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    How Many Students Appear for CAT 2026? Check Registration, Attendance & Previous Year Trends
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    • How Many Students Appear for CAT 2026? Check Registration, Attendance & Previous Year Trends

    How Many Students Appear for CAT 2026? Check Registration, Attendance & Previous Year Trends

    Team Careers360Updated on 08 Oct 2026, 05:31 PM IST

    CAT 2026 Registrations: As per Indian express report around 2.84 lakh candidates have registered for CAT 2026. However as per the last year's statistics, 2.58 lakh candidates appeared for the CAT exam. This is almost 35 thousand less than CAT 2024. However, the CAT 2026 exam is yet to be conducted on November 29, 2026. Looking at the trends of the past years, there will be 8284+ seats up for grabs in 22 IIMs, the top B-Schools in the country via CAT 2026. The CAT is one of the most important MBA entrance exams every MBA aspirant attends. Explore the article to learn more about how many students take the CAT exam every year.

    This Story also Contains

    1. How Many Students Will Appear for the CAT 2026 Exam?
    2. Previous CAT Exam Trends: CAT 2025 vs 2024 vs CAT 2023 vs CAT 2022 vs CAT 2021 vs CAT 2020
    3. MBA colleges accepting the CAT 2026 exam
    How Many Students Appear for CAT 2026? Check Registration, Attendance & Previous Year Trends
    How Many Students Give CAT Exam Every Year

    How Many Students Will Appear for the CAT 2026 Exam?

    According to a report by The Indian Express, around 2.84 lakh candidates have registered for CAT 2026. The CAT 2026 will be conducted by IIM Indore on November 29, 2026. The number of CAT 2026 registrations and the total count of students participating in the CAT exam are mentioned here.

    Total CAT 2026 Registrations

    Around 2. 84 lakh

    Number of students attending the CAT 2026 exam

    To Be Updated
    % of students who attended CAT 2026To Be Updated

    Also Read: How Many Students Clear the CAT Exam Every Year?

    Previous CAT Exam Trends: CAT 2025 vs 2024 vs CAT 2023 vs CAT 2022 vs CAT 2021 vs CAT 2020

    In CAT 2024, conducted by IIM Calcutta, 2.93 lakh candidates appeared for the exam out of 3.29 lakh registrations. Check out the last five years' CAT exam attendance to understand how the trends have changed this year.

    How Many Students Took the CAT Exam: Previous Years' Data

    Year

    CAT Conducting IIMs

    Total CAT registrations

    Total Students Appeared for the CAT exam

    2026IIM Indore2. 84 Lakhs-
    2025IIM Kozhikode2.95 Lakhs2.58 Lakhs
    2024IIM Calcutta3.29 Lakhs2.93 Lakhs

    2023

    IIM Lucknow

    3.28 lakhs

    2.88 lakh

    2022

    IIM Bangalore

    2.55 lakhs

    2.22 lakh

    2021

    IIM Ahmedabad

    2.30 lakhs

    1.90 lakh

    2020

    IIM Indore

    2.30 lakhs

    1.90 lakh

    MBA colleges accepting the CAT 2026 exam

    The total number of colleges accepting CAT scores is around 1000+. There are 21 IIMs, 8 IITs, and other premium B-schools run by public or private. Candidates will be called for a written test, GD, or PI for the final selection, based on their performance in the CAT exam. Top MBA colleges accepting CAT results are mentioned in the tables below.

    List of IIMs, Number of Seats, and Fee

    The table below contains the list of IIMs along with their fees and number of seats for the MBA admissions 2027-29. The seats and fees are subject to change as per the latest admission policy of each IIM.

    IIMs Accepting CAT

    Number of Seats (Expected)

    IIM Fee (Expected)

    IIM Ahmedabad

    402

    Rs. 27.50 lakh

    IIM Bangalore

    535

    Rs. 26.30 lakh

    IIM Calcutta

    475

    -

    IIM Lucknow

    576

    Rs. 20.75 lakh

    IIM Kozhikode

    375

    Rs. 23.50 lakh

    IIM Indore

    489

    Rs. 25.15 lakh

    IIM Trichy

    -

    Rs. 21.24 lakh

    IIM Amritsar

    262

    Rs. 21.50 lakh

    IIM Rohtak

    257

    Rs. 17.90 lakh

    IIM Bodhgaya

    326

    Rs. 17.96 lakh

    IIM Sambalpur

    316

    Rs. 21.13 lakh

    IIM Sirmaur

    297

    Rs. 21.00 lakh

    IIM Jammu

    -

    Rs. 22.80 lakh

    IIM Ranchi

    250
    Rs. 19.20 lakh

    IIM Raipur

    314

    Rs. 20.08 lakh

    IIM Kashipur

    463

    Rs. 20.80 lakh

    IIM Shillong

    395

    Rs. 26.18 lakh

    IIM Udaipur

    330

    Rs. 21.51 lakh

    IIM Nagpur

    356

    Rs. 21.00 lakh

    IIM Visakhapatnam

    344

    Rs. 23.58 lakh

    IIM Guwahati
    -Rs. 18.00 lakh

    List of IITs Accepting CAT Scores

    Apart from IIMs, IITs are also known for their MBA courses. IIT colleges with their number of seats for the management course are mentioned in the following table.

    IITs Offering MBA Admission

    Total Seat Intake (Expected)

    IIT Delhi

    115

    IIT Bombay

    152

    IIT Kharagpur

    200

    IIT Madras

    70

    IIT Roorkee

    95

    IIT Dhanbad

    92

    IIT Kanpur

    78

    Top Colleges Accepting CAT Score between 90-100 Percentile

    Apart from IIMs and IITs, the list of colleges accepting CAT scores in the 90- 100 percentile range is listed below.

    Best MBA colleges accepting CAT percentile 90-100

    Course Fees

    Faculty of Management Studies

    Rs. 2.43 Lakh

    MDI Gurgaon

    Rs. 26.55 lakh

    Institute of Management Technology (Ghaziabad)

    -

    IMI Delhi

    Rs. 23.54 lakh

    JBIMS Mumbai

    Rs. 8.12 lakhs

    SPJIMR, Mumbai

    Rs. 22.66 lakh

    How many seats are there in the CAT exam?

    The total number of seats available at IIMs is around 7500, and for IITs, it is 760. The majority of the MBA colleges in India accept the CAT marks for management course admissions. The total number of MBA seats available in India is 15000+. Candidates who achieve CAT cutoff marks above the 90 percentile can join any of the top B-schools in India.

    Check out: IIM vs IIT MBA: Which one to choose?

    What is the success rate of CAT?

    Around 2 to 3 lakh candidates appear for the CAT exam every year. The difficulty level of the CAT exam is high to select eligible candidates based on their logical, analytical, mathematical, and language skills. So, the success rate of the CAT exam is only 2 percent. This means only 2 candidates out of 100 will clear the CAT exam with decent scores.

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    Q: How many students fill the CAT 2026 form?
    A:

    The CAT 2026 applications are ongoing, therefore we don't know yet how many applicants have filled out the CAT 2026 application form. 

    Q: What is the success rate of the CAT exam?
    A:

    The success rate of the CAT exam is nearly 2%, which means only 2 out of every 100 students clear the CAT exam.

    Q: How many candidates appeared for CAT 2026 exam?
    A:

    As per the previous year's trends, the number of candidates who will appear for the CAT 2026 exam is expected to be lower than past years. 

    Q: How many candidates appear for the CAT exam every year?
    A:

    Looking at past years' trends, approximately 2 to 3 lakh candidates appear for the CAT exam every year.

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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