CAT exam has two sections -

1. Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation.

2. Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.

Both these sections are of 70 minutes of duration each and consists of 60 questions each (30 questions in each subsection). For every correct answer you get 3 marks and for every wrong answer 1 mark is deducted.

Disclaimer : I am talking about general category candidates here.

Nothing can be considered as a "safe score" when it comes to IIMs. I have seen people scoring as high as 99.4 percentile and still not getting a call from any of the old IIMs and I have also seen people scoring as low as 94 percentile (yours truly) and still getting a call from a few old IIMs like Indore, Shillong and Kozhikode. A lot of factors come into play while deciding to call someone for PI and WA.

But if you have good academic record and you are from a reputed college in your field and you score anything above 98 percentile then there are fair chances of getting a call from almost all the IIMs (including IIM-A). Some work experience would be cherry on the cake.

If you have good academic record (more than 80% in class 10, 12 and UG) and you score anything between 90 to 95 percentile then you can get a call from some old IIMs like Indore, Shillong and Khozikode. Luck also plays an important part in deciding your fate.