CAT Eligibility Criteria

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a prestigious national entrance exam conducted annually by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for admission into their MBA programs. Held on the last Sunday of November, the exam is administered in three time slots across more than 170 cities. There are 21 IIMs in total, comprising 7 established IIMs and 14 newer or "baby" IIMs. While the older IIMs use the CAT application form as both an exam and admission application, the newer and baby IIMs follow the Common Admission Process (CAP) to shortlist candidates for admission.

CAT 2024 Eligibility Criteria

The candidate must possess a bachelor’s degree with minimum 50 per cent aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent aggregate for SC, ST and PWD/DA category) from a recognized board or university to participate in CAT 2024

The candidate must have completed a professional degree (CA/ CS/ ICWA) with required percentage

Candidates appearing for the final year of bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification or awaiting result are also eligible to apply for CAT exam

As per the legal requirements, 15 per cent of the seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and 7.5 per cent for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates.

27 per cent of the seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes candidates belonging to the “non-creamy” layer (NC-OBC).

Up to 10 percent of the seats are reserved for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidates.

“Person with Benchmark Disability” means a person with not less than forty percent (40 per cent) of a specified disability. The categories of disability are: Blindness and low vision, Deaf and hard of hearing, Locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy, Autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness, Multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d), Other ‘specified disabilities’ mentioned in ‘The Schedule’ of the RPwD Act 2016.