CAT 2021 Notification: Exam Dates (Out Now), Online Application Form , Detailed Eligibility Criteria
The CAT 2021 Notification has been released!
The CAT 2021 notification has been released as of 31st July, 2021. The CAT Notification has been uploaded on the official website (www.iimcat.ac.in/). It contains the details about the CAT Exam Date, the reservation policy, the CAT 2021 Registration deadlines, the CAT 2021 Exam Slots, etc. For more details about the CAT 2021 Notification, keep reading below.
Here are the important timelines given in the CAT 2021 Notification:
- CAT 2021 Official Notification Release - 31st July, 2021
- CAT 2021 Registration Commences - 4th August 2021
- CAT 2021 Registration Completes - 22nd September 2021
- CAT 2021 Issuance of Hall Ticket- 27th October 2021 onwards
- CAT 2021 Exam Date - 28th November 2021 (Sunday)
- CAT 2021 Publishing the Solution Key - First week of December 2021
- CAT 2021 Solution Key Challenge Process - First week of December 2021
- CAT 2021 Declaration of Result - Second week of January 2022
Learn how prepared you are for CAT 2021!
For each CAT aspirant, CAT 2021 is the holy grail that they wish to conquer. Check how close you are to achieving this goal with our CAT Readiness Test . Get access to analysis which can make a difference and help you crack CAT by completing the test.
CAT 2021- Overview of the examination
CAT (Common Admission Test) or CAT exam is the premier MBA Entrance Exams in India which is accepted by hundreds of B-Schools. Almost 2 lakh 27 thousand candidates registered for CAT in 2020. The number of candidates appearing for CAT this year is estimated to be 2.5 lakhs. CAT 2021 will be conducted across 156 cities in the country, at prometric ION Digital Zones managed by Tata Consultancy Services. In order to appear for the CAT 2021 Exam, one needs to complete the registration process within the stipulated deadline. The registration timeline, which has been released in the CAT 2021 Notification, includes a registration start date of 4th August and a registration deadline of 22nd September, 2021.
Read in detail : CAT 2021
CAT 2021 Notification: Other Important Information
As soon as the CAT 2021 notification is released, candidates would have an option of downloading the entire document from the updated CAT website. The CAT 2021 Notification will mention the names of twenty IIMs and their registered programmes which a candidate can go through. As it is a time-consuming process, it is advisable to keep a notebook handy while going through the IIM list and write down your choice in the order of preference so you would quickly finish the registration process which will start a week after the release of the notification..
Also read : How to get into an IIM?
CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria
The CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria has been released as a part of the CAT 2021 Notification. It is very similar to the CAT Eligibility Criteria from 2020. Some of the details of the CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria are:
- In order to be eligible for the CAT Exam, the candidate has to pass at least their Bachelor's degree with at least 50% (for General Category, EWS and for candidates from the NC-OBC caste). For SC/ST and Differently Abled (DA) candidates, the percentage required is 45%.
- For the Degree to be counted, the University who has awarded the degree has to be recognized by the MHRD.
- If the University awards grades or CGPA instead of marks, the conversion factor given by the University has to be used. If there is no conversion factor specified by the University, the CGPA has to be converted into percentage by direct conversion i.e. divide the CGPA received by the highest CGPA possible and multiply the result by 100.
- Candidates who have completed their professional degrees with over 50% (45% for SC/ST/PwD) are also eligible for CAT.
Note: For candidates who are appearing for their final year in 2021 (graduating in 2021 or 2022), a promotion/pass certificate in the previous year will make them eligible to appear for CAT 2021.
For Candidates who passed out in 2020 or 2021, the minimum percentage of marks in the undergraduate course has been waived.
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CAT 2021 Registration and Application form
The CAT 2021 Notification has been released as of 31st July, 2021 and the registration process is open from 4th August 2021 to 22nd September 2021 as per the CAT Notification. Students will require a valid email ID and phone number to register for CAT 2021 as mentioned in the CAT 2021 notification. Also, students need to continue using this account even after completion of CAT 2021, till the entire selection process of IIMs and other MBA colleges that you have applied for is over.
The steps in filling out the CAT 2021 Application form are detailed below according to the previous years' CAT Application forms:
- The candidate needs to register as a new user and fill out his/her personal details on the first page of the CAT 2021 application form.
- Personal details of family members are to be filled in the form
- Following this, the academic details have to be added to the form (the marks of all the subjects have to be used in calculating the aggregate percentage irrespective of the policy of the board).
- The next section includes the work experience details
- The penultimate form section to be filled includes the choice of programs that the candidate wishes to apply to (IIM A, IIM B, IIM C, New IIMs, etc.)
