CAT 2025: Common Admission Test (CAT Exam) is a computer-based MBA entrance test for admissions into the IIMs and several other prestigious B-Schools. Approximately more than 3.29 lakh students annually register for the CAT exam for IIM admissions. CAT exam is one of the most popular MBA entrance exams in the country. CAT 2025 will be conducted for MBA/ PGDM admissions at 21 IIMs and 1000+ B-Schools in India. Those with a Bachelor’s degree with 50% marks or equivalent CGPA will be eligible to fill out the CAT 2025 registration form. Candidate can visit the official website iimacat.ac.in for more updates about CAT.
This article provide you all the detailed information about CAT 2025 examination which includes important dates, eligibility, application process, admit card, exam pattern, syllabus etc.
Subscribe to RM Group of Education Newsletter, Get Admission, Fees, Seats etc.
Contents
Highlights
Following are some important details you need to know before proceeding further. Let’s have a look.
| Name of Exam | Common Admission Test |
| Short Exam Name | CAT |
| Conducting Body | Indian Institutes of Management, Kozhikode (Expected) |
| Exam Level | National Level Exam |
| Frequency of Conduct | Annually |
| Exam Mode | Computer Based Test (CBT) |
| Exam date | 30th November 2025 ( Tentative ) |
| Exam Time Duration | 2 Hours (120 Minutes) 1.) 40 Minutes for Each Section 2.) 13 Minutes 20 Seconds extra for PwD candidates |
| Registration Mode | Online Mode |
| Entrance exam sessions | To be conducted in 3 sessions: Morning, Afternoon & Evening |
| Application Fees | Rs 2,500 (General category), Rs 1,250 (Reserved category) |
| Test Cities | 170 cities (subject to change) |
| Courses Offered | MBA/ PGDM/PGPM/Executive MBA/FPM |
| CAT 2022 official website | https://iimcat.ac.in |
CAT 2025 Exam Dates
Below are the important dates of CAT 2025, including registration date, admit card release date, fees submission date etc.
| Events | Tentative Dates |
| CAT 2025 Official Notification | 30 July 2025 |
| Application form release date | First week of August to Third week of September 2025 |
| Last date to submit the fees for application form | Last week of September 2025 |
| Form Correction Window shall open | Third week of September 2022 |
| Admit Card Release date | First week of November 2025 |
| Exam date | 30 November 2025 |
| CAT answer key release | First week of December 2025 |
| Result announcement date | Last week of December 2025 or First week of January 2026 |
Eligibility Criteria
Candidates interested in taking this CAT entrance test must check the IIM CAT eligibility criteria 2025 and ensure that they meet the same before they begin CAT registration. CAT conducting body will release the CAT exam eligibility in PDF format on its official website.
| Academic Qualification | 1. Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in any stream from a recognized University/Institute. 2. Candidates with professional qualifications like CA/CS/ICWA/Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India (FIAI) with the required percentage can apply. 3. Final year candidates in graduation are also eligible to apply. |
| Required Marks in Graduate | 50% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD) |
| Age Limit | There is no age restriction to apply for the CAT exam |
| Work Experience | Not Mandatory |
| Reservation | Based on category |
Registration Process
Registration form for CAT exam 2025 will only be available in online mode. The candidates must follow this step-by-step CAT 2025 registration guide to fill out the form and apply for this IIM entrance test.
- Visit the official website – iimcat.ac.in.
- Go to the “CAT 2025 Registration” link.
- Fill in the required valid details.
- Upload all the necessary documents in a prescribed format.
- Pay the CAT exam fees online.
- Submit the completed registration form for the CAT exam 2025.
- Download and take a printout of the application form.
- On successful registration for the CAT exam, candidates will receive CAT 2025 login credentials – CAT User ID and Password, which must be used for logging into CAT 2025 student login.
