Common Admission Test (CAT)

CAT (Common Admission Test) is the premier all India level management entrance exam conducted by IIMs (Indian Institute of Management). CAT Entrance exam shortlist applicants for admission in 19 IIM's located at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam. Common Admission Test (CAT) is one of the competitive entrance examinations for pursuing postgraduate programmes in Business Administration.

CAT is the largest MBA entrance test conducted annually in India. The CAT score is also accepted by many Non - IIM institutes for admission. CAT is a computer based test held in India. The test scores a candidate on the basis of Quantitative Ability (QA),Verbal Ability (VA) and Reading Comprehension (RC), Data Interpretation (DI) and Logical Reasoning (LR). The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) started this exam. It is the gateway for admission to 19 Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and various B-schools located across the country. This national level examination is conducted by the IIMs on the rotation basis.

Important Dates

CAT Important Dates

Event	Dates
Start Date of Online Application	4 August 2020
Last Date of Online Application	18 September 2020
Admit Card Download Date	24 October 2020
CAT 2020 Exam Date	29 November 2020
Result Announcement Date	5 January 2021

Post Graduate Programmes in Management

Post Graduate Programmes in Management

Institutes	Programmes
IIM Ahmedabad	PGP and PGP-FABM
IIM Amritsar	PGP
IIM Bangalore	PGP, PGPEM and PGPPM
IIM Bodh Gaya	PGP
IIM Calcutta	PGP-PGDM
IIM Indore	PGP and EPGP
IIM Kashipur	PGP and EPGPM
IIM Kozhikode	PGP
IIM Lucknow	PGP, PGP-ABM and PGPSM
IIM Nagpur	PGP
IIM Raipur	PGP and PGPWE
IIM Ranchi	PGDM and PGDHRM
IIM Rohtak	PGP and EPGP
IIM Sambalpur	PGP
RGIIM Shillong	PGP and PGPEX
IIM Sirmaur	PGP
IIM Tiruchirappalli	PGP and PGPBM
IIM Udaipur	PGP
IIM Visakhapatnam	PGP

Fellow Programmes in Management (FPM) Offering Institutes

Fellow Programmes in Management (FPM) Offering Institutes through CAT

IIM Ahmedabad	IIM Bangalore	IIM Calcutta
IIM Indore	IIM Kashipur	IIM Kozhikode
IIM Lucknow	IIM Raipur	IIM Ranchi
IIM Rohtak	RGIIM Shillong	IIM Tiruchirappalli
IIM Udaipur	IIM Kashipur	IIM Raipur

Eligibility

The Eligibility Criteria required by candidates appearing for the CAT examination are as follows:

• The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons with Disability (PWD)/Differently Abled (DA) category)
• Candidates who are appearing for the final year of bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting results can also apply.
• IIMs may verify eligibility at various stages of the selection process so candidates are requested to fill in the correct details.

Reservations

Candidates claiming reservations must fulfill the following requirements:

• 15% of the seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates. 27% of seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes candidates belonging to the “non - creamy” layer (NC - OBC).
• 3% seats are reserved for Differently Abled (DA) candidates. The three categories of disability are: a) low vision blindness, b) hearing impairment and c) locomotor disability/cerebral palsy.

How to Apply?

• Students have to Register on the website: http://www.iimcat.ac.in/
• Enter the required details: Name of Candidate, Date of Birth, Email Address, Mobile Number. Your User ID and password is generated.
• Login to the official website of CAT. Fill Personal Details and Communication Address.
• Students have to upload following documents: Passport Size Photograph and Signature, NC-OBC/SC/ST Certificate, PWD/DA Certificate.
• Fill Academic details: SSC/10th Std/Equivalent Details, 12th/Equivalent/Diploma Course Details, Bachelor Degree Details, Other Professional Degree Details, Master Degree Details.
• Students having work Experience can enter their details in Work Experience section
• Select Programme Names and interview city
• Select Exam centre City preference. Candidates can select upto 4 choices
• Payment can be done by Net Banking, Credit Card (Visa / Master), Credit Card (American Express), Debit Card (Visa / Master).
• After payment is done you will receive application confirmation Email
• Students can log into the CAT website and see Application Summary and Download Application form

Note: If a candidate does not receive a Confirmation email or have any query or concern, they can connect with the Candidate Help Desk at 1800 266 0207. Please have your User ID and/or Payment Transaction Number details for reference.