- The final section to be filled includes the test center city in which the candidate wishes to appear for CAT Exam 2021. Most of the time, the centers are allocated according to the wishes of the student.
- Following this, the payment of the application fee has to be made.
- Upon payment, there will be a confirmation email sent to the email ID filled as a confirmation of the payment as well as sharing the status of the application. The email will also contain your registration ID and password to log on the CAT official website for latest updates and notifications.
- All future correspondence will be through this email ID.
Some of the documents required for this process are:
- Scanned photograph and signature of the candidate
- Grade Sheet from Xth and XIIth standard
- Other documents depending on the candidate's qualifications (Work Experience Letter, Graduation Certificate, etc.)
CAT Exam 2021 Application Fee
In order to complete the CAT 2021 Registration process, the candidate needs to pay the application fee for the CAT 2021 Exam. The details about the amount has been released as per the CAT 2021 Notification and the candidates need to fill the form and pay the amount within the registration window (4th August to 22nd September) in order to be eligible to appear for the CAT 2021 Exam. The CAT 2021 Application fee is:
- The application fee for General category candidate is Rs 2200
- The application fee for SC/ST/PWD category candidates is Rs 1100
- The mode of application fee payment is through Credit/Debit Card or Net Banking
CAT 2021 Notification: Events Post Registration
Once you submit your CAT 2021 application form, the convening IIM will send you alerts regarding all the future events associated to CAT 2021, such as
- Successful completion the CAT 2021 Application Process
- Downloading the CAT 2021 admit card
- Instructions and changes related to CAT 2021
- Application Correction for 2021
- Objection Window for CAT 2021
- Declaration of CAT 2021 result
- Your CAT 2021 percentile
CAT 2021 Exam Pattern
While the CAT 2021 Exam Pattern has not been released officially, it is likely to continue with the pattern from CAT 2020. This can be inferred from the 3 exam windows (as informed in the CAT 2021 Notification) being available in the CAT 2021 Exam which means that the exam slots are likely to be 2 hours long. Here is the expected CAT 2021 Exam Pattern.
Here is a descriptive overlay of CAT 2021 exam pattern based on CAT 2020 Exam Pattern:
| Important Module | Key Element/ Elements |
|---|---|
Test Administrator |
IIM Ahmedabad |
Mode of the exam |
Online Computer Based |
Duration |
2 hours |
Number of sections |
Three sections
|
Number of Questions per section |
76 Questions in total
|
Total Marks |
228 |
Review the question |
Enabled/non-adaptive |
Read in detail : CAT Exam Pattern
CAT Exam 2021 Syllabus
The CAT 2021 Notification is released and as expected, there is no official CAT 2021 Syllabus. Don't worry though, our Career Launcher experts have built the CAT 2021 Syllabus as per the topics tested over the years and will more than likely cover anything tested in CAT 2021.
There are three sections in the form of:
- Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
- Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
The VARC and QA sections consist of 34 questions while the DILR section consists of 32 questions. If the CAT 2020 Pattern is followed, the VARC and QA sections would consist of 26 Questions while the DILR section would consist of 24 Questions.
Here is the expected marking scheme of CAT 2021.
- Each MCQ question has a marking scheme of +3/-1 while the TITA question has no negative marking which makes the marking scheme +3/0.
- Each section is allocated 1 hour without exception and time is not carried over from one section to the other.
Therefore the candidate needs to be competent across all sections rather than scoring heavily in any one or two sections. In the same spirit, there are usually sectional cutoffs for most of the better colleges.
The VARC section is majorly interpretation based and not vocabulary based, due to which it does not have a fixed syllabus. Thus reading level and grammar rules of Class X and some practice would allow the candidate to adequately prepare for the CAT exam 2021 syllabus for the VARC section.
The DILR section has no fixed exam syllabus and only practicing different types of sets can help the aspirants prepare for the DILR section of the CAT 2021.
The QA section, like the VARC section, consists of topics from the CBSE Class X syllabus. The major topics in QA include:
- Algebra
- Arithmetic
- Numbers
- Geometry
- Modern Maths
CAT 2021 Admit Card
The CAT 2021 Admit Card is one of the most crucial documents for every CAT 2021 Aspirant. As per the CAT 2021 Notification, the CAT 2021 Admit Card has been released on 27th November 2021. Admit cards are now available to be downloaded at any time till the date of the CAT 2021 Exam.
Recent Update: CAT 2021 Admit Cards are now available. Candidates can now download the Hall Tickets from the official website.
