
CAT cut offs remain high (99+ percentile) for top IIMs such as IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow and IIM Kozhikode, every year. For General/NC-OBC category students the CAT cutoff percentile for top IIMs is around 98-100 percentile; for SC/ST/PwD category candidates the cut offs are lower. For non-IIMs, the CAT cutoff is usually in the range of 94-100 percentile.
In Tier 2 MBA colleges, CAT cut offs are usually around 70-80 percentile and above and in Tier 3 MBA colleges the CAT cut offs are usually around 60-70 percentile and above. CAT 2024 cutoffs were in the same range for these colleges. CAT 2025 cut offs are expected to be in the same range. The institutes fix admission cut offs on the basis of overall perfomance of candidates in the CAT exam. The cut offs will be available after the declaration of CAT 2025 result.
- Factors Determining CAT Cut Offs 2025
- CAT 2025 Exam Dates & Schedule
- CAT Cut Offs for IIM Admission
- CAT Cut Offs for Top MBA Colleges (Non-IIM)
- CAT Cut Off 2025: Score vs Percentile
- Previous Years' CAT Cut Off of Top IIMs
- CAT Cut Offs: IIM Admission and Selection Criteria
- FAQs Regarding CAT Cut Offs
Factors Determining CAT Cut Offs 2025
CAT cut off percentiles for MBA/PGP programmes of every institute are determined on the basis of various factors that influence the exam result. Some of the key factors that determine IIM cut offs category wise, are mentioned below:
-
Difficulty level of the CAT exam
-
Number of aspirants who appeared for the exam
-
Number of aspirants who cleared the exam
- Previous years' trends of CAT cut off
-
Number of seats in a particular institute
-
All India ranking of the institute
CAT cut offs never fall drastically. For example, in top rated colleges like IIMs, the cut offs have always been above 99.95 percentile for GEM candidates. In colleges like SPJIMR, MDI or FMS, the cut offs have remained between 95-97 percentile. In tier 2 colleges, the CAT cut offs remain in 70-80 percentile range, year on year.
Also Read: CAT Score vs Percentile
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)
CAT cutoffs are usually not announced with the CAT result. The CAT cutoffs are also not released to the public.
They are published after a few days of the result announcement when the IIMs and other colleges start their shortlisting process. The IIMs opens their shortlisting window based on the CAT cut-offs two to three days after the result announcement. The CAT percentile of candidates shortlisted for the Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI) can be considered the cut-off for that IIM. For example, if a candidate with a CAT percentile of 99 belonging to the General category is selected for the WAT/GD-PI of IIM Calcutta, then the CAT cut-off for IIM Calcutta is 99 percentile. Only those candidates who make it to the WAT/GD-PI round of IIMs will get to know the cut-offs.
CAT 2025 Exam Dates & Schedule
Take a look at the table below for the complete schedule of CAT 2025 exam
| Dates | Upcoming Exam Dates |
|---|---|
| Dec ' 25 | CAT 2025 answer key challenge TENTATIVE |
| Dec ' 25 | CAT 2025 result announcement TENTATIVE |
CAT Cut Offs for IIM Admission
The CAT qualifying cut offs are released by the IIMs before CAT exam. IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Lucknow have released their qualifying cut offs for 2026 batch. IIM Ahmedabad CAT cut off has increased from 80 percentile to 95 percentile, whereas IIM Lucknow's CAT cut off remains the same as last year.
| IIM |
Qualifying CAT cut offs |
|---|---|
| IIM Ahmedabad |
95 |
| IIM Bangalore |
85 |
| IIM Calcutta |
85 |
| IIM Lucknow |
90 |
| IIM Indore |
90 |
| IIM Kozhikode |
85 |
| IIM Amritsar |
90 |
| IIM Nagpur |
94 |
| IIM Sambalpur |
94 |
| IIM Trichy |
94 |
| IIM Raipur |
94 |
| IIM Ranchi |
92 |
| IIM Kashipur |
94 |
| IIM Vizag |
82 |
| IIM Udaipur |
94 |
| IIM Bodhgaya |
94 |
| IIM Shillong |
75 |
| IIM Sirmaur |
94 |
| IIM Rohtak |
95 |
| IIM Mumbai |
85 |
| IIM Jammu |
94 |
What is IIM CAT qualifying cut off?
