CAT 2026: Application Form, Exam Dates, Eligibility, Exam Pattern

CAT 2026 Examination will be conducted through online mode. CAT (Common Admission Test) is a National Level Exam conducted one time every year. Through CAT exam, candidates will get admission in Postgraduate Management Courses. Indian Institute of Management (IIM) is the authority which conduct CAT examination every year on the rotational basis. Admission to the eligible candidates offers in IIM member institutes & top MBA colleges of country. Also, various Non-IIM institutes will accept scores of CAT to admit candidates. Candidates must go through this article to know all about CAT 2026 exam including exam dates, application form, eligibility etc.

CAT 2026 Overview

CAT 2026 Exam Dates

Get the table below to know complete CAT 2026 exam dates:

CAT 2026 Application Form

Candidates must have to follow the below instruction before filling CAT Application Form 2026:

• Authority will release CAT 2026 registration form from first week of August 2026.
• Aspirants will be allowed to fill application form through online mode only. No other facility will be entertained to fill the form.
• Registered candidates must fill application form with correct details to avoid any kind of mistakes.
• Fill details including educational qualification, communication, address, exam centre, category etc. carefully.
• Aspirants are advised to fill all the correct details in the application form, in case of incorrect details, it will be rejected.
• At the time of filling application form, candidates will need to select six examination cities as per their preferences.
• Upload required documents i.e. photograph, signature, category certificate in the prescribed format.
• Candidates will be able to submit their registration form of CAT 2026 till third week of September 2026.
• Correction window will be opened for the candidates in fourth week of September 2026.
• No hard copy of the registration form will be needed to submit by post or through any other offline mode.
• Candidates must keep a printout of application form safe for further references.

Application Fee:

• Registration fee for CAT 2026 will be paid via online mode only.
• Credit card/ Debit card/ Net Banking and UPI payment methods will be used for online transactions.
• Fee will be non-refundable once paid.

Check category wise application fee in the table below:

Steps to Apply for CAT 2026

Check the steps below to fill application form of CAT 2026:

• Go to the CAT website (Link will be provided above).
• Click ‘CAT 2026 Registration’ link.
• Enter mandatory details asked & click on the submit button.
• Now click on ‘login’ button and provide user ID and password.
• Continue to fill application form with educational, personal, communication etc. details.
• Select Six exam city preferences as per your choice.
• Upload required documents i.e. category certification, photograph in the specific format.
• Submit the registration fee via online payment gateways.
• Preview all the details before submitting the application form.
• Take print out of submitted form and keep it secure for further procedure.

CAT 2026 Application Correction

CAT 2026 application correction will be started from fourth week of September 2026. Correction window will be opened for the limited time period. Candidates must make correction in incorrect details before the last date. Correction facility to the aspirants will be allowed in particular fields.

No changes after the last date will be allowed in the registration form. Candidates must carefully edit the wrong details, no correction facility will be provided again after it. Take printout of the CAT registration form for further purpose after submitting all the correct details.

CAT 2026 Eligibility Criteria

Aspirants interested to apply for CAT 2026, must go through the eligibility criteria mentioned below:

• Qualifications: Candidates having Bachelor’s degree will be eligible to apply for exam.
• Age Limit: No upper & lower age limit criteria is applicable to apply.
• Marks Criteria: One must have obtained 50% marks (45% marks in case of SC/ ST & PWD) in the bachelor’s degree.
• Attempt Limit: Candidates can appear in any number of times, there will be no attempt limit prescribed.
• Appearing Candidates: Candidates those are appearing in their final year of graduation, will also be able to apply.

CAT 2026 Exam Pattern

In this section, we have discussed CAT examination pattern 2026:

• Mode of Exam: CAT exam will be conducted through online mode (CBT).
• Question Type: There will be both type questions in the exam i.e. MCQs & Non-MCQs.
• Duration: 2 hours will be provided to the candidates to solve question papers.
• Slots: Examination will be conducted in three slots.
• Marking Scheme: For every correct response 3 marks will be awarded.
• Negative Marking: 1 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer in MCQs. No negative marking will be done for subjective section.

Check subject wise scheme for the CAT exam in the table below:

CAT 2026 Syllabus

CAT 2026 syllabus will be based on the subjects i.e. qualitative aptitude, data interpretation & logical reasoning, verbal ability etc. Syllabus will be released through online mode on the website.

Below we have given some of the important topics of CAT 2026:

Data Interpretation: Graphs (line, area), Charts (Column, bar, pie), tables, paragraph, venn diagram, Interpretation and analysis of data based on text etc.

