CAT cut-off 2025 – Check Institute-wise Opening and Closing Ranks, Factors

CAT cut-off for admission to IIMs – If you are seeking admission to the IIMs, you must meet the CAT cut-off percentile for your category.

The CAT cut-off for the top IIMs can be in the 95-100 percentile range. 

The cut-off for General/NC-OBC category tends to be the highest at 98-100 percentile, whereas for SC/ST/PwD category the cut-off range is 94-100 percentile. Meanwhile, for non-IIMs, CAT cut-off can be 94-100 percentile.

The cut-off is determined based on factors like CAT merit rank, seat intake, total applicants, etc.

The CAT 2025 exam will be conducted in November 2025.

When will the CAT Cut-off 2025 be declared?

The IIMs and top MBA colleges such as FMS, IMT, MDI, SPJIMR, and MICA will release a qualifying CAT cut-off for the WAT, GD, and PI before CAT results are declared. The qualifying cut-off is the minimum score candidates need to meet to be eligible for interview shortlist.

The candidate can refer to the previous year’s CAT qualifying cut-off to evaluate their chances of getting shortlisted for the participating college.

IIM Admission – CAT 2025 Qualifying Cut-offs Percentile Ranks

The participating IIMs will release the qualifying percentile for CAT 2025 soon after the entrance exam results are declared and sometime around that.

Only the candidates who secure ranks above the minimum cut-offs in the sectional percentile ranks, the overall percentile rank and obtaining a positive (greater than zero) raw score in all sections of CAT-2025 will be considered for all the subsequent stages.

The CAT 2024 percentile score for all the IIMs is given below for reference.

CAT Cut-Offs  – Key points

Here are a few things you need to know about the CAT cut-off.

• The minimum CAT cut-off for admission to any top IIM or MBA college falls in the 90 percentile range.
• The cut-off for the top colleges – IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Kolkata, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode – can be upwards of 99 percentile.
• The cut-offs for the Tier 2 colleges can be anywhere between 70 and 80 percentile. 
• Cut-offs for Tier 3 colleges can hover around the 60-70 percentile range.

CAT Expected Cut Off

Based on the difficulty level of the CAT exam, here are the sectional and overall percentile CAT cut-offs:

Also Read:

• How to prepare for CAT
• CAT Exam Syllabus – Important Topics, Weightage
• Best Books to Prepare for CAT 2025 – Section-wise Study Material, How and What to Study

What is the difference between FINAL and qualifying CAT cut-off?

The qualifying CAT cut-off is the minimum score that a candidate needs to secure to be in contention for the interview conducted by the IIMs.

Or, in other words, if your CAT score is below the qualifying cut-off, you will not be eligible for the interview round.

Note the interview process includes tests like – WAT, GD, and PI.

However, simply meeting the cut-off is no guarantee the candidate will be invited for the interview. 

It is because the participating IIMs will release a FINAL cut-off of CAT based on applications they have received. 

Only such candidates who meet the final CAT cut-off will be invited for the interview round. 

You can better understand the concept by consulting the table below.

Qualifying CAT cut-off Vs. Final CAT Cut-off

Also Read:

• JEE Main Resources for Exam Preparation
• How to Prepare for JEE Main Exam

CAT Cut Offs for IIM Admission

CAT cut offs for IIM admission are in the 95-100 percentile range for General candidates. 

If you are targeting the top 6 IIMs, the cut offs can be as high as 99.99 – 100 percentile, while for newer IIMs, you can expect a 95-97 percentile range. 

Meanwhile, the CAT cut off for NITIE Mumbai, which has been renamed as IIM Mumbai, is around 94 percentile. 

The qualifying CAT cut-off for the IIMs is given below.

IIM CAT Cut Offs (FINAL)

The institute-wise final cut-off for the 21 IIMs have been given in the table below.

Also Read:

• JEE Mains 2025: Registration Date – Direct Link, Exam Dates, Syllabus, QP, Admission Schedule