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Exams · CAT

MBA

CAT

CAT 2026 exam: 29 Nov 2026 (official — iimcat.ac.in). Official site: iimcat.ac.in.

Common Admission Test

MBA entrance for IIMs and other top business schools. 66 questions in 120 minutes across VARC, DILR, and Quant.

49 days to exam(official)66 Qs198 marks120 minNegative: −1📅 Dates & updates📋 Full syllabus🎯 Expected cutoff🧠 Tricks & mnemonics📖 How to crack it🔁 Mistake Notebook

Free CAT mock tests and previous year paper practice — start now.

Full-length mocks with instant scoring and solutions, PYQ-pattern papers, topic-wise tests and Ask Shishya when you're stuck. Your scores and a free day-by-day plan are saved to your account. All free, no credit card. Content is AI-drafted and checked against the official notification.

Sign up with GoogleNo forms. A five-question CAT test opens for you.Start CAT practice now: after you sign up, a five-question starter test opens by itself and CAT is set up as your exam. From then on you can write whole timed mocks, each score is kept, and every mock records your weak topics. Free, with your Google account, no forms.Try a free 5-question quiz — no signup →
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~7,700 vacancies(indicative / typical)✓ Verify on Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) ↗

Updated 26 Aug 2026 ·Vacancy counts change every cycle — always confirm the exact number in the latest official notification before applying.

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Sourced

Source: official exam authority notification · refreshed weekly. How this works →

✦ Try a CAT question — free, no signup

In the passage 'The committee's report was criticized for its pedantic focus on minor procedural details while ignoring substantive policy issues,' the word 'pedantic' most nearly means:

Tap an option to check your answer.

Start with a diagnostic

5 questions across the syllabus to see where you stand.

This becomes your exam: a Daily 5 email on mornings after you visit, and emails about your streak, live tests, exam date and result day, or after a week away. Each has an unsubscribe link.

🧩 Build your own mock — pick exact topics → · every mock readable in हिंदी + 17 languages inside the test

CAT eligibility

Verified against the official notification. Source ↗ · last reconciled 2026-05.

Education
Bachelor's degree with at least 50% aggregate (45% for SC / ST / PwBD), or a CA / CS / ICWA equivalent.
  • Final-year graduating students can apply.
  • Professional degrees recognised: CA, CS, ICWA, equivalent.
Attempts
Unlimited attempts.
Nationality
Open to all — Indian citizens, NRIs, OCIs and foreign nationals.

CAT cutoffs

Historical cutoffs are a guide, not a prediction. Use them to set a realistic target, not to predict next year's exact number.

IIM percentile cutoffs (for shortlist — General category, 2024 batch)

These are shortlisting cutoffs only — final selection weights CAT, academics, work-ex, gender diversity, written assessment + PI.

YearCategoryCutoff
2024IIM Ahmedabad≥ 99 overall · ≥ 80 each section
2024IIM Bangalore≥ 99 overall · ≥ 85 each section
2024IIM Calcutta≥ 99 overall · ≥ 85 each section
2024IIM Lucknow≥ 92.5 overall · ≥ 80 each section
2024IIM Kozhikode≥ 90 overall · ≥ 80 each section
2024IIM Indore≥ 90 overall · ≥ 80 each section
2024New IIMs (avg)≥ 80 overall · sectional ≥ 70-75

Source: official ↗ · verified 2026-05.

CAT paper analysis — what actually got asked

Topic-by-topic weightage averaged across 2022-2024 papers. Use this to decide where to invest study hours, not where to skim. Source ↗ · verified 2026-05.

VARC

72/198 marks avg

  • Reading Comprehension (4 passages, ~16 Qs)

    ~48 marks(24%)

  • Verbal Ability (Para-summary, Para-jumble, Misfit, Para-completion)

    ~24 marks(12%)

DILR

60/198 marks avg

  • Logical Reasoning sets (3-4 sets)

    ~36 marks(18%)

  • Data Interpretation sets (1-2 sets)

    ~24 marks(12%)

QA

66/198 marks avg

  • Arithmetic (TSD, Work, Mixtures, Ratio, Percentages)

    ~30 marks(15%)

  • Algebra + Number System

    ~18 marks(9%)

  • Geometry + Mensuration

    ~12 marks(6%)

  • Modern Math (P&C, Probability, Sequences)

    ~6 marks(3%)

Takeaways for prep planning

  • Reading Comprehension is non-negotiable — 16 of the 24 VARC questions are RC. A 6+ wpm reading pace + comprehension accuracy is the single biggest VARC differentiator.
  • DILR is the section where the percentile gap widens most — choosing which sets to attempt matters more than solving every set.
  • Arithmetic alone accounts for ~40% of QA. A non-Engineering candidate can clear QA cutoffs by mastering Arithmetic + Algebra and being selective elsewhere.

