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    CAT Qualifying Marks 2026: Expected Category-Wise & Section-Wise Cutoff, Previous Year Trends
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    • CAT Qualifying Marks 2026: Expected Category-Wise & Section-Wise Cutoff, Previous Year Trends

    CAT Qualifying Marks 2026: Expected Category-Wise & Section-Wise Cutoff, Previous Year Trends

    Himanshu ShekharUpdated on 08 Oct 2026, 05:30 PM IST

    The CAT 2026 qualifying marks will be revealed once the CAT 2026 cutoff for the academic session 2027-2029 is released. Candidates appearing for the CAT 2026 exam slot 2 and CAT exam slot 3 must check the CAT 2026 qualifying marks The CAT qualifying marks 2026 will be released for the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and other top B-schools accepting the CAT scores for their MBA/PGDM courses under different MBA specializations. This article provides the expected CAT qualifying marks and previous years CAT cutoff to give a fair idea to the candidates who are applying to different colleges to pursue an MBA. The result for the CAT exam 2026 is expected to be declared in the third week of December.

    This Story also Contains

    1. CAT Qualifying Marks 2026: Category-Wise
    2. CAT 2026 Qualification Marks: Sections-Wise
    3. CAT 2026 Qualifying Marks: Previous Year Trends
    4. CAT Qualifying Marks for IIMs
    5. CAT Qualifying Marks for Non-IIMs
    CAT Qualifying Marks 2026: Expected Category-Wise & Section-Wise Cutoff, Previous Year Trends
    CAT Qualifying Marks 2026

    CAT Qualifying Marks 2026: Category-Wise

    The qualifying marks of CAT 2026 will depend on several contributing factors, such as the CAT exam difficulty level, the number of appearing candidates, seats offered, and the reservation criteria. The expected CAT 2026 qualifying marks for candidates across different categories are given in the table below.

    CategoryCAT Qualifying Marks 2026 (Expected)

    General

    99.9%

    OBC

    99%

    SC

    90%

    ST

    80%

    PWD

    70%

    CAT 2026 Qualification Marks: Sections-Wise

    The CAT 2026 exam has sectional cutoffs for each of its sections. All the candidates must clear the sectional cutoffs as well as the overall CAT 2026 cutoff to be eligible for admission to the IIMs and other B schools. The CAT qualifying marks for different CAT sections are mentioned in the table below.

    CAT PercentileVARC ScoreDILR ScoreQA ScoreOverall Score

    99.9%

    52.94

    43.32

    36.68

    132.94

    99.5%

    44

    41.4

    36.5

    103.98

    99%

    12.08

    61.56

    43.16

    96.79

    98%

    36

    34

    29

    86

    95%

    30

    27

    22

    70

    CAT 2026 Qualifying Marks: Previous Year Trends

    CAT qualifying marks for the previous years in which CAT was conducted give an important metric as to what marks are required by the candidates to qualify for the IIMs and other top colleges. The CAT 2024 qualifying marks for different category candidates are given in the table below.

    CategoryCAT Qualifying Marks 2024

    General

    99.68%

    OBC

    97.71%

    SC

    78.95%

    ST

    72.79%

    EWS

    97%

    CAT Qualifying Marks for IIMs

    The IIMs have different CAT qualifying marks criteria for admission. The expected CAT qualifying marks 2026 for IIM colleges are given in the table below.

    List of IIMs

    CAT Qualifying Marks 2026

    CAT Qualifying Marks 2026

    IIM Ahmedabad

    95

    90.98

    IIM Bangalore

    85

    95.45

    IIM Calcutta

    99

    -

    IIM Lucknow

    90

    91.02

    IIM Indore

    90

    92.43

    IIM Kozhikode

    85

    -

    IIM Amritsar

    90

    96

    IIM Nagpur

    95

    96

    IIM Sambalpur

    90

    96

    IIM Trichy

    95

    95

    IIM Raipur

    80

    95

    IIM Ranchi

    95

    95

    IIM Vizag

    82

    95

    IIM Udaipur

    95

    93

    IIM Bodh Gaya

    94

    93

    IIM Shillong

    -

    93

    IIM Sirmaur

    95

    92

    IIM Rohtak

    95

    96

    IIM Mumbai

    85

    -

    CAT Qualifying Marks for Non-IIMs

    Apart from the IIMs, various top-rated B schools across the country also accept CAT scores for their MBA/PGDM admissions. The expected CAT 2026 qualifying marks for non-IIMs are given in the table below.

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    Q: What time is the CAT exam today?
    A:

    Here are the CAT 2026 Exam slot timings: 

    CAT 2026 Exam SlotsCAT Slot Timings 2026
    CAT Exam Slot 1 20268:30 AM to 10:30 AM
    CAT 2026 Slot 212:30 PM to 2:30 PM
    CAT 2026 exam slot 34:30 PM to 6:30 PM
    Q: What are the minimum marks to qualify for the CAT exam?
    A:

    According to the eligibility criteria a candidate must have at least 50% marks or an equivalent CGPA (45% for reserved category candidates) in Bachelor’s for the CAT exam. The marks of 10th and 12th standard will also play an important role in the selection process.

    Q: What is the passing score in the CAT?
    A:

    The passing score in the CAT exam will be different for all the colleges. However, candidates should at least aim for more than 90 percentile to get a good college. For IIMs, a good score will be at least 99 percentile as per cutoff trends.

    Q: How many attempts for the CAT?
    A:

    There are no specific number of attempts prescribed by the authorities for the CAT exam. CAT is held once every year by an IIM. There is also no upper age limit specified for a candidate wishing to appear for the CAT exam.

    Q: How many seats are in IIM?
    A:

    The total seats in all the 21 IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) come to be around 5500. These seats are collectively for the MBA and the PGDM courses offered by all the IIMs throughout the country.

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    Questions related to CAT

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to CAT ?

    Hello, for AP NEET PG Category C seats, NRI documents are generally required if you are applying under the NRI quota, and eligibility depends on the applicable counselling rules. The fee payment currency and procedure should be confirmed from the current Dr. NTRUHS notification at its official website drntr.uhsap.in.

    Hello, CAT aur B-school entrance exams ke baare mein aap exam dates, eligibility, registration, exam pattern, syllabus, colleges ya admission process ki information dekh sakte hain. Aapki requirement ke according relevant details yahan mil sakti hain: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams

    Hey there,

    For a B.Sc. with Chemistry, Botany and Zoology (CBZ), if the CAT application asks separately for:

    • Degree Name: B.Sc.
    • Graduation Stream: Science
    • Discipline: enter/select Science if that is an available option.

    If the Discipline dropdown has a more specific option such as “Biological Sciences,” “Life Sciences,” or “Zoology/Botany,”

    Hey there,

    Yes. With 2 years of work experience, you are eligible to target the regular 2-year MBA at IIM Calcutta as long as you have a bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST/PwD). Work experience is not required for eligibility.

    Which exam do you need?

    For