CAT 2023 Exam in 160 Cities: Hisar, Kangra, Wardha among Tier-II Cities Added - Prof Sanjeet Singh, CAT Convener; Option to Choose New Cities Available till Sept 28

Hisar, Kangra, Chittor, Wardha are among the 9 newly added exam cities for CAT 2023. This year CAT will be held in 160+ Cities on November 26, 2023 in 3 slots than in 154 cities last year. There are more Tier-II Cities added to conduct CAT exam this year. Small cities in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra have been added to the list of CAT 2023 test cities to make CAT exam reachable for the CAT aspirants of Tier-II cities so that they do not need to commute long distances to appear in the exam. You can change and choose from the newly added test cities till 5 PM on September 28, 2023.

Sharing with MBAUniverse.com, Prof Sanjeet Singh, CAT 2023 exam convener and faculty at IIM Lucknow said, “Some of the new test cities this year are Hisar, Kangra, Chittor, Anantpur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Howrah, Sangli, Wardha, etc.”

More Cities from Maharashtra & Kerala Added
There are 2 additional cities each from the states of Kerala and Maharashtra added as CAT 2023 exam centres while Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal have been awarded with one additional test city each. The State wise list of newly added CAT 2023 exam centers is shared below:

CAT 2023: List of New Test Cities

Facility to Save Travel Time
The additional test cities will help in reducing the travel time and inconvenience that was caused earlier due to commuting a long distance for the CAT aspirants of these cities and nearby areas.  The wastage of time due to running and travelling to a CAT test centre stands reduced for CAT 2023. Finding that CAT test takers will be at loss, IIM Lucknow has taken the matter a bit seriously and has cleared the confusion. Now there are sufficient and clearly marked test city choices without creating any confusion. 

Facility to Change and Choose New Cities: Available till Sept 28
You can change your 6 preferred test cities, considering and anticipating the travel time, convenance available and the situation in your earlier chosen test city. It is better to analyse and change your test city preferences accordingly. The CAT application Edit window allows you to make changes in your Test city preferences till 5 PM on September 28, 2023. If you wish to opt for any of the above new test cities, you should do it now, without wasting any more time. The process to choose new CAT cities is as below:

• Login at iimcat.ac.in as Registered user by using your user ID and password
• After Login Click on Go to Application to start the Editing Process.
• Read all the instructions carefully while editing the form.
• Click on the edit option for change test city preference. Your test city preference page will open.
• Insert the revised preferred test cities from drop down menu and click on save & next.
• The edit process is over now.
• Please note you can exercise this option only once, so ensure to utilize it judiciously

Read More to Check Step by Step Process

Key Changes in CAT 2023 Test City Allotment
Following exam cities are clubbed to one city, so make your choice judiciously:

• Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh are clubbed into one test city for CAT exam
• Faridabad and Gurgaon in Haryana are clubbed as one Test city for CAT exam

While CAT Centre will make all out efforts to allot the nearest test city to the applicant’s address, in case it is not available, the next preferred city would be allotted. Check the complete list of CAT 2023 exam cities

3.30 Lakh Candidates Apply for CAT 2023
Registration numbers for CAT 2023 exam have gone up 30% at 3.30 lakh from 2.55 lakh last year. As such more test cities and more test venues are required. Accordingly, CAT 2023 test cities have been increased to accommodate the higher number of test takers. The name of the CAT test centre within the test city will be indicated in your CAT Admit Card.   

CAT 2022 also Witnessed more Test Cities
CAT Exam 2022 was conducted by IIM Bangalore in 154 test cities at 292 test venues. In many new locations like Manipur, Tripura, and Union Territories like Lakshadweep, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Ladakh and Leh, CAT test centres were set up in 2022. Prior to that CAT cities were 150 or fewer.  With the sharp rise in CAT exam registrations in 2022 and 2023, requirement of more CAT centres came up.

CAT Registration Trends in last 12 Years
CAT exam registrations have gone up by 30% in 2023. Since 2013 to 2019 CAT Registration witnessed steady rise in number of CAT exam applicants from 1.95 lakhs to 2.44 lakhs. This number was reduced to 2.28 lakhs in CAT 2020 due to Covid pandemic. However, the registration number has picked up substantially from last year and in CAT 2023 the final number has gone up to 3.30 lakhs

Source: MBAUniverse.com Analysis

CAT 2023 application process has allowed the Candidates to select six test cities in order of preference. The cities and centres will be assigned to the candidates after the last date for CAT 2023 Application edit window is over on September 28, 2023. Although IIMs try their best to assign candidates to their first preferred city, in case this is not possible, they will be assigned a city following their given order of preference.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2023