CAT Exam Eligibility 2026: Qualification, Minimum Marks & Age Limit

CAT Exam Eligibility 2026 has been officially released by IIM Indore on the official CAT website at iimcat.ac.in. The CAT exam qualifications 2026 involving the academic degree and minimum marks remain the same as in previous years.

• CAT examination eligibility 2026 requires candidates to hold a Bachelor’s degree obtained over a minimum duration of 3 years from any University or educational institution as incorporated by an Act of Parliament or State legislature in India or declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956.
• The minimum percentile required for CAT 2026 in Graduation is 50% in aggregate for the General category and 45% in aggregate for the SC & ST categories.
• Students in their final year of graduation or who have finished their bachelor’s degree but are awaiting their results are also CAT eligible, provided they submit a certificate signed by the Principal, confirming the candidate has completed all the requirements for obtaining the Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification and has obtained the minimum required percentage at the time of admission.
• There is no age limit for the CAT exam 2026, whereas candidates can also appear for the CAT exam any number of times.

CAT Exam Eligibility 2026

CAT exam eligibility 2026 is the minimum requirement for students to appear for the CAT exam 2026, which includes graduation, professional degree, age limit, and seat reservation. Candidates must complete a Bachelor's Degree of 3 years’ duration or equivalent qualification with 50% for General, EWS & NC-OBC; 45% for SC, ST & PwBD to become eligible to apply for the CAT exam 2026. Aspirants must fulfill the CAT examination eligibility 2026 to avoid disqualification of their CAT application form 2026.

Check: CAT Exam Pattern 2026

CAT Exam Qualification 2026

CAT exam qualification 2026 requires candidates to meet the minimum CAT exam eligibility, which includes completing a Bachelor’s degree over 3 years’ duration. Graduates involving Arts graduates, Science graduates, Medical graduates, Engineers, Commerce graduates, CA/CS/CMA degree-holders and final-year students are CAT eligible. The candidates’ performance in the undergraduate degree programme will determine his/her CAT exam eligibility for 2026. Candidates applying for the CAT exam 2026 must fulfill any of the conditions mentioned below:

CAT Exam Qualification Marks 2026

CAT exam qualification marks 2026 include the minimum percentage of marks required to appear for CAT 2026, which differ based on the candidate’s category. For the General, EWS, and NC-OBC candidates, the minimum aggregate marks are 50%. 5% relaxation is provided to reserved-category candidates. A minimum of 45% aggregate marks is required for SC/ ST/ PwD categories. To calculate the CAT percentage, candidates’ marks across all semesters and years of the qualifying degree are considered. The category-wise minimum aggregate marks to be secured in the Bachelor’s degree for 2026 are provided below based on standard IIM criteria observed in previous years.

Check:CAT 2026 Admit Card

Age Criteria for CAT Exam 2026

Age criteria for CAT Exam 2026 have not been mentioned in the CAT 2026 information bulletin. No upper age limit has been specified for appearing in the CAT exam 2026. Additionally, no minimum age limit has been specified for CAT test-takers. Candidates just need to obtain the minimum CAT exam qualification, which is a Bachelor’s degree with at least 50% aggregate marks. However, age restrictions may exist at IIMs and other B-Schools for MBA/ PGDM admissions.

Is a Final Year Student Eligible for CAT?

Final-year students and candidates awaiting their final results are eligible for CAT exam 2026. CAT exam eligibility 2026 for final-year students has also been mentioned in the CAT 2026 information bulletin.

• Candidates will be allowed to fill out the CAT 2026 application form if they are in the final year of their Bachelor’s degree programme and have still not obtained the Bachelor’s degree marks or scores. However, they will be offered provisional admission.
• If their graduation results are pending, they can still apply for CAT 2026 and appear for the exam. Provisional admission will be offered to them.
• The proof of the candidates’ eligibility should be submitted by the deadline specified by the IIM in the form of an official certificate from the Principal or Registrar of their University/Institution during the CAT Application Process 2026.
• The certificate must state that the candidate has met all the eligibility requirements for receiving the Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification and obtained the minimum percentage required for the CAT exam 2026 (50% aggregate for General/ EWS/ NC-OBC and 45% aggregate for SC/ST/PwBD) on the date of its issuance.
• The final Graduation mark sheet and passing certificate must be submitted to the IIM, most likely by June or July 2027.
• Final admission will be provided only after completing the Bachelor’s degree and obtaining the minimum required marks.

However, this does not guarantee admission to IIMs. The CAT 2026 Eligibility of final-year students is stated below in the table format:

Does the CAT Exam Require Work Experience? 

