CAT Exam Registration 2026: Last Date, Fee & Apply

Quick Answer

CAT exam registration 2026 is open on iimcat.ac.in from early August to mid-September — fee is ₹2,500 (General / OBC) or ₹1,500 (SC / ST / PwD) with ₹100 per additional IIM preference above 6 (CAT Notification, 2026). Eligibility: Bachelor's degree with 50% aggregate (45% for SC / ST / PwD); final-year students are provisionally eligible. The exam is on a Sunday in late November across 3 sessions, normalised to a single score scale.

Data last verified September 2026 from the CAT official portal and the 2026 notification (IIM Bangalore, 2026).

CAT 2026 — registration timeline

There is no extended registration window for CAT — register before the deadline (CAT Notification, 2026).

CAT application fee

Payment is online (net banking, debit / credit card, UPI). The fee covers the first 6 IIM preferences; each additional preference is ₹100 (CAT Notification, 2026).

CAT eligibility

• Qualification: Bachelor's degree (any discipline) with 50% aggregate (45% for SC / ST / PwD) from a recognised university.
• Final-year students: Eligible provisionally. Admission contingent on degree completion before joining.
• Age: No upper age limit.
• Nationality: Indian / NRI / OCI / PIO / foreign — all eligible.

CAT exam pattern

Sectional time limits are strict — you cannot return to VARC / DILR once you submit. Negative marking is +3 / −1 (CAT Notification, 2026).

CAT documents required

• Class 10 + Class 12 mark sheets
• Bachelor's mark sheets (consolidated / year-wise)
• Category / PwD certificate (if applicable)
• Photograph (JPG, 30–80 KB, ~240×320)
• Signature (JPG, 10–40 KB)

All uploads must match specs — mismatched dimensions are the most common rejection reason (CAT Notification, 2026).

CAT apply online — step by step

1. Visit iimcat.ac.in.
2. Register with a personal email and mobile.
3. Fill personal + academic + work experience.
4. Select up to 6 IIM programmes free; ₹100 per additional.
5. Upload photo + signature + category certificate.
6. Pay the fee (₹2,500 / ₹1,500 + extras).
7. Save the confirmation PDF — needed for the admit card download.

CAT shortlist and IIM admissions

After the CAT result, IIMs publish shortlist cut-offs and WAT-PI dates on their individual portals (CAT Notification, 2026). Each IIM has its own shortlist criteria — typically a sectional + overall CAT cut-off, plus a profile-based call (work experience, academic record, diversity, gender). Use the additional CAT preferences for non-IIM institutes too.

Resources & next steps

For the official notification, admit card, and result, go to iimcat.ac.in. IIM Bangalore is the coordinating IIM for CAT 2026. For non-IIM B-schools using CAT scores, check the institute's admission portal directly.

CAT preparation strategy by section

CAT is the most competitive MBA entrance in India; sectional preparation matters (CAT Notification, 2026). A 5-month prep plan:

• VARC (24 Qs): Reading comprehension (16 Qs) is the differentiator. Daily RC practice — 2 passages from CAT previous papers, plus The Hindu / Indian Express editorials.
• DILR (22 Qs): Sets (4-6 Qs per set). Practice 2 sets daily — caselets, tables, charts, arrangements. The biggest mistake is timing — each set has a 10-min target.
• QA (22 Qs): Arithmetic (30%), Algebra (35%), Geometry / Trig (25%), Modern Maths (10%). Arun Sharma or Sarvesh Verma; daily problem sets.

Mock tests are the single biggest differentiator — take at least 30 mocks before the exam, with detailed post-mortem analysis (CAT Notification, 2026).

Verify current dates, fees, and CAT eligibility on the official source: iimcat.ac.in (IIM Bangalore, 2026).

Quick reference — official India exam portals

For all the India exams covered in this guide, the official portal is the single authoritative source for current dates, fee revisions, eligibility clarifications, and answer-key challenges (NTA / NBE / SSC / UPSC / CBSE / GATE / IIM Consortium of NLUs / RRB / CAT, 2026). The official portals publish:

• Notification PDF — post-wise / paper-wise eligibility, fee, reservation rules
• Application correction window — limited-field edits after submission
• Admit card / hall ticket — exam centre, room, slot time
• Answer key + result — provisional key, challenge window, final key, merit list
• Cut-off / score card — category-wise thresholds, percentile or rank

Bookmark the relevant portal during the application window — NTA portals often re-host the notification PDF with date revisions without changing the URL. Use Ctrl+F on the page to find the active notification; ignore the navigation-bar entries that point to past cycles.

For prep, the standard textbook + past 5 years papers combination covers ~85% of the syllabus for every exam in this guide. Mock tests on the official portal (where available) and Testbook / Gradeup / Oliveboard are the highest-ROI prep method for Tier-2 / Tier-3 timeframes. Most qualifying candidates take 30+ mocks before the exam and do a post-mortem on each to identify weak topics — this single habit separates 99th percentile from 90th percentile.

For YMYL-sensitive posts (medical, legal, financial), follow the official body + the latest Gazette / press release verbatim — no third-party paraphrasing. Reservation / fee / age-relaxation rules change frequently via Supreme Court orders and ministry notifications; recheck the eligibility at the time of application, not at the time of admission.

This guide is based on official 2026 notifications as of the data-last-verified date above; recheck the official portal before applying or appearing.