CAT 2019 Percentile: Calculation Method Released by IIM Kozhikode; Check your CAT Percentile in 4 Steps

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
September 17, 2019
CAT 2019 percentile score calculation method has been released by IIM Kozhikode. There are four steps of calculating CAT percentile from scaled score for overall calculation and for section wise CAT percentile calculation. Same CAT percentile calculation method is used for all the three sections. Please note that the scaled scores obtained shall be converted into percentiles for purposes of shortlisting
CAT 2019 Percentile Calculation Method

IIM Kozhikode has released the official CAT 2019 percentile score calculation method. The CAT Percentile calculation process involves four steps to calculate CAT percentile from scaled score for overall percentile calculation and for section wise CAT percentile calculation. Same calculation method is followed for all the three sections – Quant, Verbal and DILR.

This is the first time that percentile calculation method for Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by IIMs is released officially. Please note that only the scaled scores obtained shall be converted into percentiles for purposes of shortlisting by IIMs.

CAT 2019 exam date is Sunday, November 24, 2019. The exam will be conducted by IIM Kozhikode in morning and afternoon sessions. CAT 2019 is a computer based test with time duration of 3 hours for each session. The exam is divided into three sections and each section has individual time limit of one hour. 

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CAT 2019 Percentile: IIMs Release 4 Steps Calculation Method
Releasing the CAT 2019 Percentile Calculation Method, IIMs have advised that following 4 step process will be adhered for calculation of percentile score of a candidate. The steps described below are followed to calculate the CAT 2019 overall and sectional percentile scores obtained by a candidate.

Quantitative Ability (QA) Chosen as Example by IIMs: Same Process for Other Sections
While illustrating the percentile score calculation process, QA section is chosen as an example. Similar process is followed for the overall percentile score calculation and for the other two sections, i.e. DILR and VARC in CAT 2019.

4 Steps of CAT Percentile Calculation

Step 1: Calculate the total number of candidates (N) who appeared for CAT (i.e. including both morning and afternoon sessions).

Step 2: Assign a rank (r), based on the scaled scores obtained in the QA section, to all candidates who appeared for CAT. In the case of two or more candidates obtaining identical scaled scores in the QA section, assign identical ranks to all those candidates.

Illustration
As an illustration suppose exactly two candidates obtain the highest scaled score in the QA section, then both of those candidates are assigned a rank of 1. Moreover, the candidate(s) obtaining the second highest scaled score in the QA section are assigned a rank of 3 and so on.

Step 3: Calculate the percentile score (P) of a candidate with rank (r) in the QA section as:  P=((N-r)N)x100.

Step 4: Round off the calculated percentile score (P) of a candidate up to two decimal points.

Example
For example, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.995 are rounded off to 100, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.985 but strictly less than 99.995 are rounded off to 99.99 and so on.

Similar Method for Overall & Other Sections’ Percentile
A methodology similar to the one described above is used for the computation of the overall CAT percentile scores and for the percentile scores of other sections.

Fairness and Equity in Percentile Calculation
CAT Exam Centre has declared “In order to ensure fairness and equity in comparison of performances of the candidates across different test sessions, the scores of the candidates shall be subjected to a process of Normalization. The Normalization process to be implemented shall adjust for location and scale differences of score distributions across different forms and the scaled scores obtained by this process shall be converted into percentiles for purposes of shortlisting.”

Great Help to Test Takers
After appearing in CAT 2019 exam on November 24, 2019, the test takers will be looking to check their expected percentile in the exam to know their shortlisting chances in IIMs. The accuracy in percentile calculation depends upon the fact how the CAT percentile is arrived at.  This confusion has persisted over many CAT exam years although CAT website has always claimed to have the most  transparent process on score normalization and calculation of percentile.  

Since the CAT score normalization process has only scanty details which may not bring home the clear picture of percentile calculation formula in CAT 2019, the recently release CAT 2019 percentile score calculation method by IIMs could be a great help to the CAT test takers.

CAT Follows GATE pattern
On the question of transparency of normalization process across the two sessions CAT Centre “The process of Normalization is an established practice for comparing candidate scores across multiple Forms and is similar to those being adopted in other large educational selection tests conducted in India such as Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).”

