Which CAT slot has the toughest question paper?

Difficulty level in CAT exam is not specific to any of the three slots. The difficulty level across slots may vary every year. Know how the CAT scores are normalised: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/understanding-cat-normalization-process-blogId-9386 .

What is the difference between CAT preliminary answer key and final answer key?

The preliminary answer key is the one released after the exam and the final answer is the one released after all the objections raised by candidates have been examined and accepted. The final CAT answer key is released along with the result. It is the final CAT answer key on the basis of which the CAT result is prepared. Which means, score of a candidate is based on the calculation of number of correct, incorrect and unanswered questions after all the objections have been examined. The preliminary CAT answer key is released with candidate's response sheet and there is option to challenge it. However, the final answer key is released only as question ID and correct answer option and there is no provision of challenging it. In CAT 2022, objection on two DILR questions raised by candidates was accepted and the question was dropped from final score calculation as it was found to be erroneous.

What are the maximum marks in CAT exam?

Maximum marks in CAT is 204. There are 68 questions each carrying 3 marks. VARC is of 72 marks and DILR and Quants are of 66 marks each.

How many question should I solve for 99 percentile in CAT exam?

To get 99 percentile and above, candidates must attempt 40-45 out of 68 questions in CAT, with maximum accuracy.

Does every CAT accepting college conduct GD/PI?

Yes, the CAT accepting MBA colleges conduct either GD/PI or WAT/PI. Since MBA is a professional course about business and team management, personality assessment round is essential to ensure that the aspirant has the flair for management which can be polished during the programme. Communication skills, problem solving ability, management and leadership are essential qualities for MBA thus, every B-School conducts GD/PI or WAT/PI.

What if I do not make it to IIM shortlist? Do I still stand a chance to get admission?

No, the students who don't make it to the IIM shortlist of a particular year, they will not be considered for admission. Such candidates can appear for CAT again the next year and try for admission. If a candidate doesn't make it to the first shortlist, they can wait for the second shortlist to release in which they might be selected.

Will CAT exam 2026 be conducted in three shifts?

Yes, CAT 2026 exam will be conducted in three shifts. Exam timing of each slot will be: First shift: 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM Second shift: 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM and Third shift: 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Who will conduct CAT 2026?

CAT 2026 will be conducted by IIM Indore. The institute had last conducted the exam in 2020. Six of the older IIMs, including Ahemdabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Khozikode, and Indore, conducts CAT exam on a rotational basis.

What is the CAT 2026 exam date?

CAT 2026 exam will be held on November 29, 2026 in three slots. Candidates will find their CAT 2026 slot time in the admit card.

Are CAT cut offs announced along with the CAT result?

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.

What are the qualifying CAT cutoffs for all the IIMs?

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 .

Who prepares CAT cutoff?

CAT cut off is prepared by all accepting colleges individually. There is no one authorized body to do so. Even the IIMs determine their admission cut offs separately.

What is IIM CAP process?

IIM CAP is a common selection process for newer Iims. Under the CAP candidates eligible for admission to the nine new Iims - IIM Bodhgaya, IIM Kashipur, IIM Sambalpur, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Jammu, IIM Ranchi, IIM Trichy and IIM Udaipur are shortlisted for What-PI round by a single IIM, the one who is given the responsibility to conduct the CAP round in a particular academic year. CAT cut offs, admission parameters and their weightage are same for all CAP Iims. The participating Iims send the list of candidates shortlisted by them for the What-PI process to the institute conducting CAP. The CAP conducting IIM conducts the What-PI round for all the participating Iims. The IIM CAP conducting institute then share the What-PI scores and results of the candidates with the participating institutes. Those institutes then prepare the final shortlist for admission. Those who are selected for admission are informed by the Iims via email. The offer of admission is sent to selected candidates which they have to accept within the given time limit. For more details of IIM CAP, read this article: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/what-is-iim-cap-know-admission-process-selection-criteria-and-participating-institutes-blogId-51225.

Is CAT score accepted by international B-Schools?

