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.

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:

CAT Percentile	VARC Score	DILR Score	QA Score	Overall Score
99.9	48	36	48	106
99.5	44	32	32	89
99	40	28	28	80
98	36	25	24	71
95	30	19	19	57
90	25	16	15	49
85	21	13	12	40
80	19	11	10	36
75	17	10	9	31
70	15	9	8	29

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

	Qualifying CAT cut-off	FINAL CAT cut-off
When will it be released?	It will be released before CAT results are declared	Is released after CAT results.
Purpose	Sets a minimum eligibility to shortlist candidates for the next round	The IIMs prepares the FINAL cut-off based on: Total applicationsCategory-wise seat intakeCAT percentile score of applicants
		The final cut-off of CAT can be used to invite a proportionate number of candidates for filing the available seats.
Guarantee of admission?	No.  It is simply used as a minimum eligibility criteria.	The final cut-off also is no guarantee of admission as the candidate has to next appear in an interview round comprising WAT, GD, and PI.
Cut-off scores	The qualifying cut-off for all the IIMs remains above 90 percentile.  The only exception is IIM Ahmedabad, whose qualifying cut-off has remained steady at 85 percentile.	The final cut-off can be as high as 99.99 for the older IIMs. Expect the cut-off to be around 95+ for the newer IIMs.

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.

Name of the IIM	Qualifying CAT cut offs
IIM Ahmedabad	85
IIM Bangalore	85
IIM Calcutta	85
IIM Lucknow	90
IIM Indore	90
IIM Kozhikode	85
IIM Amritsar	90
IIM Nagpur	85
IIM Sambalpur	93
IIM Trichy	93
IIM Raipur	93
IIM Ranchi	90
IIM Kashipur	94
IIM Vizag	80
IIM Udaipur	93
IIM Bodhgaya	93
IIM Shillong	75
IIM Sirmaur	92
IIM Rohtak	95
IIM Nagpur	85
IIM Jammu	93

IIM CAT Cut Offs (FINAL)

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

Name of the IIM	CAT cut offs (estimated percentile)
IIM Ahmedabad	99-100
IIM Bangalore	99-100
IIM Calcutta	99
IIM Lucknow	97-98
IIM Indore	97-98
IIM Kozhikode	97-98
IIM Amritsar	95-96
IIM Nagpur	95-96
IIM Sambalpur	95-96
IIM Trichy	94-95
IIM Raipur	94-95
IIM Ranchi	94-95
IIM Kashipur	94-95
IIM Vizag	92-94
IIM Rohtak	92-94
IIM Udaipur	92-94
IIM Bodhgaya	92-94
IIM Shillong	90
IIM Sirmaur	90
IIM Jammu	90
IIM Mumbai	90

Also Read:

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