Verbal Ability & English: Analogies, sentence correction, fill in the blanks, antonyms and synonyms,critical reasoning, syllogisms etc.

Quantitative Ability & Mathematics: Percentages, quadratic & linear equations, LCM & HCF, averages, permutation, probability, trigonometry, time & work etc.

CAT 2026 Preparation Tips

Following are the preparation tips of CAT 2026 that can help aspirants to prepare for their exam:

• Create a schedule for your preparation & follow or the daily basis.
• Practice from previous year question papers & mock tests.
• Collect best books & study material for your preparation.
• Make your own notes & make daily revisions.
• Take care of your health & stay healthy during your study.
• Enhance your basics of mathematics & practice as much as you can.

CAT 2026 Books

Check some of the best books for CAT 2026 preparation below:

• How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Arun Sharma
• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha
• Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Nishit Sinha
• Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT by Sarvesh Verma
• CAT Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning by Gautam Puri
• High School English Grammar & Composition wren & martin

CAT 2026 Exam Centre

Here, we have given a list of exam centres where CAT 2026 examination is expected to be held:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

CAT 2026 Admit Card

Registered candidates will be able to download hall ticket of CAT 2026 through online mode. It will be made available from fourth week of October 2026. Admit card will be available to download using login details. Along with the CAT Admit card 2026, candidates will need to bring one photo identity proof.

Without having CAT admit card, aspirants will not be allowed to sit in the exam. Details i.e. name, time and date of exam, photograph, signature, application number will be printed on the hall ticket. Candidates must check details carefully printed on the admit card. In case of any discrepancy in details, contact to the authority immediately.

CAT 2026 Answer Key

CAT answer key will be made available to the candidates from first week of December 2026. Candidates will be able to check it through online mode as it will be available in PDF format. Objections will also be submitted by authority against the answer key till the time provided. With the help of answer key, candidates will be able to know their expected scores.

To raise the objection, candidates will need to pay a required fee. If objection raised by the candidates found correct then amount might be refunded to the candidates. Based on the final answer key, result will be prepared. Candidates must download their answer key & keep it safe for other references.

CAT 2026 Result/ Score Card

CAT Result 2026 will be declared through online mode. It will be announced in fourth week of December 2026. Candidates will be able to download their score card from the website using login credentials. Authority may also sent CAT score card to the candidates individually through SMS.

Result cum score card of CAT will contain details i.e. name, registration number, category, overall scores, sectional scores & percentile etc. Based on the scores obtained by the candidates in exam, they will be shortlisted for further admission procedure. Candidates must take printout of their result & keep it safe for further.

CAT 2026 Cut Off

Cut off will be a major parameter to shortlist candidates for admission procedure. CAT cut off will be released on the website few days after the declaration of result. Authority will release cut off list as per the category. It will be the minimum scores that candidates must score in the exam.

Cut off list will determine based on the total candidates appeared for exam, difficulty level of exam, last year cut off trends etc. Authority will release section wise cut off list in the PDF format. Participating institutes will also release their minimum cut off marks to shortlist candidates for admission.

CAT 2026 Selection Procedure

There will be no centralised counselling for CAT 2026. IIMs organises their separate admission/ counselling procedure to offer admission to the candidates. CAT 2026 Admission procedure will be started few days after the declaration of result. Candidates will need to visit IIMs individually in order to apply for IIMs. Different institutes will have their own admission criteria.

Selection of the candidates will depend on previous academic performance of the candidates, work experiences & other similar inputs. Various institutes will also conduct their own admission test, interview sessions or group discussion rounds. Shortlisted candidates will need to report at the allotted institutes for document verification process.

Candidates must bring their original documents & admission letter on the reporting day. Final admission will be provided to the candidates after verification of the documents & submission of admission fee.

Participating Institutes of CAT

Here we have provided participating institutes of CAT:

• IIM Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu
• IIM Amritsar, Punjab
• IIM Nagpur, Maharashtra
• IIM Bodh Gaya, Bihar
• IIM Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh
• IIM Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir
• IIM Sambalpur, Odisha
• IIM Indore, Madhya Pradesh
• IIM Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
• IIM Ranchi, Jharkhand
• IIM Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
• IIM Ahmedabad, Gujarat
• IIM Calcutta, West Bengal
• IIM Bangalore, Karnataka
• IIM Kashipur, Uttarakhand
• IIM Udaipur, Rajasthan
• IIM Kozhikode, Kerala
• IIM Indore, Madhya Pradesh
• IIM Raipur, Chhattisgarh
• IIM Shillong, Meghalaya
• IIM Rohtak, Haryana

If candidates have any other query related to CAT 2026 exam, then they can feel free to ask us in the comment box below.