CAT 2025: Exam Dates, Eligibility Criteria, Pattern, Syllabus, Cutoff

CAT 2025 will be conducted on 30th November, 2025. The official notification is expected to be released by 30th July, 2025, and CAT Registration will begin in the first week of August 2025. For the year 2025, IIM Kozhikode is expected to conduct the CAT examination. The registration process for this exam will begin in August 2025 and conclude by the end of September 2025. CAT exam 2025 will take place in three different slots, in a Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode.

Candidates who are willing to enrol in the top 21 IIMs must appear for this test. Apart from this, other B schools and more than 1000 MBA colleges in India also accept CAT scores. Every year, more than 3 lakh students appear for CAT exam, which makes it one of the most competitive exams in India. CAT Eligibility Criteria 2025 include a bachelor’s degree in any stream with at least 50% marks for the general category candidates. This exam evaluates students’ skills in quantitative aptitude, data interpretation, logical reasoning, and verbal ability. For more information, students must check the complete article.

CAT 2025 Highlights

CAT is one of the most popular national-level MBA entrance exams. It is conducted once a year, in November. In 2024, nearly 3.29 lakh students appeared for this exam. Tabulated below are the highlights of CAT 2025:

CAT 2025 Exam Date

The complete schedule for CAT 2025 will be made public by 30th July, 2025. However, it is expected that the CAT exam for 2025 will take place on 30th November, 2025. Candidates can check out the tentative dates for CAT this year:

CAT 2025 Eligibility Criteria

The exam conducting body has certain eligibility requirements that students must fulfill before applying for CAT registrations. Given below are the detailed descriptions of CAT 2025 eligibility criteria for MBA aspirants:

• Students must hold a bachelor’s degree in any stream with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA (45% for SC/ ST/ Pwd/ DA candidates).
• Candidates who are still waiting for their graduation marksheets to be released or any other equivalent qualification results can also apply for CAT 2025. In such cases, they must meet the minimum eligibility criteria based on 1st and 2nd year marks.
• Students who have completed their professional degree with CA/ CS/ ICWA/ FCAI with the minimum required percentage can also appear for CAT 2025.
• Graduate students’ education mode should be regular or distance learning. However, it should be a 3-year program, recognised by UGC.
• Candidates who are in their final years, and the results are pending, must submit the passing certificate or marksheet to the MBA college during the document verification round. Until then, their admission will remain provisional.

CAT 2025 Application Process

CAT Registration Date 2025 is expected to be the 1st week of August, and the application window will close by the last week of September 2025. To exercise the CAT 2025 Application Process, students are required to follow the steps mentioned below:

• Visit the official website of CAT 2025 iimcat.ac.in
• Next, students must click on ‘New Registration’ and enter their details, such as name, date of birth, nationality, phone number, and email address.
• They will receive an ID on their registered email.
• Using the same ID, students should log in and proceed with filling out the CAT application form.
• Submit all the required personal and educational details, and upload documents, like a scanned photograph and a signature.
• Select preferred courses and IIMs. Also, choose the test city in the drop-down list (only 5 cities can be selected for exam allotment centres).
• Further, pay the CAT application fee through a debit card/credit card or net banking.
• After successfully submitting the CAT application form, download the confirmation page for future use.

CAT 2025 Application Fees

The application fees for CAT 2025 differ based on students’ categories. The general category students' fees are higher than those of the reserved category candidates. Check out the CAT application fees in the table below:

CAT 2025 Reservation Criteria

Students who are seeking admission into IIMs must be aware that these institutes have some reservation criteria for reserved category students. Before filling out the application form for CAT 2025, students should check out the category-wise reservation policy of the IIMs:

CAT 2025 Exam Pattern

CAT 2025 will contain both multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and Type In The Answers questions (TITA). Students will get 140 minutes to complete the paper, with a sectional time limit of 40 minutes. The exam will be conducted in three slots, i.e., morning, afternoon, and evening. The language of the CAT Question Paper 2025 will be English. Get the full details related to the exam pattern of CAT 2025 below:

CAT 2025 Sectional Weightage

CAT 2025 is divided into three major sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. The total marks, including all the sections, are 240. The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension hold the highest weightage among the other sections. Find out the sectional weightage in the table presented below:

CAT 2025 Exam Analysis

The exam analysis for CAT 2025 will be released after the exams are over. However, based on the previous years’ data, students can get an idea of the number of questions they might receive from each section. In CAT 2024, there were 68 questions instead of 66. The overall difficulty level of the CAT exam paper in 2024 ranged from moderate to difficult. Students preparing for CAT 2025 must check out the complete CAT 2024 exam analysis:

CAT 2025 Syllabus

CAT syllabus for 2025 assesses students’ competencies in verbal reasoning, quantitative ability, data interpretation, and logical reasoning. The first sections, i.e., verbal ability and reading comprehension, include reading skills, grammar, vocabulary, analysing written materials, and reading comprehension. On the other hand, the DILR section involves interpreting data from tables, graphs, and charts, as well as students’ ability to solve logical reasoning problems. The final section, i.e., quantitative aptitude, evaluates students’ mathematical skills, which include arithmetic, algebra, geometry, etc. Given below is the CAT Syllabus 2025 for students to check and prepare for the exam well:

