CAT Cut Off 2026: IIM Cutoffs Category Wise, Top MBA Colleges Percentile Wise, Marks vs Percentile, CAT 2025 Cut Off (Download PDF)

Aspirants often confuse different types of CAT exam cut offs. There are three different CAT cut offs, Qualifying CAT cut off, Final actual CAT cut off, and Minimum Cut Offs released through RTI. Table below offers a clear guide to types of CAT Cut offs. 

Official data from IIM Ahmedabad will explain this difference. For the 2026–28 batch, 8,838 candidates cleared IIM Ahmedabad’s qualifying CAT Cut Off, of which 1,308 were called for the Personal Interview round after processing applications for all eligible candidates. In the General category, 6,106 candidates cleared the qualifying 95 percentile CAT cutoff, but only 564 (about 9%) received a call. However, as per the RTI Data, a candidate with 90.98 percentile, which was the minimum CAT Cut Off, was also admitted as an exceptional case.  Read more information in the section titled IIM Minimum CAT Cut Off RTI Data below.

The table below gives the official qualifying CAT cutoff for IIMs, overall percentile and category wise. These are the Batch 2026–28 (CAT 2025) figures from the IIMs' own admission policies, and they are the best guide to the CAT cut off 2026 category wise until the 2027–29 policies are released. 

• CAT Cut Off for IIM for General Category: The CAT cut off for IIM for General category ranged from 82 percentile at IIM Visakhapatnam to 97 percentile at IIM Rohtak in the 2026–28 policies. IIM Ahmedabad asked for 95, IIM Lucknow and IIM Indore for 90, and IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Mumbai for 85. The JAP institutes set the bar at 95.25.
• CAT Cut Off for IIM for OBC (NC-OBC): The CAT cut off for IIM for OBC (NC-OBC) candidates ranged from 72 percentile at IIM Visakhapatnam to 90 percentile at IIM Ahmedabad. IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Mumbai asked for 75, IIM Indore and IIM Amritsar for 80, and IIM Lucknow for 82.
• CAT Cut Off for IIM for SC: The CAT cut off for IIM for SC candidates ranged from 50 percentile at IIM Visakhapatnam to 85 percentile at IIM Ahmedabad. IIM Tiruchirappalli, IIM Ranchi and IIM Guwahati asked for 75, and IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and IIM Mumbai for 70.
• CAT Cut Off for IIM for EWS: The CAT cut off for IIM for EWS candidates ranged from 72 percentile at IIM Visakhapatnam to 95 percentile at IIM Ahmedabad, which applies the same cut off to General and EWS candidates. IIM Rohtak asked for 93, IIM Indore and IIM Amritsar for 90, and IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and IIM Mumbai for 75.
• CAT Cut Off for IIM for ST and PwD: For ST candidates, the cut offs ranged from 32 percentile at IIM Jammu (male candidates) to 75 percentile at IIM Ahmedabad. For PwD candidates, they ranged from 30 percentile at IIM Tiruchirappalli and IIM Ranchi to 87 percentile for DAP-General candidates at IIM Rohtak.

Table: Overall CAT Cut Off for IIMs Category Wise (CAT 2025) 

Source: MBAUniverse.com Analysis of IIM Admission Policies

Candidates aspiring for IIM admission 2027 should understand that a strong overall percentile is not enough if one section is weak. Most IIMs set a minimum percentile in each of the three sections, and several, including IIM Bangalore, IIM Nagpur, IIM Guwahati and the JAP institutes, also require a positive score in every section. The table below shows the General-category CAT sectional cut off at each IIM for the 2026–28 batch.

Table: CAT Sectional Cut Off for General Candidates (CAT 2025)

IIM Qualifying CAT cut offs tell you whether you will be considered; the IIM final CAT cut off tells you whether you are likely to get a call. The table below shows the official 2026–28 qualifying cut offs for general candidates against MBAUniverse.com's estimate of the final CAT cutoff 2026, based on previous years’ trends.

The minimum CAT cut off 2025 for all IIMs, category wise, is given in the table above. This is the minimum cut offs: the lowest overall percentile of candidates actually admitted to five IIMs, revealed through RTI data. These low figures are exceptions, typically candidates with outstanding academic, professional or other profiles.

Source: Data obtained by media houses/ activists under Right to Information (RTI) Act 

To get personal interview calls for top non-IIM colleges, you need CAT percentile at par with IIMs. Based on previous year exam trends, the figures below are the CAT percentiles you need to get call from top non IIMs for admission 2027. FMS Delhi CAT cut off was 99 percentile for admission 2026, the highest in this list. With a fee of Rs. 2.32 lakh and an average placement of Rs. 34.10 LPA, it remains one of the most competitive MBA colleges in India.  

Table: CAT Cut Off 2026 for Top Non-IIM Colleges (Expected) 

Top IITs in Delhi and Mumbai have high CAT cut off. Check more details in table below.  

Check list of best non-IIM college for lower cut offs. 

MBA Colleges Accepting CAT 80–90 Percentile 2026

MBA Colleges Accepting CAT 70–80 Percentile 2026

Several newer IIMs run joint admission processes, with common shortlisting and interviews. For the 2026–28 batch there were two (below). Check their  

• JAP 2026 (Joint Admission Process): IIM Raipur (coordinator), IIM Kashipur, IIM Ranchi and IIM Tiruchirappalli. Shortlisted candidates of all four are merged into one combined shortlist, and the interview is conducted jointly.
• CAP 2026 (Common Admission Process): IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Jammu and IIM Sirmaur, with the interview conducted within CAP. IIM Bodh Gaya published 95 overall and 75 in each section for General candidates, stated to be for reference only, while IIM Jammu published 91 overall and 72 in each section for male General candidates.

IIM JAP 2026 Cut Offs: Qualifying Percentiles Required

Download the complete CAT Cut Off 2026 PDF, free. It brings together everything in this article in one place:

• Category-wise Qualifying CAT cut offs of all 22 IIMs, overall and sectional
• Expected final actual CAT cut off 2026 for the top IIMs
• Expected final actual CAT cut offs of FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, MDI, IIFT and the IIT B-schools

CAT Cutoff is the percentile you need to be shortlisted for the interview round at IIMs and other top MBA colleges for admission to the 2027–29 batch. CAT cutoffs differ by college and by category. An important thing to keep in mind when considering IIM CAT Cutoffs 2025 is the difference between IIM Qualifying CAT Cutoffs, IIM Minimum CAT Cutoffs, and IIM Final CAT Cutoffs, as explained in the above article. Candidates should note that while in general, top colleges have higher CAT Cutoffs, some top MBA colleges like SPJIMR Mumbai keep cutoffs low by design as they follow profile based MBA admission process and want to interview candidates with excellent profiles and achievements who may have lower CAT scores. Download free CAT Cutoff Guide 2026 PDF for all insights from this article. Also read IIMs in India, IIMs Admission 2027, IIM Shortlist for companion articles.