IIM-CAT MBA Exam
IIM-CAT MBA Exam

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow will conduct the CAT 2023 entrance exam for MBA admission. Full Form of CAT is The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2023 will be held tentatively on November 26, 2023, in three sessions at around 300 test centres spread across about 154 cities in India.

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.

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Common Admission Test (CAT)

CAT is the largest MBA entrance test conducted annually in India. The CAT score is also accepted by many Non – IIM institutes for the 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

The tentative dates of the CAT MBA entrance exam 2023 can be checked from the table below.

Release of CAT Application Form02 Aug 2023
Application Form Last Date21 Sep 2023 (11:00 am)
Application Form correction window25 Sep 2023,  05:00 PM – 28 Sep 2023,  05:00 PM
Admit Card Release Date07 Nov 2023
CAT 2023 Exam Date26 Nov 2023
Response Sheet05 Dec 2023
Publication of Answer Key05 Dec 2023 (Provisional)
CAT Result Announcement Date2nd week of January 2024
Important Dates

Important Downloads and Official Links

Post Graduate Programmes in Management

InstitutesProgrammes
IIM AhmedabadPGP and PGP-FABM
IIM AmritsarPGP
IIM BangalorePGP, PGPEM and PGPPM
IIM Bodh GayaPGP
IIM CalcuttaPGP-PGDM
IIM IndorePGP and EPGP
IIM KashipurPGP and EPGPM
IIM KozhikodePGP
IIM LucknowPGP, PGP-ABM and PGPSM
IIM NagpurPGP
IIM RaipurPGP and PGPWE
IIM RanchiPGDM and PGDHRM
IIM RohtakPGP and EPGP
IIM SambalpurPGP
RGIIM ShillongPGP and PGPEX
IIM SirmaurPGP
IIM TiruchirappalliPGP and PGPBM
IIM UdaipurPGP
IIM VisakhapatnamPGP
Post Graduate Programmes in Management

Fellow Programmes in Management (FPM) Offering Institutes

IIM AhmedabadIIM BangaloreIIM Calcutta
IIM IndoreIIM KashipurIIM Kozhikode
IIM LucknowIIM RaipurIIM Ranchi
IIM RohtakRGIIM ShillongIIM Tiruchirappalli
IIM UdaipurIIM KashipurIIM Raipur

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates who passed a 3-year bachelor’s degree from any stream from a UGC-recognized degree are eligible to apply for CAT 2023. A detailed eligibility criteria is given below:

  • Candidates should have a bachelor’s degree in any stream from a recognized institution/ university.
  • Candidate should secure 50% marks in aggregate (45% for SC/ST/Pwd categories) in the qualifying exam
  • Candidates who have done CA/CS/ICWA and have scored the required percentage can also appear for CAT 2023
  • Candidates appearing for the final year of Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification exam and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting results can also apply 
  • Bachelor’s degree must be of minimum 3 years
  • No upper or lower age limit

Reservation

  • As per the legal requirements, 15% of the seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, 7.5% for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates, 27% for Other Backward Classes candidates belonging to the “Non-Creamy” layer (NC-OBC), up to 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidates and 5% for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwD).

Application Process

  • Candidates can register for Common Admission Test (CAT) through online mode only
  • CAT application forms at iimcat.ac.in 2023
  • Indian Institute of Management (IIM) will release the CAT 2023 application forms
  • CAT 2023 application forms release at iimcat.ac.in.
  • The CAT registration involves three simple steps:
  • Step-1: Registration
  • Step-2: Fill Application Form and Upload Images of required documents, photograph, signature etc.
  • Step-3: Make Payment
  • The details will be available in the registration guide on the website www.iimcat.ac.in.

Registration Fee

  • For SC/ST/PWD Category Candidates: Rs. 1150/-
  • For Other Category Candidates: Rs. 2300/-
  • Mode of Payment : Online through using Debit Card / Credit Card / Net Banking

Selection Process

  • Every B-school along with IIMs has its own selection criteria and cut-off list
  • The first stage for selection includes admission test, academic performance & relevant work experience,
  • On the basis of candidate’s performance in the admission test, academic performance & relevant work experience, the candidates will be shortlisted for the second stage of selection process
  • The second stage of selection includes – Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussions (GD) and Personal Interviews (PI).
  • Written Test- Candidate has to write on one or more topics a brief essay in the time duration of 15-45 minutes.
  • Group Discussion– A round is held where 8-10 candidates are given a particular topic and they have to discuss on it. This is to check the candidate’s group dynamics.
  • Personal Interview– In this round candidate has to present himself/herself before the panel of 4-8 interviewers. This is a final round and is held to check the candidate’s educational qualification, hobbies, interests and work experience
  • Students will be selected for admission on the basis of Entrance test, WAT, GD and PI.

Exam Pattern

  • CAT is a computer- based objective type test with a mix of multiple choice of questions (MCQs) as well as some non-MCQs
  • The CAT 2023 will comprise of three sections, i.e. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning & Quantitative Ability
  • The exam duration will be 180 minutes (3 hours) – 60 minutes will be given for each section.
  • Total Number of Questions: 100
  • Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension: 34 questions
  • Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning: 32 questions
  • Quantitative Ability: 34 questions
  • Marking Scheme
  • +3 for right answer
  • -1 for wrong answer
  • No negative marking for non-MSQs

Test Centers

  • CAT will be conducted in centers spread across around 150 test cities. Test cities will be mentioned in the CAT website and the name of the test centre will be indicated in the Admit Card.
  • IIMs reserve the right to change or cancel any test centre/city and/or change the test time and date at their discretion.