CAT Test Duration & Pattern

CAT covers questions in three areas - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VRC, 34 questions), Quantitative Quantitative Ability (QA, 34 questions) & Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR, 32 questions).

The duration of the exam is 180 minutes. There is no separate time limit on sections.

CAT Test Pattern

S.No	Section Name	No. of Questions	Time Allotted
1.	Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	34	60 minutes
2.	Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC)	34	60 minutes
3.	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	32	60 minutes
Total	100 Questions	180 minutes (03 hours)

• Each candidate will get 3 points for every correct answer.
• Also, 1 point will be deducted for each wrong answer marked by the candidate.
• There is no penalty for questions that will be left unanswered/unmarked by the candidate.
• Candidates will be allowed to use a basic online calculator for doing calculations.
• Entrance Test will have both, objective type questions and a few descriptive questions in each section.

Exam Duration: 170 minutes

Syllabus

There is no prescribed syllabus for CAT but seeing the question pattern a detailed syllabus has been mentioned below:

The Quantitative Aptitude section consists of fundamental mathematics, based on 10 + 2 difficulty level. Problems come from varied topics like Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and Commercial Mathematics (Word Problems).

The Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section consists of questions on the given data. The data given can be in the form of graphs, charts, tables and paragraphs. Data Interpretation problems tests the understanding of a candidate of the data and the ability to solve problems accurately. Logical Reasoning questions consists of logic based questions to check candidates presence of mind and and evaluate problems.

The Verbal Ability section consists of questions on comprehension and usage of standard English grammar. Verbal Logic questions checks the candidate's knowledge of arranging paragraphs in a logical order, determining the type of statements, completing the paragraphs in a proper way.

CAT Exam centres

CAT Exam centres

State/Union Territories	Exam Cities for CAT
West Bengal	Asansol, Burdwan, Bishnupur,Durgapur, Howrah, Kalyani, Hooghly,Kolkata, Siliguri
Uttarakhand	Dehradun, Roorkee
Uttar Pradesh	Agra, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Bareilly, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Mathura, Meerut, Lucknow, Varanasi
Telangana	Hyderabad, Karim Nagar, Khammam
Tamil Nadu	Chennai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelvelli, Coimbatore, Madurai, Namakkal
Rajasthan	Ajmer, Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Sikar, Udaipur
Punjab	Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali, Pathankot, Patiala, Ropar, Sangrur
Puducherry	Puducherry
Odisha	Balasore, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur
Meghalaya	Shillong
Maharashtra	Ahmednagar, Amravati, Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Ratnagiri, Satara, Solapur, Thane
Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Sagar
Kerala	Kasaragod, Kochi, Kollam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Trivandrum
Karnataka	Kolar, Mandya, Mangalore, Mysore, Ramnagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Belgaum, Bengaluru, Bidar, Chikballapur, Davanagere, Hasan
Jharkhand	Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Ranchi
Jammu & Kashmir	Jammu
Himachal Pradesh	Simla
Haryana	Gurgaon, Palwal, Panipath, Rohtak, Sonipath, Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad
Gujarat	Ahmedabad, Anand, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara
Goa	Madgaon, Verna
Delhi	New Delhi
Chattisgarh	Raipur, Bhillai
Chandigarh	Chandigarh
Bihar	Aurangabad, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Purnea
Assam	Dibrugarh, Guwahati
Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar
Andhra Pradesh	Chittoor, Kurnool, Nellore, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam
Andaman & Nicobar Islands	Port Blair

Admit Card

Admit Card download will be available from 18th October 2020 till Exam day. Students are requested to check the CAT website: https://iimcat.ac.in and stay updated.

Result

Candidates can expect CAT 2017 result in the month of December/January 2021. They have to keep themselves updated by checking the CAT website.

CAT Score Card

Scorecard of candidates will be available at the official website of CAT: www.iimcat.ac.in and candidates will be made aware regarding the same. The Scorecard will be possibly available at its official website in the month of January 2021.

Contact Details

CAT Centre
C/o Admissions Office
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
Joka, Diamond Harbour Road,
Kolkata-700 104

Phone: (+91) (33)-2467 9178(D) / 2467 8300-8306 (Ext.:148)

FAX: (+91) (33) 2438 0892(D), 2467 8062

E-Mail: [email protected]

https://iimcat.ac.in

Reference Books

List of suggested books for CAT exam preparations.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Discussions

Do you have questions? Click here to Ask the IndCareer Community!

Futher Reading

• Entrance Exams in India