IIM CAP 2026 (Started) - Selection Criteria, PI Dates (OUT), Top Colleges & Cutoff
Common Admission Test 2026 ( CAT )
Registration - To be notified
IIM CAP or the Common Admission Process is a single-window selection process for MBA admission for new IIMs. The selection is based on CAT cut offs. One of the participating IIMs conduct the selection process for all campuses. Read more about IIM CAP 2026 for MBA admission on the basis of CAT score.
IIM CAP is a common admission process in which 3 IIMs participate. Under this Common Admission Process or CAP, selection process of the participating IIMs is common. The responsibility to conduct the CAP is given to one of the participating IIMs every year on rotation basis. For 2025 admission, IIM Bodhgaya conducted IIM CAP and it will be the coordinating institute for 2026 admissions too. Earlier, 8 IIMs used to participate in the CAP, but in IIM CAP 2026, only three campuses will participate - IIM Bodhgaya, IIM Jammu and IIM Sirmaur.
IIM Trichy, IIM Ranchi, IIM Raipur and IIM Kashipur have opted out of CAP and will selecting canddidate through IIM JAP. IIM Udaipur will conduct admission individually like other IIMs.
IIM CAP process includes shortlisting of candidates based on their CAT exam score, conduct of Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI) and final selection based on various parameters including academic record and work experience. CAT 2025 cut offs have been announced and they are same as last year. The registration window for IIM CAP 2026 open now for candidates to submit Expression Of Interest (EOI).
- IIM CAP 2026 Important Dates
- IIM CAP Registration Process
- IIM CAP 2026 Highlights
- What is IIM CAP 2026?
- IIM CAP: Qualifying CAT Cut Offs
- IIM CAP Final Merit List: Parameters and Weightage
- IIM CAP Process 2026
- IIM Admission Criteria of non-CAP institutes
IIM CAP 2026 Important Dates
Check below key dates related to IIM CAP 2026.
| Event | Dates |
|---|---|
| Submission of EOI | Jan 21 to Jan 25, 2026 |
| Shortlist Release | To be announced |
| Slot booking | To be announced |
| PI round | Feb 23 to Mar 31, 2026 |
Commonly asked questions
The answer to this question of whether an average student can get into IIM can be both yes and no depending on the definition of an average student.
- Based on Academics (Class 10/ Class 12/ Graduation): While a student with average scores in Class 10, Class 12 and graduation with a good CAT score certainly has good chances of getting a call from IIM-A, chances are less for someone with an average CAT score.
- Based on student category (General or Reserved): While it is tough for a General category average student to grab a seat at IIM due to high score requirements, a reserved category student can get admission being at average scores as well.
- Based on past work experience, diversity and other factors: Gender and academic diversity is also a factor on which students are shortlisted at IIM. IIMs judge the past academic category based on the degree obtained by the students before MBA and then a weightage is allotted based on that. For Engineers, the percentage for scoring the highest marks is higher as compared with other streams
- Performance in selection rounds: Once you make it to the final selection rounds, i.e., AWT/PI process, it can be considered a fresh start. At this stage, students can forget their past average-ness but definitely require good grasp over the past subjects as academics-related questions are asked in the interview.
Based on the above factors, it can be considered that while getting into top Management institutes, such as IIM is extremely tough, the past performance, CAT performance, student category and a lot of factors can be the reasons for a student to receive that final call.
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 CAP Registration Process
Candidates can apply for IIM CAP at the conducting institute website with the help of their CAT login ID. Check steps to follow:
- Log on to IIM CAP 2026 website
- Click on the link indicating CAP
- Enter CAT ID and password
- If you are a new user, you'll need to register as new user
- Fill the CAP form, upload relevant documents and click on submit
IIM CAP 2026 Highlights
Check below some key highlights of IIM CAP:
- Some of the new IIMs participate in IIM CAP conducted for MBA/PGP admission.
- Until last year, the IIM CAP colleges are IIM Nagpur, IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Jammu, IIM Kashipur, IIM Ranchi, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Trichy and IIM Udaipur.
- In 2026, IIM Udaipur will not participate in the CAP and concduct WAT-PI round on its own
- IIM Trichy, Raipur, Kashipur and Ranchi will conduct MBA admissions together under JAP 2026.
- Until 2024, IIM Sambalpur also participated in the IIM CAP. For 2025 admissions, it opted out and will conduct admission individually.
- IIM Raipur, which was a part of IIM CAP till 2024, also opted out of the process for 2025 admission.
- IIM CAP cut off for interview calls is common for all participating IIMs.
- IIM CAP is conducted for full time MBA courses only.
- IIM CAP interview dates, PI scheduling dates will be announced online.
- Shortlist for IIMs CAP is released at the convening institute website. Candidates have to fill an online application form to participate in IIM CAP 2026.
- If a candidate's one IIM CAP interview clashes with another one, they can send a mail to CAP help desk for rescheduling the dates.
