If you're planning to take CAT this year, the window is already open. IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2026 on 29 November, and registration runs from 1 August to 20 September 2026. That sounds like plenty of time, but if you've been through this before — or talked to someone who has — you know how fast those weeks disappear.
This guide covers everything: who can apply, how to actually fill the form, what the exam looks like, and the mistakes that cost people a full year. Read it once, save yourself a lot of last-minute panic.
Who's Running the Show This Year
IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2026. The conducting institute rotates among the older IIMs every year, and Indore last ran it in 2020. The official website, as always, is iimcat.ac.in — that's the only place you should register. No third-party portals, no offline forms, nothing else.
The official notification was released on 27 July 2026. If you haven't read it yet, do that first. It contains the exact instructions you need to follow, and anything that contradicts what you read elsewhere — blogs, coaching centres, this article — the notification wins.
Do You Actually Qualify?
Before you spend time filling the form, check this first.
You need a bachelor's degree from a recognised university with at least 50% aggregate marks. If you fall under the SC, ST, or PwD categories, the cutoff is 45%. EWS and NC-OBC candidates follow the general 50% rule.
If you're in your final year of graduation, you can still apply. You just need to submit proof of degree completion before IIM admission — not before the CAT exam itself.
A few things that often surprise people:
On the percentage calculation — your university's own method applies. If your institution uses CGPA, the conversion is based on their formula, not some universal standard. Some universities don't have an official conversion formula, in which case IIMs calculate it using their own method. If you're unsure, get a certificate from your institution clarifying your aggregate percentage. It saves a lot of back-and-forth later.
Dates You Can't Afford to Miss
|
Event |
Date |
|---|---|
|
Official notification released |
27 July 2026 |
|
Registration opens |
1 August 2026 |
|
First registration deadline |
13 September 2026 (5 PM) |
|
Final registration deadline |
20 September 2026 |
|
Form correction window |
24–27 September 2026 |
|
Admit card released |
20 November 2026 |
|
Exam day |
29 November 2026 (Sunday) |
|
Results |
First week of January 2027 |
Now the real advice: treat 13 September as your actual deadline, not 20 September.
Every year, thousands of candidates wait until the last few days and then deal with slow servers, failed payment gateways, and support queues that don't respond in time. Registration has been extended in some past years, but you cannot count on that. If the window closes at 5 PM on 20 September and you haven't submitted, you're sitting out for a full year.
Fill the form early. There's genuinely no upside to waiting.
What the Application Fee Looks Like
The fee structure is straightforward:
Payment is online only — debit card, credit card, net banking, or UPI. The fee is non-refundable under all circumstances. That means even if your form gets rejected, you never appear for the exam, or you withdraw your application, the money doesn't come back. Pay only when you're sure, and download the payment receipt immediately after.
The CAT 2026 application form has six sections. You need to complete all of them before you can submit.
A quick technical note before you start: Fill the form on a laptop or desktop, not your phone. Use Chrome 59+, Firefox 56+, or Edge Chromium. The form is not optimised for mobile, and errors caused by browser compatibility are entirely your problem to deal with.
Here's what each section asks for:
1. Personal Details Your name, date of birth, father's name, gender, category, nationality, and communication address. You'll also upload your passport-size photograph (JPG format, between 10KB and 200KB) and a scanned signature.
2. Academic Details Your Class 10 and Class 12 scores, bachelor's degree information and marksheets, and details of any other professional qualifications if applicable.
3. Work Experience If you've worked anywhere, you'll enter the company name, your designation, and the duration of employment. Fresh graduates can skip this or enter zero — the form accommodates both.
4. Program Selection This is where you choose which MBA programs you want to apply to across IIMs and other institutions. Read the program details before selecting. Some programs have specific eligibility requirements beyond the CAT score.
5. Test City Preferences You'll rank your city preferences. The actual city you're assigned depends on availability. CAT 2026 is being held across 170+ cities, so most people get a reasonable option.
6. Review and Payment Go through every field before you hit submit. Errors that can be fixed are limited to the correction window (24–27 September), and not all fields are editable even then. Don't rush this section.
Between 24 and 27 September, CAT opens a short window to fix specific errors in your submitted form. This is useful for typos and minor mistakes.
What it is not: a chance to rethink your program choices, change your category, or redo significant portions of the form. The correction facility is narrow, and there's usually a fee to make changes.
The takeaway is that you should not rely on the correction window as a fallback. Fill the form carefully the first time.
What the Exam Actually Looks Like
CAT 2026 is a computer-based test. It runs for 120 minutes, split into three sections of exactly 40 minutes each. Once a section's timer ends, it locks — you cannot go back.
The three sections are:
Total: 68 questions.
Each correct answer gets you +3 marks. A wrong answer to an MCQ costs you −1 mark. Questions that require you to type in the answer (called TITA questions) carry no negative marking — so attempt all of them, even if you're guessing.
The exam runs across three slots on 29 November:
You won't choose your slot — it's assigned by the system. The difficulty level is normalised across slots, so the slot you get doesn't give you an advantage or disadvantage.
There is no officially prescribed syllabus from the IIMs. What the exam consistently tests is reading comprehension and verbal reasoning, data puzzles and logical reasoning, and quantitative math roughly up to Class 10 level. Past papers are your best guide.
Your CAT score is valid for one year and applies to the 2027 admissions cycle.
All 21 IIMs accept CAT scores. Beyond IIMs, over 1,600 institutions in India use CAT for admissions, including FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR, and the Department of Management Studies at IITs.
Here's the part most first-timers don't fully understand: each IIM runs its own independent admission process. CAT score is one component — a significant one, but still just one. Each institute has its own academic cutoffs, weightage for past scores, work experience criteria, and selection rounds involving written ability tests and personal interviews. Getting a 99 percentile doesn't automatically land you a seat. Getting a 90 percentile doesn't automatically shut any doors.
Research the selection process of each IIM you're targeting, not just the CAT cutoff percentile. That number in isolation tells you very little.
Using the wrong email or phone number. All official communication — admit card, result, interview calls — comes to the email and mobile number you register with. Don't use a college email that might stop working. Don't use a number you might port or change. Keep both active until the entire admissions process is over.
Leaving the form for the last week. Already covered this, but it bears repeating. The window is seven weeks long. There is no good reason to spend six weeks not filling it.
Not reading the notification. The notification has specific instructions about photograph dimensions, category certificate requirements, and program-specific eligibility. Most errors on the form trace back to people who didn't read it.
Assuming the correction window will save you. It might. It might not. And even if it does, you'll pay extra for the privilege. Get it right the first time.
Selecting programs without reading their details. Some programs at IIMs are designed for working professionals with specific years of experience. Applying without checking the criteria is wasted effort.
Where to Go from Here
If you're eligible and planning to apply, go to iimcat.ac.in now and get familiar with the portal before registration opens. Have your documents ready — photograph, signature, marksheets, category certificate if applicable. Set a reminder for 1 August to register, and another for 10 September to make sure you've submitted.
The actual preparation is a longer conversation, but the application part is entirely in your control. Don't let something administrative get in the way of a well-prepared exam attempt.