The CAT qualifying cut off is the minimum score required by a candidate to be eligible for selection to the WAT-PI round. Which means a candidate who has scored as much or above the final cut off score can apply for IIM PI round but may not be selected.
The qualifying CAT cut off is much lower than the final cut off, basis which a candidate is actually shortlisted for the PI round. For example, the qualifying CAT cut off for IIM Bangalore is 80 percentile but the final CAT cut off is 99.95 percentile and above.
IIM CAT Cut Offs (Final)
Final cut offs are released after the announcement of CAT result. Presented below are the estimated CAT cut off percentiles for General category students for admission to the top 21 IIMs. The below mentioned cut offs are the estimated final cut offs on the basis of which the candidates will be called for the interview round. Please note that for General category students the CAT cut offs remain high every year (98-100) but for reserved category students, there is considerable relaxation in minimum percentile required.
| IIMs |
*CAT cut offs 2025 (percentile) |
|---|---|
| 99-100 |
|
| 99-100 |
|
| 99 |
|
| 97-98 |
|
| 97-98 |
|
| 97-98 |
|
| 95-96 |
|
| 95-96 |
|
| 95-96 |
|
| 94-95 |
|
| 94-95 |
|
| 94-95 |
|
| 94-95 |
|
| 92-94 |
|
| 92-94 |
|
| 92-94 |
|
| 92-94 |
|
| 90 |
|
| 90 |
|
| 90 |
|
| 90 |
Commonly asked questions
CAT Cut Offs for Top MBA Colleges (Non-IIM)
The CAT cut offs for top MBA colleges are lower than the top IIMs but still high at 95 percentile and above. There are some top ranked MBA colleges that have CAT cut offs in 70-80 percentiles too. Presented below are the CAT cut off percentiles for General category students for admission to some of the top MBA colleges (non-IIM) in 2025.
| Top MBA College | *CAT Cut Offs (percentile) |
|---|---|
| 98-99 |
|
| 95-99 |
|
| 95-99 |
|
| 95-97 |
|
| 96 |
|
| 97-99 |
|
| 90 |
|
| 91 |
|
| 85 |
|
| 86 |
|
| 80 |
|
| 85 |
|
| 80 |
|
| 80 |
|
| 80 |
|
| 70 |
|
| 70 |
*Note: These cut offs are based on previous years' trends. CAT cut offs for upcoming session can be higher.
Check out: Latest CAT Question Papers for Download
List of MBA Colleges - CAT Cut Off Percentile Range
More than 1,300 MBA colleges accept the CAT score. Every college determines CAT cut off for admission individually. You can check the college you are likely to get with your CAT percentile from the links given in the below tbale.
| Got a Low Score in CAT, Don't Fret You Can Still Get a Good MBA College |
CAT Cut Off 2025: Score vs Percentile
For admission to MBA courses, B-Schools consider CAT percentile which is calculated from the scaled scores of all test takers. CAT scaled score is not the same as raw CAT score. It is the score arrived at after normalisation of the raw scores of all candidates across exam slots. This is done to ensure that every candidate's performance across the exam sessions are judged on the same scale and no one gets the advantage of solving an easier CAT test form or the disadvantage of solving a tougher test form.