- The CAP conducting IIM releases the final merit list of candidates by May, but admission offers will be made to selected students individually by the institutes.
- IIM CAP selection round will be conducted in February-March-April.
Also Read:
Commonly asked questions
Minimum qualifying cut off for IIM Ahmedabad is 95 percentile whereas for IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta, it is 85. However final cut offs for these three top IIMs are between 99 to 100 percentile.
Yes, candidates can get into IIM Sambalpur without taking an entrance exam but they are required to appear for the personal interview round conducted by IIM Sambalpur for admission to the MBA for working professionals and Executive MBA courses. For candidates seeking admission to IIM Sambalpur MBA, it is mandatory to appear for CAT. The candidates are required to meet the minimum eligibility criteria as stated below, along with the selection criteria:
| Course | Eligibility | Selection Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| MBA | Graduation in any stream with a minimum 50% (45% for reserved candidates) aggregate from a recognised University | CAT |
| E-MBA | Graduation in any stream with a minimum 50% aggregate from a recognised University and a minimum of 3 years of managerial or entrepreneurial or professional work experience after graduation | Personal Interview+ SOP+ Profile |
| MBA- WP | Graduation in any stream with a minimum 50% aggregate from a recognised University and a minimum of 3 years of managerial or entrepreneurial or professional work experience after graduation | Personal Interview+ SOP+ Profile |
Students have to meet the IIM Kashipur course eligibility to get admission in any of the programmes. The selection is entrance-based mainly. The basic eligibility is as below:
- IIM Kashipur PG eligibility - UG degree with a minimum aggregate of 45%-50%
- IIM Kashipur PhD eligibility - PG degree with a minimum aggregate of 60%
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What is IIM CAP 2026?
IIM CAP or the Common Admission Process is a single-window selection process in which candidates eligible for admission to a group of IIMs have to appear for a single WAT-PI round. For example, the candidate who has selected IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Jammu and IIM Sirmaur for admission, will not have to appear for WAT-PI round of all the four institutes. He/she only has to appear for this round conducted by the CAT conducting institute.
Under the IIMs CAP, participating IIMs send the list of candidates shortlisted for WAT-PI process to the institute conducting CAP for that particular year. The IIM CAP conducting institute conducts the WAT-PI round. Qualifying CAT cut off, admission parameters and their weightage are common to all CAP participating colleges.
The scores obtained by candidates in CAP are shared with individual institutes. Based on the final score of candidates, the IIMs declare their own merit list of candidates selected for admission. The final list of selected candidates is displayed on individual institute website. Only those candidates who have institute login can access the merit list.
Also Read:
IIM CAP: Qualifying CAT Cut Offs
The table below indicates qualifying IIM CAT cut off percentiles for various categories for 2025 batch. Candidates were shortlisted for WAT-PI round on the basis of following percentiles.
| Category |
IIM CAP Cut Off 2025 VARC |
IIM CAP Cut Off 2025 DILR |
IIM CAP Cut Off 2025 QA |
IIM CAP Cut Off 2025 Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEN |
75 |
75 |
75 |
95 |
| EWS |
55 |
55 |
55 |
81 |
| NC-OBC |
52 |
52 |
52 |
81 |
| SC |
45 |
45 |
45 |
66 |
| ST |
25 |
25 |
30 |
42 |
| DAP |
25 |
25 |
30 |
42 |
IIM CAP Final Merit List: Parameters and Weightage
The final merit list of IIM CAP 2026 will be prepared on the basis of all participating candidates’ scores on the following parameters. Academic profile includes 4 points for more than 70% in class 10 and 5 points for more than 70% in class 12. For work experience, 10 points will be awarded for 2 to 4 years of work experience, 5 for more than four years or less than 2 years of work experience. The parameters and weightage are mentioned below:
| Parameters |
Points |
|---|---|
| CAT Score |
50 |
| Personal Appearance |
25 |
| Academic Profile |
15 |
| Work Experience |
10 |
| Total |
100 |
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IIM CAP Process 2026
The IIM CAP process in explained below in 8 steps.
Step 1: Candidates select IIM campuses in the CAT application form.
Step 2: CAP institutes shortlist candidates on the basis of CAT score and predefined criteria for WAT-PI.
Step 3: The CAP conducting IIM collates list of candidates selected by participating IIMs sends e-mails to the aspirants, mentioning the IIMs which have shortlisted them for WAT-PI.
Step 4: The shortlisted candidates have to fill an online form for participation in WAT-PI.
Step 5: CAP conducting IIM sends an email informing the WAT-PI date and venue to students who confirmed participation in the admission round.
Step 6: Candidates participate in the common WAT-PI process.
Step 7: The CAP conducting IIM sends WAT-PI score report to all participating institutes under CAP
Step 8: Based on the scores received, each IIM prepares final merit list and sends offer letters to selected candidate via email.
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Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 days ago
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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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