMAT/XAT/GMAT score.
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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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