A high CAT score may not convert into high percentile if a large number of candidates have scored the same or higher. However, an estimation can be calculated based on number of test takers and difficulty level of CAT exam for that year. Check the table below to know estimated range of CAT scores vs CAT percentile (courtesy IMS India):
| CAT Percentile |
VARC Score |
DILR Score |
QA Score |
Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99.9 |
50 |
46 |
46 |
118-123 |
| 99.5 |
42 |
40 |
41 |
103-108 |
| 99 |
38 |
37 |
33 |
92-95 |
| 98 |
28 |
30 |
22 |
69-72 |
| 95 |
23 |
27 |
16 |
57-59 |
| 90 |
20 |
21 |
13 |
47-49 |
| 85 |
18 |
19 |
12 |
42-44 |
| 80 |
15 |
17 |
10 |
39-40 |
| 75 |
14 |
14 |
9 |
34-36 |
Watch video:
Previous Years' CAT Cut Off of Top IIMs
Here are previous years CAT cut offs for some of the IIMs. This data has been obtained from official website and through RTI. Over the years, the CAT cut offs have increased for these IIMs.
CAT 2019 Cut Off
IIM Bodh Gaya's CAT cut off percentiles in 2019 was 91 percentile for General category. Check the table below for CAT sectional cutoffs for IIM Bodh Gaya's WAT-PI round 2019 for all categories:
| IIM Bodh Gaya cut off 2019 for male candidates |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category |
Overall CAT cut off |
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 2020 for female candidates |
||||
| Category |
Overall CAT cut off |
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 |
CAT 2018 Cut Off
Given below is the CAT 2018 cut off percentiles of some of the top IIMs on the basis of which candidates were selected for admission:
| IIMs |
CAT 2018 cut off (percentiles) |
|---|---|
| IIM Ahmedabad |
81.53 |
| IIM Bangalore |
90+ |
| IIM Calcutta |
95+ |
| IIM Lucknow |
90+ |
| IIM Indore |
90 |
| IIM Kozhikode |
95.5 |
| IIM Rohtak |
90+ |
| IIM Trichy |
96 |
| IIM Udaipur |
90 |
The category-wise CAT cut offs for previous years (CAT 2017 and CAT 2016) for each of the top IIMs have been mentioned below. These cut off percentiles have been obtained by Shiksha through RTI filed with each IIM.
IIM Ahmedabad CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT 2017 cut off (percentile) | CAT 2016 cut off (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
100 |
100 |
| NC-OBC |
100 |
99.99 |
| SC |
99.82 |
99.97 |
| ST |
99.92 |
99.88 |
| DA |
99.28 |
99.97 |
IIM Bangalore CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
90.72 |
92.48 |
| NC-OBC |
81.48 |
81.14 |
| SC |
75.22 |
76.35 |
| ST |
70.01 |
75.22 |
| DA |
64.21 |
76.21 |
IIM Kozhikode CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
95.16 |
94.82 |
| NC-OBC |
80.19 |
81.14 |
| SC |
65.03 |
65.56 |
| ST |
55.28 |
55.23 |
| DA |
56.02 |
55.86 |
IIM Indore CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
90.05 |
90.01 |
| NC-OBC |
80.05 |
80.08 |
| SC |
50.19 |
50.03 |
| ST |
60.16 |
61.38 |
| DA |
50.87 |
50.59 |
IIM Trichy CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT 2017 cut off (percentile) | CAT 2016 cut off (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
95 |
96 |
| NC-OBC |
78 (78.01) |
78 |
| SC |
60 (60.01) |
60 |
| ST |
40 (40.01) |
42 (42.07) |
| DA |
40 (40.16) |
40 (40.19) |
IIM Raipur CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
95 |
96 |
| NC-OBC |
78.01 |
78 |
| SC |
60.01 |
60 |
| ST |
40.01 |
42.07 |
| DA |
40.16 |
40.19 |
IIM Rohtak CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
95 |
96 |
| NC-OBC |
78.01 |
75.36 |
| SC |
60.01 |
65.05 |
| ST |
40.01 |
42.12 |