Score

  • Candidates’ CAT 2023 scorecards will be made accessible on the CAT website.
  •  Candidates may also be intimated individually by SMS.
  • The CAT results are likely to be declared by the First week of January 2024.
  • The CAT 2023 score is valid only till December 31, 2024 and will accordingly be accessible on the website.
  • Thereafter, no queries related to the issuance of CAT 2023 scorecards will be entertained.

CAT Exam centers

State/Union TerritoriesExam Cities for CAT
West BengalAsansol, Burdwan, Bishnupur,Durgapur, Howrah, Kalyani, Hooghly,Kolkata, Siliguri
UttarakhandDehradun, Roorkee
Uttar PradeshAgra, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Bareilly, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Mathura, Meerut, Lucknow, Varanasi
TelanganaHyderabad, Karim Nagar, Khammam
Tamil NaduChennai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelvelli, Coimbatore, Madurai, Namakkal
RajasthanAjmer, Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Sikar, Udaipur
PunjabFatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali, Pathankot, Patiala, Ropar, Sangrur
PuducherryPuducherry
OdishaBalasore, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur
MeghalayaShillong
MaharashtraAhmednagar, Amravati, Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Ratnagiri, Satara, Solapur, Thane
Madhya PradeshBhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Sagar
KeralaKasaragod, Kochi, Kollam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Trivandrum
KarnatakaKolar, Mandya, Mangalore, Mysore, Ramnagara, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Belgaum, Bengaluru, Bidar, Chikballapur, Davanagere, Hasan
JharkhandDhanbad, Jamshedpur, Ranchi
Jammu & KashmirJammu
Himachal PradeshSimla
HaryanaGurgaon, Palwal, Panipath, Rohtak, Sonipath, Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad
GujaratAhmedabad, Anand, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara
GoaMadgaon, Verna
DelhiNew Delhi
ChattisgarhRaipur, Bhillai
ChandigarhChandigarh
BiharAurangabad, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Purnea
AssamDibrugarh, Guwahati
Arunachal PradeshItanagar
Andhra PradeshChittoor, Kurnool, Nellore, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam
Andaman & Nicobar IslandsPort Blair
CAT Exam centers List

When should I apply for CAT 2023?

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) is expected to officially issue the CAT 2023 notification this weekend, most likely tomorrow, July 29. The official CAT 2023 website is likely to be activated after the notification is released. The eligible candidates are expected to fill up CAT application form 2023 from August 4, 2023 as notification is expected by tomorrow, July 2023.

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 2023.

For more details and to apply online, please visit the official website

CAT – An Overview

AspectsDetails
Name of ExamCAT
CAT Full FormCommon Admission Test
More Exams Of This TypeMBA Entrance Exams
Scale Of This ExamNational Level
State or Region For Which This Exam Is Most RelevantIndia
(note – this does not indicate domicile requirement.
it only refers to states or regions where score
accepting colleges are situated)
Organization That Holds This ExamIIM Lucknow
IIM Lucknow Full FormIndian Institute of Management Lucknow
Official Websiteiimcat.ac.in
Programs or Courses Where Admission Is Through This TestMBA, PGDM
Colleges or Universities Where Admission Is Through This TestIIMs, and other B-Schools, MBA colleges in India accepting CAT scores
List of IIMsIndian Institutes of Management Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore,
Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow,
Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur,
Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur, Visakhapatnam
Minimum Educational QualificationBachelor’s Degree
Mode of ExamComputer Based Test
Exam Duration120 minutes
Subjects in Question PaperSection I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
Section III: Quantitative Ability
CAT – An Overview

Contact Details

CAT Centre
C/o. Admissions Office,
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore,
Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru – 560 076, Karnataka, India.

Phone.: +91-080-26993388 / 3017 / 3013

Email: [email protected]

FAQs

CAT official website 2023

The official website of IIM CAT is iimcat.ac.in. As per the latest update, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow will conduct the CAT entrance exam for MBA admission this year. Eligible candidates will be able to apply at iimcat.ac.in.

CAT 2023 notification date

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow will release the official IIM CAT 2023 notification likely on July 29. The CAT notification will have the details related to CAT exam 2023 such as CAT registration date, CAT exam application form correction window, issuance of CAT admit card, CAT exam, and result date.

How much is required in CAT for IIM?

Candidates who score more than the 95 percentile can get a call from most of the IIMs for the WAT and PI rounds. To get a call from top IIMs like IIM Ahmedabad, and IIM Bengaluru, students need to score more than 99%. The expected cutoff will be released by the coaching institutes soon after the conclusion of the CAT exam for MBA. Also read; PGP fees, and seats in IIMs

Changes expected in CAT exam 2023?

Currently, everyone across the country has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow is likely to remove the mandatory submission of vaccination status. Also, the conducting body is expected to reduce the CAT exam centers as the exam authorities did earlier. In 2017, IIM Lucknow conducted the CAT exam in around 140 exam

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