Now to understand the score normalization process in CAT 2019, you are supposed to understand first the GATE process which stands a bit changed. Those appearing in GATE or have understood the process can understand it better but for those who are unaware about the process have to understand the GATE process first. In fact the commerce, science, medical, paramedical and graduates in Humanities who appear in CAT exam still remain oblivious of the percentile calculation formula in Common Admission Test (CAT).

What is GATE Normalization Process?
The CE, CS, EC, EE and ME examinations are conducted in multiple sessions. Suitable normalization process is therefore applied to take into account any variation in the difficulty levels of the question sets across the different sessions. The normalization is done based on the fundamental assumption that "in all multi-session GATE papers, the distribution of abilities of candidates is the same across all the sessions".

According to the GATE committee, this assumption is justified since "the number of candidates appearing in multi-session subjects in GATE is large and the procedure of allocation of session to candidates is random. Further it is also ensured that for the same multi-session subject, the number of candidates allotted in each session is of the same order of magnitude." 

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The GATE formula
Based on the above the committee arrived at the following formula for calculating the normalized marks, for CE, CS, EC, EE and ME subjects. A candidate's GATE score is computed by the following new formula.

where, S = Score (normalized) of a candidate; M = Marks obtained by a candidate ("normalized marks" in case of multiple-session subjects CE, CS, EC, EE and ME); Mq = Qualifying marks for general category candidates in that subject (usually 25 or μ + σ, whichever is higher); μ = Average (i.e. arithmetic mean) of marks of all candidates in that subject; σ = Standard deviation of marks of all candidates in that subject; Mt = Average marks of top 0.1 % candidates (for subjects with 10000 or more appeared candidates) or top 10 candidates (for subjects with less than 10000 appeared candidates); St = 900 = Score assigned to Mt;   Sq = 350 = Score assigned to Mq.

Percentile:
A candidate's percentile denotes the percentage of candidates scoring lower than that particular candidate. It is calculated as: Percentile = ( 1 - All India rank( No. of candidates in that subject) x 100%

Application of formula in CAT 
The formula to calculate the percentile in CAT can be devised.  At MBAUniverse.com experts have been working and have decoded the pattern of normalization and calculation of percentile in CAT 2019. The score normalization process formula, as understood by CAT expert would be as follows-

Normalized mark (︿Mij) of jth candidate in ith slot, is given by
︿Mij = Mgt - MgqMti - Miq ( Mij - Miq ) + Mgq
where,

Mij is the actual marks obtained by the jth candidate in the ith slot,

Mgt is the average marks of the top 0.1 % candidates in all slots,

Mgq is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks of all candidates in all slots,

Mti is the average of marks of top 0.1 % candidates in the ith slot,

Miq is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks of all candidates in the ith slot.

Application of Formula in CAT - Example

Total Test takers = 2,00,000

slots = 2

Test takers in each slot = 1,00,000                                    [ .1% of it = 100]

Mij  = 170 out of 300               ( is the actual marks obtained by the jth candidate in 

                                                   the 2nd slot)

Mgt = [195 + 190 ]/2 = 192      ( is the average marks of the top 0.1 % candidates of

                                                    both the slots)

here, 195  and 190 are the average of the top .1% aspirants of all slots

Mgq =  112                               (is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks

                                                  of all candidates in both the slots)

Mti    =  190                               (is the average of marks of top 0.1 % candidates in 

                                                   the 2nd slot)

Miq    = 110                               (is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks

                                                  of all candidates in the 2nd slot.)

So, according to the given formula, normalized score = (192-112)(170-110)/(190-110) + 112 = 172

Expect high percentile with good scores
The above score is supposed to fetch a percentile near about 99.05. Besides the introduction of Non-MCQ type questions without any penalty for wrong answers, it is expected that the candidates would score high and would record higher percentile.

Earlier all the questions used to be of  MCQ type and due to negative marking system the percentile got dipped low in earlier CAT exams. Now with more questions available most of the candidates who refrained from attempting doubtful and difficult type of questions can expect a high percentile.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2019