Possessing professional experience is not mandatory for CAT exam. Although there is a section allotted to work experience in the CAT application form 2026, prior work experience is not compulsory to apply for the CAT exam 2026. Work experience carries weightage only at the later stages of the selection process at the IIMs, especially the Personal Interview (PI) round. Work experience reflects the candidates’ leadership, communication, teamwork, and decision-making skills along with their exposure to business environments and challenges occurring at the workplace. Additional marks are allotted for relevant full-time work experience during the final selection process at the IIMs but not while calculating the CAT percentile. The best work experience duration ranges from 24 to 36 months and the weightage allotted to professional experience varies from one institute to another in the following manner:

Working professionals are required to upload their work experience details as of July 31, 2026:

• Work experience certificate issued by the company
• Joining letter
• First month and last three months’ salary slips
• Name of Organization
• Designation
• Employment Start Date
• Employment End Date
• Break in work experience (in days)
• Total full-time work experience (in months and days)

Can NRI give CAT Exam 2026?

NRIs and Foreign Nationals can give CAT exam 2026. The CAT eligibility criteria 2026 for MBA for Foreign Nationals and NRIs require a Bachelor's degree from a recognised University with 50% marks for General/ EWS/ NC-OBC and 45% for SC/ ST/ PwBD. IIM admissions for Foreign Nationals and NRIs/PIOs take place through GMAT or GRE scores.

CAT Reservation 2026

CAT Reservation 2026 exists for candidates belonging to the SC, ST, OBC-NCL, EWS, and PwD categories based on the norms established by the Government of India. Candidates will be considered eligible for reservation of seats at IIMs in a way that 15% of the seats will be allotted for SC, 7.5% for ST, 27% for NC-OBC, up to 10% for EWS, and 5% for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) candidates.

CAT 2026 reservation policy has been formulated based on the reservation norms of the Government of India for admissions to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). As per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act 2016), “Person with Benchmark Disability” refers to candidates having not less than 40% of a specified disability. Under the RPwD Act 2016, the categories of specified disability are as follows:

1. Blindness and Low Vision
2. Deaf and Hard of Hearing
3. Locomotor Disability, including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, and muscular dystrophy
4. Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, Specific Learning Disability, and Mental Illness
5. Multiple Disabilities involving two or more of the above categories
6. Other specified disabilities listed in the Schedule of the RPwD Act, 2016

CAT Exam Eligibility for IIM 2026

CAT exam eligibility for IIM 2026 is slightly different from the basic CAT examination eligibility for 2026. Although candidates must hold a Bachelor's degree or an equivalent qualification from a recognized university with at least 50% aggregate marks (for General, EWS, or NC-OBC categories) or 45% aggregate marks (for SC, ST or PwBD categories) for IIM admissions, the final admission to IIMs depends upon several additional factors such as:

• CAT percentile
• Academic performance in Class 10, Class 12, and Graduation
• Work experience (5–10% weightage is allotted to work experience during the final admission process and the highest scores are usually awarded to candidates with 24–36 months of relevant full-time work experience)
• Academic and Gender Diversity
• Written Ability Test (WAT) performance
• Personal Interview (PI) performance
• Selection policies specified by the institute

CAT Eligibility 2026 for Reserved Categories for MBA

CAT Eligibility 2026 for Reserved Categories (SC, ST, NC-OBC, EWS and PwBD) states that the respective caste/tribe of the candidates must be listed in the Government of India schedule. Candidates must submit the caste certificate to the IIMs in the Government of India-approved format and it must clearly indicate the following:

1. Name of the caste/tribe
2. Whether the candidate belongs to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe
3. District and State or Union Territory of the candidate’s ordinary residence
4. Appropriate Government of India schedule under which the candidate’s caste/tribe is approved as Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe by it.

• Candidates are required to upload a copy of the SC/ST/NC-OBC/EWS/PwBD certificate(s) at the time of the CAT registration 2026. If a candidate fails to upload a copy of the caste/class certificate, his/her CAT registration will be rejected.
• At the time of interviews, candidates must furnish their original SC/ST/NC-OBC/EWS/PwBD certificate(s) as well as photocopies. The certificate(s) must be submitted by the candidates at the time of joining the programmes of any of the IIMs; otherwise the candidate(s) will not be considered under the reserved category.
• Candidates may also apply for a UDID card (PwBD Category) and upload the same while submitting the CAT application form 2027.

Also Check:CAT 2026 Preparation Tips

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2026 FAQs