| DA |
40.16 |
40 |
IIM Udaipur CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
95 |
96 |
| NC-OBC |
78.03 |
78 |
| SC |
64.14 |
61.16 |
| ST |
54.10 |
46.60 |
| DA |
43.46 |
41.91 |
IIM Sirmaur CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
95 |
81.23 |
| NC-OBC |
78.01 |
76.54 |
| SC |
60.01 |
69.61 |
| ST |
40.01 |
61.81 |
| DA |
40.16 |
72.81 |
IIM Nagpur CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
90.09 |
90.08 |
| NC-OBC |
81.89 |
81.48 |
| SC |
65.48 |
79.78 |
| ST |
45.09 |
73.73 |
| DA |
66.4 |
NA |
IIM Vishakhapatnam CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
90.09 |
90.02 |
| NC-OBC |
80.01 |
80.04 |
| SC |
75.03 |
75.12 |
| ST |
56.92 |
55.26 |
| DA |
57.3 |
59.58 |
IIM Amritsar CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
94.76 |
94.9 |
| NC-OBC |
85.35 |
75.09 |
| SC |
71.92 |
55.42 |
| ST |
43.19 |
36.26 |
| DA |
35.58 |
35.33 |
IIM Sambalpur CAT cut off (2017, 2016)
| Category | CAT cut off 2017 (percentile) | CAT cut off 2016 (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| General |
95 |
NA |
| NC-OBC |
78 |
NA |
| SC |
60 |
NA |
| ST |
40 |
NA |
| DA |
40 |
NA |
CAT Cut Offs: IIM Admission and Selection Criteria
Candidates who meet the required CAT cut off are eligible to apply for WAT/GD-PI round. The IIM selection process includes screening of candidates based on CAT score, WAT/GD-PI round and final selection. Most of the IIMs conducted WAT and PI rounds from February to April while 'offer of admission' letters are issued to successful candidates in May. Nine new IIMs have a common admission process called IIM CAP.
On receiving invitation for WAT/GD-PI round, the candidate must present the following documents for confirming participation:
-
Original and self-attested photocopies of marksheets of Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation.
-
Original and self-attested photocopies of caste/class and/or disability certificate in case of SC, ST, NC-OBC and PwD candidates.
-
Candidates appearing for the final-year bachelor's degree exam or equivalent must present an original certificate from the Principal/Registrar/Director of the university/institution certifying that the candidate has obtained a minimum of 50 per cent aggregate or equivalent (45 per cent in case of the candidates belonging to SC, ST, and PwD categories) based on latest available grades/marks.
Also Read:
All about IIM Selection and Admission Process 2025
The IIM final offer of admission is based on the Composite Score of a candidate that takes into account the factors mentioned below:
- CAT score: Sectional and overall percentile scored in CAT exam
- WAT/GD-PI score: Points scored in the WAT/GD-PI round
- Class 10 score: Percentage scored in Class 10 or equivalent
- Class 12 score: Percentage scored in Class 12 or equivalent
- Graduation score: Aggregate of a three-year bachelor's programme or equivalent
- Gender diversity: 0-5 extra points are given to female/transgender candidates
- Academic diversity: 0-5 extra points are given to candidates belonging to academic background other than Engineering
- Work experience: 0-5 extra points are given to candidates having relevant work experience at executive or managerial level
Each MBA college announces its admission process and selection criteria beforehand. It includes the qualifying CAT cut offs, which are the minimum scores required for PI shortlisting. You can check the selection criteria at Shiksha college pages or from the official website of each institute/college.