CAT score is a national level test and is not accepted by B-Schools outside India. For pursuing MBA in foreign countries GMAT score is accepted. Indian B-Schools accept GMAT score for admitting foreign/NRI/PIO students. CAT is also accepted for Executive MBA, PhD, FPM and other such management programmes in top colleges in India. Similarly, GMAT is also accepted for admission to domestic students in to Executive MBA and such programmes.

How much weightage does CAT score have in IIM shortlist?

CAT exam score has the weightage of about 40-60 per cent in IIM shortlist. The weightage varies for each IIM but is in the range of 40-60 per cent. Rest of the weightage is divided between academics, gender and work experience. However, in the final shortlist, weightage of CAT score is less than that of WAT-PI.

CAT Answer Key 2026 (Nov 4); Download Previous Years' PDF with Solutions

CAT 2026 admit card download

6 Nov '26 - 29 Nov '26

Updated on Nov 7, 2026 11:00 IST

By Abhishek Dhawan, Deputy Manager - MBA & BBA Content

CAT 2026 answer key will be released within a week of the exam. Candidates will be able to download it by using their login credentials. The provisional answer key will have candidate's responses mentioned against each question and official answer. This information will help test takers in calculating their expected score.

Window to challenge provisional CAT answer key 2026 will be opened on same day as release. Candidates will be able to raise objection against the official CAT 2026 answer key by filling an online form and requisite fee. Read on this page, all about CAT response sheet and answer key 2026.

Table of contents

How to Download CAT Answer Key 2026?
CAT 2026 Exam Dates & Schedule
CAT 2026 Answer Key: How to raise objection?
How to Calculate CAT score with Answer Key?
CAT Answer Key PDFs (Previous Years)
CAT Cut Off (Expected)
FAQs on CAT Answer Key 2026

How to Download CAT Answer Key 2026?

Candidates will be able to download CAT 2026 answer key by using their login ID and password. Check process below:

Visit CAT 2026 website
Click on 'login'
Enter CAT login ID/password
The answer key will appear on screen

Also Read: CAT Score vs Percentile

CAT Toppers Preparation Strategy

Real prep plan shared by CAT toppers who scored 99.9+ to 100 percentile:

2025 CAT Topper Anmol Gupta (99.96%): Solved 5 DILR sets in under 35 mins.
2024 CAT Topper Vagish Nangia (100%): Mastered VARC using a 7-8 min RC drill and prioritised sectional mocks.
2025 CAT Topper Pranshav Shah (99.80%): Followed daily timed routine of 4 RCs, 4 DILR sets, 30-40 Quant questions.

Download Topper Strategy Guide (PDF) →

Information Mentioned on CAT 2026 Answer Key

following information will be mentioned on every test taker's CAT answer key 2026:

Name of the candidate
CAT registration number
Exam centre
Test date and time
Slot number
Question/type/ID
Status (attempted/not attempted)
Right option/answer
Candidate's response

CAT 2026 Exam Dates & Schedule

Take a look at the table below for the complete schedule of CAT 2026 exam

Dates	Upcoming Exam Dates
To Be Notified	CAT 2026 result announcement TENTATIVE

CAT 2026 Answer Key: How to raise objection?

CAT 2026 answer key objection form will have to be submitted using their CAT login ID and password. Objection fee will be INR 1,500 per question. Following is the process to fill the CAT answer key objection form:

Go to CAT 2026 website and login
Go to Objection tab
Click on ‘+’ sign to add an objection
Check the question number from the PDF of the question paper on the official website
Enter relevant details
Upload supporting document
Pay objection fee, i.e. INR 1,500 per objection through credit/debit card or net banking

Raising Objection to CAT Answer Key: Points to Remember

Candidates must raise objection only if they are 100 percent sure of the error
The fee will be refunded to only those candidates whose objection have been accepted
The objection form will not get submitted without the payment of fees
The objection fee will be refunded in 5 working days
Objections that have been submitted once cannot be edited
There is no limit to raising objections against the official CAT answer keys
CAT result is nnounced only after the CAT answer key objection process is over and the objections have been evaluated
No objection will be entertained after the release of final CAT answer key and result
There will be no re-checking of CAT question paper or candidate responses under any circumstance

How to Calculate CAT score with Answer Key?