CAT Preparation 2025

CAT is one of the most competitive and challenging exams in India. Hence, it is important for CAT aspirants to adopt a clear strategy to crack this exam with the highest score. The preparation should include syllabus completion, revision, practising mock tests and previous years’ questions, and time management. Students can follow the preparation tips given for CAT 2025:

• First thing students should consider is familiarising themselves with the CAT Exam Pattern 2025 and the syllabus. They should make sure that all the topics from the syllabus are covered.
• They should practise an end number of mock tests to improve speed and accuracy.
• Candidates should dedicate time to revising earlier studied concepts. This will help retain the knowledge.
• Practising mathematical calculations from previous years’ CAT question papers is crucial.
• Lastly, candidates can opt for online platforms to learn tricks and techniques to save time and increase the accuracy level of their answers.

CAT 2025 Admit Card

CAT admit card is an important document that students will require to carry to the examination centre. The admit card includes information, such as the candidate’s name, date and time of the test, exam centre details, and exam day guidelines. Candidates who complete the registration process successfully can download the CAT admit card directly from the CAT official website.

How to Download CAT 2025 Admit Card?

CAT admit card for 2025 is expected to be released in the first week of November. Once the exam authorities release the admit card, students can download it to check all the details regarding CAT exam 2025. Candidates can follow the step-by-step process to download the CAT Admit Card 2025:

• Visit the CAT official website
• Log in using credentials like User ID and password
• Find the link to download the admit card and click on it
• The screen will display the CAT 2025 Admit Card
• Download it and take a printout for future reference.

CAT 2025 Answer Key

After the CAT 2025 exams are over, the IIM conducting body will release the answer key along with the response sheet of the CAT aspirants. This answer key will help students know the number of correct and incorrect answers they have marked in the exam. This way, they will also be able to calculate the estimated score they will obtain. In case of any discrepancy, candidates can raise objections to the answer key. It should be done within a limited timeframe of 1-2 days. The fee for objecting to the answer key is INR 1200 for each question.

How to Download CAT 2025 Answer Key?

The CAT answer key 2025 is expected to be out on the official website by the 1st week of December 2025. Check out the steps mentioned below to download the answer key of CAT 2025:

• Go to the CAT official website.
• Click on the ‘Log in’ tab and enter CAT login ID and password.
• Next, click on ‘CAT 2025 Answer Key’ and the answer key will be displayed on the screen.
• Click on the download option and save it in a PDF format.

CAT 2025 Result

The exam conducting authorities will publish the results on the official website for the CAT aspirants. This result will include sectional scores, percentile scores, and overall scaled scores and percentiles. Using CAT Result 2025, students can get into IIMs, top B schools, and other management institutes. The result is considered valid only for 1 year.

How to Download CAT 2025 Result?

CAT aspirants can access the result for CAT 2025 once it is made available by the authorities. It is expected that the CAT result 2025 will be out between the last week of December 2025 and 1st week of January 2026. Follow the steps mentioned below to download the results for CAT 2025 successfully:

• Visit the CAT official website.
• Enter CAT application number and password to log in.
• Click on the ‘Scorecard section’ to view the results.
• The CAT results for 2025 will appear on the screen.
• Download the result and take a printout of the same.

CAT 2025 Cutoff

Each IIM fix their cutoff category-wise. The minimum qualifying marks to secure admission into IIMs range between the 80th and 90th percentiles. However, the cutoffs for top IIMs like IIM Mumbai and IIM Rohtak range from 94 to 95. On the other hand, in 2024, the lowest cutoff score remained at 75 for IIM Shillong. Given below are the expected CAT Cutoff 2025 for IIMs based on previous years’ cutoff:

CAT 2025 Counselling Process

Admission into IIMs is done through the counselling process for the CAT-qualified candidates. CAT score is the minimum requirement for admission into IIMs. However, the main selection is based on the written ability test and personal interview. The counselling is divided into three phases: Phase 1, Shortlisting of candidates based on CAT scores; Phase 2, Written Ability and Personal Interview; and Phase 3, Final Selection. The selection criteria through CAT 2025 include a qualifying cutoff, academic and personality parameters, final admission score, etc. Discussed below is the complete counselling process for CAT 2025:

Phase 1: In this first phase of counselling, candidates will be shortlisted based on their scores obtained in CAT 2025. The minimum qualifying cutoff score for IIMs is 90 for the general category candidates. This means students who will secure a score above 90 in CAT exam will be considered eligible for the next round of the counselling process.

Phase 2: The next phase of counselling involves written ability and a personal interview. The Writing Ability test (WAT) assesses students’ written communication skills and analytical thinking. In this round, students are required to write an essay on a given topic. In the personal interview round, students’ personality, communication skills, knowledge and attitude are evaluated.

Phase 3: After the conclusion of the second phase of CAT Counselling 2025, students are offered admission based on their overall performance in past academic, work experience, CAT exam, and WAT and PI rounds. Given below is the sectional weightage of each parameter of IIM Bangalore:

CAT 2025 FAQs