CAT — Frequently asked questions

Is Shishya free for CAT preparation?
Yes. Every CAT mock test, PYQ-pattern paper and study tool on Shishya is completely free — no subscription and no credit card. Questions are written with AI to follow each exam's syllabus topics on Shishya, and re-checked whenever a student reports one.
How many CAT practice questions does Shishya have?
Shishya has 139 CAT practice questions, written with AI. The automated answer check (three independent AI solves and an examiner) has passed 138 of them; for the remaining 1, that check has not run yet. Any question a student reports is re-checked. They are available as adaptive mock tests with a worked solution for every question.
Are CAT previous year question papers available?
Shishya has free CAT previous year paper practice: PYQ-pattern papers covering 2021–2025 (5 years) — questions freshly worded in the pattern of each year's paper, not the paper itself; each year's page shows how many questions it holds against the real paper's count. Each is a timed practice set with full solutions.
What is the expected cutoff for CAT?
Cutoffs change every cycle with paper difficulty and vacancies. Shishya maintains indicative score-to-rank bands and category-wise (General/EWS/OBC/SC/ST) expected cutoffs — not official figures — at https://shishya.in/exams/CAT/cutoff
Is there a full-length CAT mock test in the real exam pattern?
Yes — Shishya has a free full-length Common Admission Test mock built to the exam's pattern, with sections in the paper's order, scored with solutions. It is the "Full-Length Mock (Real Pattern)" tile on this page.
Can I build a topic-wise CAT mock test?
Yes — pick any topics from the CAT syllabus, choose 10, 25 or 50 questions and the difficulty, and attempt it as a timed mock with solutions and weak-topic analysis, free, at https://shishya.in/exams/CAT/build-mock — questions can be read in Hindi and 17 other Indian languages inside the test.
How can I prepare for CAT for free?
Shishya offers CAT preparation 100% free: adaptive mock tests, previous year paper practice (PYQ-pattern papers modelled on each year's paper), the full syllabus (https://shishya.in/exams/CAT/syllabus), subject-wise memory tricks (https://shishya.in/exams/CAT/tricks), a free day-by-day coach plan and an AI tutor in 18 Indian languages.

Previous year papers

160 questions across all years

Previous year paper practice: each year is a set of PYQ-pattern questions — freshly worded in the pattern of that year's paper, not the paper itself. Every card shows how many it holds against the real paper's count.

Practise PYQ-pattern questions topic by topic, across all years →

Mock tests

Take any mock in your preferred language — use the language picker inside the mock to switch (Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, and 15 more).

New to CAT? Start small:a 25-question subject test first — 4 in 5 aspirants finish these; full mocks after your first win.Pick a subject test ↓

  • CAT — Quick Practice

    SET

    20 questions · 120 min

    Start mock →

  • CAT — Full-Length Mock (Real Pattern: 66Q · 120 min)

    FULL

    66 questions · 120 min

    Start mock →

Practice by subject & topic

Full-length subject tests below — 25 questions each, real exam format, instant scoring.Want to drill a single topic? Open it from the syllabus — a topic that has practice questions has a short quiz on its page.

  • Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

    48 Qs

  • Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning

    58 Qs

  • Quantitative Aptitude

    33 Qs

🎯 Build my own mock

Tell Shishya exactly what to test you on — topics, size, difficulty — and get a fresh mock in seconds. Leave the box blank and we'll target your weakest topics.

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What can I get from CAT?

Mock-score → expected rank → likely outcome. Use the mocks below to find your current band, then plan how many marks you need to climb.

AI-curated from historic cut-off patterns. Always verify with the latest official notification before making decisions.

News & timeline

See older updates →

Latest news

Important dates

  1. Registration opens

    passed

    Mon, 3 Aug, 2026

    Officialiimcat.ac.in ↗

    Registration started at 10:00 AM on August 3, 2026

  2. Registration closes

    passed

    Tue, 15 Sept, 2026

    Officialiimcat.ac.in ↗

    Last date to register is September 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM

  3. Application correction window

    passed

    The expected correction window date has passed — check the official website

    Expected

    Correction window typically opens few days after registration closes, usually for 3-4 days

  4. Admit card available

    24 days away

    Wed, 4 Nov, 2026

    Officialiimcat.ac.in ↗

    Admit card available from November 4, 2026 until exam day

  5. 📈CAT 2026 exam

    49 days away

    Sun, 29 Nov, 2026

    Officialiimcat.ac.in ↗

    Exam conducted in three sessions on Sunday, November 29, 2026 across 170 cities

  6. CAT 2026 result

    86 days away

    Tue, 5 Jan, 2027

    Expected

    Results expected in first week of January 2027

Syllabus

Tap any topic for its study notes + a 10-question topic test

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning