CAT Registration 2026 (Ongoing): Important Dates, Steps to Apply, Fees

CAT registration 2026 began through online mode on the CAT official website from August 3, 2026 (10:00 AM onwards). The CAT registration last date 2026 is September 15, 2026 (up to 05:00 PM). The CAT 2026 notification was released on July 26, 2026. IIM Indore will conduct the CAT 2026 exam on November 29, 2026, across 170 cities in India.

• For CAT registration 2026, candidates must first create an account on the CAT official website, at iimcat.ac.in, using their name, date of birth, email ID, and phone number.
• Candidates who have obtained a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate (45% for SC/ST/PwD) from a recognised university are eligible for CAT exam registration.
• The CAT exam fees 2026 are INR 2,700 for General/ EWS/ NC-OBC categories and INR 1,350 for SC/ST/PwD categories.
• The CAT application form correction window 2026 is expected to be made accessible in the third or last week of September 2026 for 3-4 days, where candidates can make changes to their photographs, signatures, CAT exam centre, or CAT test city preferences.
• Candidates can select up to 5 test cities from the list of 170 cities. The exam centre allotment will be based on the availability of seats at the centre and done on a first-come, first-served basis.

CAT Registration Link 2026

CAT registration link 2026 has been made active on the CAT official website at iimcat.ac.in on August 3, 2026. The direct link for CAT exam registration has been updated below as it is activated on the official website.

The CAT 2026 notification was released on July 26, 2026. The CAT notification 2026 download link has been provided below.

Things to Keep in mind before Registering for CAT 2026

• Check your eligibility for CAT 2026 by referring to the Eligibility document on the website.
• Ensure that you have a valid and unique email address and mobile number. Please ensure that you retain this email address and mobile number until the CAT Admission process is completed as all the official communications will be done using this email address and mobile number only.

• “*” (asterisk) indicates a mandatory field. The fields marked with this symbol must be filled in or you will not be allowed to submit your application for CAT 2026.

CAT Registration Dates 2026

CAT Registration Dates 2026 are from August 3 to August 15, 2026. The CAT entrance exam date 2026 is November 29, 2026. The notification was made available on July 26, 2026. Find the CAT 2026 Important Dates relevant to the application process in the table below:

CAT Exam Registration Process 2026

CAT exam registration process 2026 requires completing the application for CAT exam 2026 by registering on the CAT official website at iimcat.ac.in to receive the User ID and Password. Candidates must enter their User ID and Password to log in to the CAT official website and fill out the CAT exam form 2026 with their personal details, academic information, work experience, preferred programmes, and exam city.

The detailed step-by-step process to apply for the CAT 2026 exam has been provided below.

Step 1: Register to Get CAT User ID and Password

The recommended browsers to fill in the application form are Microsoft Edge (version 114 to 137), Mozilla Firefox (version 122 to 141), and Google Chrome (version 114 to 138).

Step 2: Log in to the CAT Website

1. Log in as a registered candidate by entering the User ID and Password received after completing Step 1.
2. After candidates have logged in, they will be redirected to the Applicant Details page, where their personal details will be displayed. Click on the “GO TO APPLICATION” link next to Personal Details to get access to the application page.

Step 3: CAT Entrance Form Filling Process

After logging in, fill out the CAT exam form 2026 with the necessary details. Some of these details will be mentioned in the CAT 2026 Admit Card. The CAT entrance form filling involves five sections: Personal Details, Academic Details, Professional Experience

Programmes, and Exam City.

Documents Required for CAT Registration 2026

It is mandatory for candidates to submit the following documents during the CAT registration 2026:

CAT Exam Fees 2026

CAT exam fees 2026 must be paid in the final stages of the application process to complete CAT registration 2026 successfully. The CAT form price 2026 has been updated to INR 2,700 for General category candidates and INR 1,350 for the SC, ST, and PwD category candidates.

• CAT exam fees for 2026 will vary by category and can be paid only online through net banking, UPI, credit cards, or debit cards.
• CAT registration fees 2026 cannot be refunded.
• Note that the CAT exam fees include both CAT registration fees and the IIM application fees, and no further amount needs to be paid when you are applying for MBA/ PGDM admission to the 21 IIMs.

. The CAT exam fees 2026 for different categories are as follows:

Check related articles:

• CAT 2026 Dress Code
• CAT Documents Required 2026
• CAT Registration Fees 2026
• Forgot CAT 2026 User ID and Password? Know How to Retrieve Your Login Credentials

CAT Exam Eligibility 2026

CAT exam eligibility 2026 includes certain mandatory requirements for the CAT 2026 exam, including graduation, Professional Degree, age limit, and seat reservation, to avoid disqualification of their CAT admission forms 2026. Find the CAT Exam Eligibility 2026 in detail below.

Note: Additionally, if candidates have completed a dual degree or integrated programme, or are in their final year, they can appear for the CAT exam 2026 if they meet the overall marks eligibility criteria. If they belong to the PwD category, they can avail scribe or reader facilities for the CAT exam 2026 and may also get extra time during the examination, if eligible.