It is required not only at the CAT 2021 Exam Center but also in some of the procedures post CAT 2021. The CAT Admit Card contains several details such as:
- Name
- CAT 2021 Exam Center
- CAT 2021 Time Slot
- Category
- CAT Registration Number
- Password
- Exam Centre Instructions
- Authorized Candidate Signatory
- Declaration Form
- Candidate's photograph
The personal details have to be carefully examined at the time of release to ensure that there are no mistakes in the CAT 2021 Admit Card. If there are some errors, the authorities should be contacted at the earliest to clarify these mistakes as soon as possible.
CAT 2021 Solution Key
IIMCAT will put up the solution key, individual response sheet and question paper of CAT 2021 following up the completion of the CAT 2021 examination. It can easily be downloaded from the official website to calculate your percentile and predict IIM calls. The CAT 2021 solution key will be delivered in two phases: preliminary and final. The answer key released the fastest after the CAT 2021 exam will be the preliminary solution key. Students are open to objecting against this CAT 2021 solution key. Keeping these objections in mind, the preliminary answer key will undergo further revisions and modifications. The final solution key will be released after convening IIM is 100% satisfied with the accuracy of the solution key.
CAT Exam 2021 Result
The CAT 2021 exam result will be uploaded on the official website (https://iimcat.ac.in) and each candidate will be able to download his/her scorecard in its entirety after logging in. The CAT Exam result will be applicable only for the current academic year and will be declared in the second week of January, 2022 tentatively.
This page will be updated once the official dates are declared.
The validity of the CAT 2021 result is one year. Hence only students who have given CAT 2021 will be considered for MBA batch 2022-24
- Steps to get CAT 2021 result
- Open the CAT 2021 official website
- Login to your account
- Click on “Scorecard” tab
- Click download and save the file on your computer.
- Open “downloads” and view the result file
The CAT result page will be updated once the results are declared.
Top B-schools Colleges Accepting CAT 2020
As mentioned above, the CAT Exam is held for admissions into some of the best MBA colleges in India. Some of these colleges include:
- IIM Trichy
- IIM Raipur
- IIM Kashipur
- IIM Rohtak
- IIM Nagpur
- IIM Vizag
- IIM Sambalpur
- IIM Sirmaur
- IIM Bodh Gaya
...and many more Tier 2 and 3 colleges
Read in detail : MBA B School Ranking
Also read : CAT Cut offCAT 2020 Notification & Registration: Important Dates
If you are looking to get an indication of the CAT 2021 timeline post the exam, you can have a look at the CAT 2020 Notification and Important dates mentioned below:
| Details | Date | CAT 2020 Notification |
29th July, 2020 |
|---|---|
CAT 2020 Registration Start |
5th August, 2020 |
CAT 2020 Registration Deadline |
23rd September, 2019 |
CAT 2020 Admit Card Release |
28th October, 2020 |
CAT 2020 Exam Date |
29th November, 2020 |
CAT 2020 Result Declaration |
2nd January, 2020 |
CAT 2019 Notification & Registration: Important Dates
Here is a detailed overview of CAT 2019 Notification :
| Details | Date | CAT 2019 Notification |
28th July, 2019 |
|---|---|
CAT 2019 Registration Start |
7th August, 2019 |
CAT 2019 Registration Deadline |
25th September, 2019 |
CAT 2019 Admit Card Release |
23rd October, 2019 |
CAT 2019 Exam Date |
24th November, 2019 |
CAT 2019 Result Declaration |
4th January, 2019 |
CAT 2015-2020 Registration Pattern
The CAT population has been on a significant rise the last few years. CAT is a gateway of pursuing a career in management from the best B schools of the country. Almost 100 top B schools grant admission based on CAT scores, including the twenty IIMs. We can understand the last 5 years' CAT Registration Pattern better in form of the graph presented below:
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FAQs about CAT 2021
- Are calculators allowed in the CAT exam?
- - Physical calculators are not allowed in the CAT exam although the on-screen calculator is available on the computer
- Are watches allowed in the CAT exam?
- -No electronic gadgets are allowed in the CAT exam center. So, no watches, calculators, etc. can be taken inside the exam hall
- Is there any age limit for CAT 2021?
- - There is a lower age limit of 20 (due to graduation requirement) for giving CAT however there is no upper age limit.
- How many times can I give CAT?
- - There is no limit to the number of attempts for giving CAT.
- How many years is the CAT score valid for?
- - The CAT score is valid for one year before it expires.
- In which month is CAT conducted?
- - The exam dates have been declared in the official CAT 2021 Notification. The CAT 2021 Exam will be held on 28th November 2021.
- How much do I need to score in order to get a 90%ile in CAT?
- - There is no fixed score to score 90%ile as it depends on how other people score. In CAT 2015, one needed to score 124 to get 90%ile while CAT 2016 pushed down the score to 105 CAT 2017 was 118.