To calculate exam score with CAT response sheet and answer key, candidates have to add and subtract marks per question as per the official status: correct, incorrect or unanswered. They can martch their responses in the answer key and calculate expected marks.

CAT Marking Scheme

There is negative marking in CAT so while calculating the score, candidates need to keep that in mind. Given below is the table indicating latest marking scheme of the CAT exam

Type of Questions	Correct Answer	Incorrect Answer
MCQ	+3	-1
Non-MCQ	+3	0

Note: There will be no deduction of marks for unanswered questions and for incorrect attempt in non-MCQs.

How to Calculate CAT score?

Based on the marking scheme, CAT raw score can be calculated as; 0 correct attempts means (50x3 = 150 marks). 10 incorrect attempts means minus 10. Thus, the raw score Will be 140.

CAT Percentile Calculation

The raw CAT scores are normalised to ensure candidates from all three exam slots are assessed on the same level.
The normalised CAT score is then used for percentile calculation.
The CAT result is declared in percentile and B-schools select candidates on the basis of percentile, not score.
Once you know the raw score you can use Shiksha's CAT percentile predictor to know your expected CAT percentile

Download:

Download CAT question papers PDFs

Free CAT mock tests for practice

CAT Percentile predictor prepared by Shiksha.com helps students to get their predicted CAT percentile on the basis of their expected exam score. So, predict your CAT score by clicking the link below:

CAT Percentile Predictor

CAT Answer Key PDFs (Previous Years)

Download previous years' CAT question papers and answer keys:

Exam Year	Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
2025	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF
2024	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF
2023	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF
2022	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF
2021	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF
2020	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF
2019	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF
2018	Download PDF	Download PDF	Download PDF

CAT Cut Off (Expected)

Check below expected CAT 2026 cut offs of some of the popular MBA colleges in India. IIM cut offs range between 97 to 100 percentile.

Top MBA College	CAT Cut Offs (percentile)
FMS, Delhi	98-99
IIFT Delhi	95-99
SPJIMR, Mumbai	95-99
IMT, Ghaziabad	95-97
JBIMS, Mumbai	96
MDI, Gurgaon	97-99
IMI, New Delhi	90

Also Read: CAT Cut Offs (expected and previous years')

FAQs on CAT Answer Key 2026

Find important FAQs related to CAT answer key below:

Q: How to challenge CAT answer key?

The CAT examination body allows candidates to challenge the official answer key. In case a candidate feels any answer shared by the examination body is incorrect, they can challenge it by filling an objection form which is released on the same day as release of the CAT answer key and candidate response sheet. The candidates can fill the objection form by using their CAT login ID and password. Check below: 1. Visit the official website of CAT exam 2. Click on 'Login' 3. Enter CAT login ID and password to sign in 4. Go to 'Objection' tab 5. Click on plus sign to add an objection 6. Check the question number from the PDF of the question paper 7. Enter relevant details 8. Upload supporting document 9. Pay objection fee through credit/debit card or net banking The objection fee is INR 1,200 per objection. Candidates can raise any number of objections. The CAT answer key objection fee will be refunded to only those candidates whose objections will be accepted. Objections that have been submitted once cannot be edited.

Q: How to download CAT response sheet and answer key?

CAT answer key is released in online mode only. The link to download it is made live at official website within a week of the exam. Candidates can download it by using their CAT login ID and password. Given below is the process to download:

Visit iimcat. ac.in
Click on the 'login' tab
Enter CAT login ID and password
Click on sign in to go to student dashboard
Look for response sheet/answer key tab
Click on the link to open the answer key
Download the PDF and save it The CAT answer key

Q: How many candidates scored 100 percentile in CAT 2025?

In CAT 2025, the number of 100 percentilers was 12. Check state wise data:

Overall Percentile

Total

Gender and Discipline

State wise distribution

100

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

Q: How to check CAT cutoff?

The final CAT cutoff are not released publically. However, candidates can check qualifying cut offs in the admission criteria document released by IIMs and other institute before the exam.