Also read: Procedure for admission in Top MBA colleges in India
Commonly asked questions
Sectional cut-off in the CAT exam refers to the section-wise percentiles required by the candidate to make it to the Personal Interview round of the IIMs or other top MBA colleges. The sectional cut-offs are lower than the overall cut-offs of any institute. To understand better, check the table below for sectional CAT cut-offs for IIM Ahmedabad:
Category | VARC percentile | DILR percentile | QA percentile | Overall percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 |
NC-OBC-Transgender | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
SC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
PwD (General, NC-OBC-cum-transgender, SC) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
PwD (ST) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
For sectional cut-offs of all IIMs, check this article – IIM shortlist and selection criteria
Qualifying CAT cut off percentiles of Iims for Written Ability Test (What) and Personal Interview PI are listed below. Candidates who MET the qualifying CAT cut off, were eligible for What-PI round. These qualifying CAT cut offs are for General Category. The cut offs for Reserved category students are lower:
- IIM Ahmedabad: 95 percentile
- IIM Bangalore: 85 percentile
- IIM Calcutta: 85 percentile
- IIM Lucknow: 90 percentile
- IIM Kozhikode: 85 percentile
- IIM Indore: 90 percentile
- IIM Udaipur: 93 percentile
- IIM Shillong: 75 percentile
- IIM Trichy: 93 percentile
- IIM Visakhapatnam: 80 percentile
- IIM Rohtak: 95 percentile
- 1IIM Nagpur: 85 percentile
- IIM Jammu: 93 percentile
- IIM Ranchi: 90 percentile
- IIM Sirmaur: 92 percentile
- IIM Bodhgaya: 93 percentile
- IIM Sambalpur: 93 percentile
- IIM Kashipur: 94 percentile
- IIM Raipur: 93 percentile
- IIM Amritsar: 90 percentile
For complete details of IIM selection and admission process read this article: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/iim-shortlist-selection-admission-criteria-blogId-18787.
FAQs Regarding CAT Cut Offs
Check below Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to CAT cut offs
Commonly asked questions
CAT Exam
Student Forum
Answered 11 hours ago
Hi...
- CAT 2024 Cutoff: The overall cutoff for all categories (General, OBC, SC, ST, EWS) was 50 percentile.
- Other Exams: The university also accepts scores from MH-CET (Maharashtra Common Entrance Test), MAT, C
h
Scholar-Level 17
Answered 3 days ago
The Vishwakarma University CAT Cutoff 2024 for the General AI students was 50 for admission to various MBA programmes. The CAT exam is the accepting exam for MBA courses and various other PG courses. Students can click here for a more detailed cutoff information about Vishwakarma University 2024.
N
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
Fore School of Management Cutoff 2025 has been released for admission to PGDM course on the basis of CAT and XAT Cutoff 2025. For the General AI category, the overall CAT Cutoff 2025 was 85, same as the XAT Cutoff 2025. For more details about cutoffs for the General AI quota, see the table below:
| CAT Cutoff 2025 | XAT Cutoff 2025 | Course/ Specialisation Name |
|---|---|---|
| 85 | 85 | PGDM |
| 75 | 75 | PGDM in International Business |
| 75 | 75 | PGDM in Financial Management |
| 65 | 65 | PGDM in Big Data Analysis |
N
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
Bennett University CAT Cutoff 2025 has not been released yet. However, according to the CAT Cutoff 2024, the overall cutoff was 24 for students belonging to the General AI quota. For the OBC AI candidates, the CAT overall cutoff was also the same at 24. For more information about CAT Cutoff 2025 and
N
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 3 days ago
Hi...
h
Scholar-Level 17
Answered 3 days ago
Hi.
- Per
h
Scholar-Level 17
Answered 3 days ago
Hi.
h
Scholar-Level 17
Answered 4 days ago
GIBS Business School, therefore, accepts 'all national-level entrance examination' scores that include the major management exams like CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, GMAT, and in some cases State CET exams for admissions to PGDM and MBA programs. These scores will determine a candidate's eligibility for
M
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 4 days ago
Hi.
h
Scholar-Level 17
Answered 3 weeks ago
Getting into the MBA programme of NIT Trichy with a 300 SC CAT rank is somewhat uncertain. As the recent data sets suggest, NIT Trichy's CAT cutoff for SC category admission stands around 65th percentile. A 300 SC rank could be borderline depending on how many SC candidates apply and the quality of
A
Contributor-Level 8
1639 Institutes accepting CAT
IIM Ahmedabad - Indian Institute of Management
Vastrapur, Ahmedabad • Public
IIM Bangalore - Indian Institute of Management
Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore • Public
IIM Kozhikode - Indian Institute of Management
Kozhikode • Public
Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi
Hauz khas, Delhi • Public
Exam On - 30 Nov '25
What is the Vishwakarma University Cutoff 2024?