CAT Reservation 2026

CAT Reservation 2026 policy will be implemented for candidates who belong to the SC, ST, OBC-NCL, EWS, and PwD categories at IIMs in the percentage mentioned below, as per Government of India’s reservation policy:

CAT Application Form Correction Window 2026

CAT Application Form Correction Window 2026 is expected to be made available in the last week of September 2026, most likely from September 24 to September 27, 2026, to allow candidates to make corrections to specific fields where candidates have made mistakes. Modifications to the CAT admission forms must be done before the final admit cards are released.

Editable Fields in the CAT Application Form 2026

Candidates will be allowed to edit the following fields only:

• Photograph (if the original photograph uploaded by you was blurry or was not clicked in a non-white background.
• Signature (if it was difficult or impossible to read or not cropped correctly)
• Test City Preferences (if the candidate’s priorities for the CAT exam city have changed, he/she can choose up to 6 exam cities in the order of his/her latest preference)
• CAT exam centre preferences

Non-Editable Fields in the CAT Application Form 2026

Candidates will not be allowed to edit the following elements in the CAT admission form 2026 once it is submitted:

• Candidate Name
• Date of Birth (DOB)
• Email Address
• Mobile Number
• Academic marks
• Work experience

CAT Application Form Correction Process 2026

To rectify the mistakes in the allowed fields in the CAT admission form 2026, candidates must log in to their account on the CAT official website and follow the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Visit the official website of IIM CAT 2026 at iimcat.ac.in.

Step 2: Click on the “Login” tab.

Step 3: Enter the mandatory credentials, i.e., your CAT User ID and Password, and log in to access the dashboard.

Step 4: Click on the tab that says “Application Form”.

Step 6: Go to the section where you want to make the changes (photograph, signature, exam centre, test city) and edit those fields.

Step 7: Enter the CAPTCHA code provided on the screen and click on “Continue” to complete the application form correction process.

Read more:

• CAT Registration Trends: Year-on-Year Growth and What It Means for Aspirants
• CAT on Screen Calculator: How to use it?

Common Mistakes to Avoid During CAT Registration 2026

Since the CAT application form correction window does not allow the candidates to edit their personal or academic information, they must avoid making the following common mistakes while filling out the CAT admission form 2026:

• Candidates’ Name or DOB should not be different from the ones mentioned on their Class 10/ SSC certificate.
• Do not enter an invalid/ inactive Email ID or mobile number.
• Select the candidate category carefully from General, EWS, NC-OBC, SC, ST, or PwD as this section cannot be edited later.
• SC, ST, NC-OBC, EWS, and PwD candidates must not forget to upload their category certificate.
• Do not add incorrect academic marks (wrong CGPA-to-% conversion or marks with wrong decimals, e.g., 092.50 instead of 92.50) or forget to mention additional subjects in Class 12.
• Do not upload your photograph or signature in the wrong size or format.
• Do not select CAT 2026 test cities based on your current location. Candidates must consider their November 2026 location and choose the exam cities wisely.
• Do not provide incorrect work experience dates or include internships, projects, articleship, and pre-graduation experience. Only full-time post-graduation work experience is accepted.
• Select enough IIMs or MBA/ PGDM programmes since there is no extra fee for selecting all.
• Do not upload a photograph that is blurry or incorrectly formatted. A recent passport-size photograph with a white background must be uploaded.
• Do not skip previewing the CAT admission form 2026 as the CAT application data cannot be changed after submission. Do not rush while filling out the application form and review every section carefully.

Year-wise CAT Exam Registration Trends

Considering the CAT 2025 registration trends, the number of candidates applying for the CAT 2026 exam is expected to range from 3.05 -3.15 lakh, out of which approximately 2.65-2.75 lakh will appear for the exam.

CAT 2025 Registrations

The CAT 2025 exam was conducted on November 30, 2025, by IIM Kozhikode.

• A total of 2.95 lakh candidates registered, out of which approximately 2.58 lakh candidates appeared. Around 37,000 candidates did not appear for the exam, making the attendance rate around 87.46%.
• Out of total registrations, around 62–63% were male candidates and around 37% were female candidates.
• The category-wise CAT 2025 registration data has been provided below:

1. The number of General candidates was approximately 1,93,900 (65.76%)
2. Almost 15,500 candidates were from the EWS category (5.26%)
3. NC-OBC category constituted 17.82% of the total candidates, with almost 52,600 candidates.
4. 8.78% of the candidates belong to the SC category, with approximately 25,900 candidates.
5. 2.38% belong to the ST category, with almost 7,000 candidates.
6. Only 0.49% belonged to the PwD category, with approximately 1,450 candidates.

In 2024, 3.29 lakh candidates registered but only 2.93 lakh of them appeared for the exam. The CAT registration data for the last 10 years have been provided in the table below.

CAT 2026 Helpdesk

If candidates face any challenges during CAT 2026 registration, fee payment, document upload, or login, they can contact the official CAT helpdesk.

• Helpdesk Email: cathelpdesk@iimcat.ac.in
• Toll-Free Helpline: 1800-266-3549 / 1800-212-2663
• Helpdesk Timings: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

CAT Application Process 2026 FAQs