Application Fee
Candidates from the general category have to pay Rs 2,500 and from the reserved category have to pay Rs 1,100. CAT registration fee should be payable through Debit/ Credit card/ Net banking/ BillDesk/ PayU/ Paytm.
| Category | Application Fee |
| General Category | Rs 2500 |
| SC/ST/PwD | Rs 1250 |
Exam Pattern
PwD category students will receive 53 minutes and 20 seconds to complete a specific section of the CAT exam, while other students will receive 40 minutes per section. The duration of the CAT exam was 2 hours (120 minutes).
| Section | Total Questions |
| Section I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 24 |
| Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) | 22 |
| Section III: Quantitative Ability (QA) | 22 |
| Total | 68 |
CAT 2025 Syllabus
Here is the updated syllabus for CAT 2025. It will help you to make your study schedule.
| Subject | Syllabus |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension | Fill in the blanks, Para Jumbles, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Sentence completion, Jumbled paragraphs, Verbal Logic, Different usage of the same word, Syllogisms, Parts of speech, Verbal reasoning, Para completion and inference, Subject-Verb Agreement, Idioms, Analogies, Antonyms, Foreign Language Words Used in English, Sentence Correction, One Word Substitution, Prepositions, Types of Clauses, Phrase Modifiers, Errors in Tenses, Article Usage. |
| Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning | Seating Arrangement, Venn Diagram, Coding-Decoding, Binary Logic, Blood Relations, Syllogism, Direction Sense, Tables, Bars and Line Graphs, Puzzles, Family Tree, Assumptions, Pie Charts, Data Sufficiency, Clocks and Calendars, Series, Statements, Proposition, Data Arrangement, Data Structures, Sets & Caselet. |
| Quantitative Ability | Geometry, Ratios and Proportion, Work and Time, Algebra, Percentages, Mensuration, Time, Speed and Distance, Square Root and Cube Root, Number System, Simple interest and compound interest, Mean, mode, median, Binomial theorem, Geometric Progression, Surds and Indices, Trigonometry, Inequations, Inequalities, Quadratic and Linear Equations, Logarithms, Partnership (Accounts), Profit & Loss, Probability. |
Recommended Books
This is a list of books that will help you prepare for your CAT exam.
| Subject | Books |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension | PSC for VA for CAT by Nishit Sinha, How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Sharma and Upadhyay, High School English Grammar by Wren and Martin, A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal. |
| Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning | Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning by Gautam Puri, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency by Ananta Ashisha, A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal, How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT by Arun Sharma. |
| Quantitative Ability | NCERT Mathematics books (Class 9-10) by NCERT, Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT by Sarvesh Verma, Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal, Quantitative Aptitude for All Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha. |
Exam Preparation Tips
These are few steps you can follow for your preparation of CAT exam. Let’s take a look.
- Familiarize yourself with CAT updated syllabus and exam pattern.
- Make a schedule for study and stick to it.
- Focus more on your weaker subject and topic with high weightage.
- Practice regularly and revise everything you’ve learned.
- Stay healthy, consistent and confident during the preparation of exam.
- Clear your doubts, don’t hesitate to take help whether from teacher or online resources.
Admit Card
CAT conducting body will release the admit card of IIMCAT 2025 probably on First week of November 2025. Admit card will be released online only. To download your admit card, visit the official website and login with your user ID and password. Admit card will be displayed. Download the same and check the details mentioned therein. Keep a soft copy of the admit card for CAT 2025 saved for future references.
Result
IIM will declare the CAT 2025 result on the official website. To download CAT 2025 scorecard, candidates have to log in and enter their CAT login credentials like CAT Registration ID and Password on the official CAT website, iimcat.ac.in. They must download their CAT scorecard 2025 as all admissions are based on the CAT 2025 result. Based on the CAT result 2025, a merit list will be prepared for further IIM MBA admissions in 2026.
CAT 2025 Cutoff
CAT 2025 cutoff marks, which are minimum marks or percentile required to secure entries, differ from IIM to IIM and the course and category of the students. IIMs like IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Raipur, etc.
| IIM Campus | IIM Cutoff 2024 (Expected) In percentile | IIM Cutoff 2025 In percentile |
| IIM Ahmedabad | 99-100 | To be announced |
| IIM Bangalore | 99-100 | To be announced |
| IIM Lucknow | 97-98 | To be announced |
| IIM Kozhikode | 97-98 | To be announced |
| IIM Nagpur | 95-96 | To be announced |
| IIM Raipur | 94-95 | To be announced |
| IIM Ranchi | 94-95 | To be announced |
| IIM Udaipur | 92-94 | To be announced |
| IIM Shillong | 90 | To be announced |
Selection Process
After taking the CAT exam and meeting qualifying cutoff, candidates are invited to the Selection Process. This process includes Written Ability Test (WAT) and Group Discussion/Personal Interview (GD/PI). The steps for IIM admission through CAT are explained below.
- Shortlisting of candidates on the basis of CAT score
- Conduct of WAT-PI round
- Final selection and offer of admission.
Candidates should research thoroughly before participating in the selection process.