The minimum eligibility criteria for the CAT exam is graduation in any stream. Read below for detailed CAT eligibility criteria:

• Candidates must possess a bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 50 percent aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45 percent aggregate for the SC, ST, and PWD/DA categories) from a recognized university to appear in CAT 2026.
• Candidates who have completed a professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA) with the required percentage can also appear for CAT.
• • CAT 2025 Eligibility_30-07-2025

    Candidates appearing for the final year of a bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification or awaiting the result are also eligible to apply for the CAT 2026 exam.

   

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  Update (30-07-2025) Download

For candidates looking to appear for the CAT 2026 Exam, meeting the eligibility requirements is the essential first step toward securing a seat in India’s premier management institutes. Below is the updated outline of the CAT Eligibility Criteria 2026 based on the latest academic guidelines and research:

CAT Academic Eligibility Criteria 2026

• Minimum Percentage: Candidates must have completed a Bachelor’s degree with at least 50% marks (for General, EWS, and NC-OBC categories). For SC, ST, and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) candidates, the minimum requirement is 45%.

• University Recognition: The degree must be awarded by a university or educational institution incorporated by an Act of Parliament/State legislature or declared to be a deemed university under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, and recognized by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India.

• Grading & Conversion: If the university awards grades or CGPA instead of marks, the conversion factor provided by the university must be applied. In cases where no specific conversion factor is mentioned, the percentage is calculated by direct conversion:
  $$\text{Percentage} = \left( \frac{\text{CGPA Obtained}}{\text{Maximum CGPA}} \right) \times 100$$

• Professional Degrees: Candidates who have completed professional degrees such as CA, CS, ICWA (CMA), or FIAI with the required aggregate percentage (50% for General/EWS/OBC; 45% for SC/ST/PwD) are also fully eligible.

Note: For candidates appearing in their final year in 2026 (graduating in late 2026 or early 2027), a Bonafide Certificate from their institution confirming their current status and previous year’s performance makes them eligible to appear for CAT 2026.

CAT Eligibility: Marks Calculation

The calculation of marks for CAT 2026 eligibility follows these standardized protocols:

• Institutional Practice: Each university or institute follows its own internal criteria for assigning marks. The CAT marks calculation will respect the process followed by the candidate’s specific awarding body.

• CGPA Conversion: If your degree uses a CGPA system, you must use the official conversion method provided by your university (often found on the back of the marksheet).

• Default Methodology: In the absence of an official university conversion formula, candidates should use the direct conversion method: divide the achieved CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA and multiply by 100 to find the equivalent percentage.

CAT Eligibility: Final Year Students

Students in the final year of their undergraduate studies are often a significant portion of the applicant pool. If you are currently in your final year, keep the following in mind:

• Eligibility to Apply: Final-year students of all recognized bachelor’s degrees are eligible to apply and sit for the CAT 2026 exam.

• Provisional Admission: If selected for further admission stages (GD/PI), these students will be granted provisional admission. They must provide proof of clearing their bachelor’s degree with the required minimum percentage by the deadline specified by the respective IIM (typically by December 31 of the admission year).

• Non-Compliance Risk: If a candidate fails to meet the minimum percentage or cannot provide the required documentation by the deadline, their admission offer will be rendered null and void.

Note: For candidates appearing for their final year in 2026 (graduating in 2026 or 2027), a certificate from the Principal or Registrar verifying the completion of requirements for the previous year will ensure eligibility for the CAT 2026 cycle.

CAT Eligibility: Documents for Final Year Students

With the candidate pool for CAT 2026 expected to be highly competitive, ensuring your documentation is in order is critical. Final-year students must furnish additional verification:

• The Final Year Certificate: Since the final degree and consolidated marksheet aren’t yet available, students must upload a certificate signed by the Principal, Head of Department, Registrar, or Director of their institution. This document must verify that the candidate has maintained over 50% marks (45% for reserved categories) in the semesters completed up to the date of issue.

• Post-Admission Verification: Once admitted to a B-School, the candidate is required to submit their final degree certificate and marksheet before the institute’s specified cutoff date to continue their management studies.

CAT Eligibility 2026- Work Experience

As the application form for CAT asks about work experience, candidates are often doubtful of its effect on the overall application and exam process. Here is a better understanding of the role of work experience in the CAT exam:

• Candidates appearing for the CAT entrance exam are not required to have prior work experience.
• Though the CAT application form has a section for work experience, this condition is not a prerequisite.
• Work experience has some weightage in the later stages of the admission process in IIMs. However, within the CAT exam, having any experience will not affect the scores or eligibility.

Key Points about CAT Eligibility

• There is no age limit for the CAT entrance exam as per the Eligibility Criteria.
• The current eligibility criteria state that the candidate should have a bachelor’s degree of at least 3 years. However, the previous bachelor’s degree of 2 years will also be accepted if the university is recognized by UGC.
• Candidates in their final year of graduation or awaiting results are also eligible for the exam.
• The percentage of marks obtained is calculated according to the practice of the university.
• For further admission processes in IIMs, the candidate should maintain a unique and valid email ID as well as a phone number for official communications.

CAT Eligibility and IIM Eligibility: What is the Difference?

While the IIMs convene the CAT Exam, the eligibility criteria for both the bodies do not run parallel. There are minor points of contradictions that every candidate should note while pursuing this field-

• While there is no age limit for both the CAT Exam eligibility and IIM eligibility, the 2-year bachelor’s degree accepted by the CAT entrance exam is not accepted by the IIMs. IIMs only admit a 3-year bachelor’s degree for their Management Programs.
• Though CAT does not require work experience, IIMs allot some weightage to work experience though it is not mandatory either.

Apart from this, there are no contradictions between the CAT Exam Eligibility and the IIM Eligibility.

Who is Ineligible for the CAT Exam?

• A candidate who did not appear for their bachelor’s degree and failed to meet the qualifications.
• A candidate with marks less than 50% (for General Category and NC-OBC) or 45% (for SC/ ST/ PWD) in their graduation.
• A candidate pursuing both their bachelor’s degree as well as a professional degree but has yet to complete both of them.
• A graduation certificate from a university not recognized by the UGC/ AICTE/ MHRD. The candidate will be considered ineligible to appear for the CAT Exam.

After the CAT Exam Eligibility and the Exam itself are cleared, the goal of every student is to enter the IIMs; the highest regarded MBA Colleges in India. However, the IIMs are government-run institutions which means they follow the government policies regarding reservations for the underprivileged categories.

• Consequently, it implies that the CAT entrance exam also follows the reservation criteria.
• There is a separate category for the Differently Abled Individuals or Persons with Disability in the reservations.
• To avail the Caste Based Reservation, the candidates need to provide proof in the form of the SC/ST/OBC Certificate in the application form. Following this, the original document may be required during the final admission process.
• The standard formats for the caste certificates are provided on the official CAT website so that there is some uniformity and verification of the certificate can be done relatively easily.

The reservations for the CAT exam are as follows:

The PwD will include candidates who have the following problems/disabilities:

• Candidates having hearing impairment
• Candidates with low vision/blindness
• Candidates with a locomotive disability or 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

These conditions make the candidates eligible for the PwD category in all the colleges under CAT. There is however a caveat that the candidates should have at least 40% of the handicap mentioned above to be eligible. The candidates with disability are also given 20 minutes more per section keeping in mind their condition. For candidates with vision-related issues, a scribe will be provided at the centre along with a wheelchair for candidates who have locomotive disabilities or blindness.

FAQs Regarding CAT Exam