Career Launcher's AI-Driven CAT 2025 Percentile Predictor

Our CAT percentile predictor has consistently delivered remarkably accurate results, with many students appreciating how closely our estimates match the actual scores, sometimes right down to the decimal point. Over the years, we’ve continuously refined our model, giving you one of the closest score predictions to the actual CAT results.

Here are some points to be noted about the CL's CAT 2025 Percentile Predictor, as follows:

CAT Response Sheet 2025 (Released)

The CAT Response Sheet 2025 has been released, allowing aspirants to view the answers they marked in the exam and analyse their performance before the official results are declared. The response sheet contains the question-wise responses, enabling candidates to compare their answers with the CAT 2025 Answer Key (once released) and estimate their raw scores with high accuracy.

Accessing the CAT 2025 Response Sheet is crucial for understanding your attempt pattern, identifying mistakes, and evaluating your performance across VARC, DILR, and Quant.

Once you download your response sheet from the official CAT website, you can upload it to our CAT Percentile Predictor to instantly get insights into:

The CAT Response Sheet 2025 not only helps you estimate your performance but also provides transparency in the evaluation process. It is an essential document for all aspirants who wish to make informed decisions about their MBA admissions strategy and prepare for the next phase, including WAT-PI preparation.

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CAT 2025 Score Calculator By Career Launcher

The CAT exam is something that becomes an immense part of the life of every CAT aspirant as it draws closer. A natural consequence of this is that it takes up a huge amount of mental space for the aspirant until the day of the exam.

A natural question that comes to the mind of every serious aspirant after they attempt the CAT exam is, "How have I done?" or "What percentile will I get?" or "Will it be enough to get a call from my dream college?" or "Is there any tool that can help me know my CAT score?"

CL has been addressing these queries and predicting estimated CAT scores using raw response data shared by students, including the number of correct, incorrect, and unattempted questions.

Every year, our CAT Score Calculator 2025 becomes even more accurate, powered by extensive historical data and continuous refinement to deliver highly reliable predictions.

CAT 2025 Expected Score Vs Percentile

The CAT percentile is determined based on the score a candidate achieves. Out of the 68 questions in CAT 2025, attempting around 48 questions with 85-90% accuracy can get you a 99.99 percentile. The table below reflects the estimated CAT score vs percentile and required score in each section for your reference:

Expected Percentiles

Overall Score

CAT 2025 Slot 1

CAT 2025 Slot 2

CAT 2025 Slot 3

99

81

82-83

83-84

95

65

66

67

90

52

53

53

85

45

45

45

80

40

40

40


CAT 2025 Expected Sectional Score Vs Percentile

Expected

Percentiles

VARC Score

DILR Score

QA Score

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

99

40

40

42

26

27

27

28

30

28

95

33

33

33

19

19

20

21

22

22

90

25

25

25

16

16

16

18

20

20

85

23

23

23

13

13

13

14

14

14

80

21

21

21

12

12

12

13

13

13

Slot 3 CAT Exam Analysis 2025: Key Highlights

CAT 2025 slot 3 was comparatively difficult than CAT 2024 slot 3

  • Overall: The difficulty level was higher compared to last year.
  • VARC: RCs slightly easier (one question over last year) but the options were lengthier.
  • DILR: Slightly more difficult compared to CAT 2024 but similar to CAT 2025 Slot 1.
  • QA: Slightly more difficult than CAT 2024 and broadly similar to CAT 2025 Slot 1.
Check CAT 2025 Slot 3 Detailed Analysis

Slot 2 CAT Exam Analysis 2025: Key Highlights

CAT 2025 Slot 2 was difficult compared to that of CAT 2024 and CAT 2023.

VARC

  • In the Verbal section, the passages are easier to read, but the questions were slightly trickier to decipher compared to Slot 1.
  • 4 questions were Non-MCQs or TITA questions
  • CAT 2025 Slot 2 was similar in pattern to CAT 2023, but difficulty level was closer to CAT 2022

DILR

  • DILR was very similar to Slot 1.
  • CAT 2025 DILR was tougher compared to the CAT 2024 DILR section in terms of difficulty.
  • CAT 2025 Slot 2 was difficult compared to CAT 2024 and comparatively closer to CAT 2023

QA

  • CAT 2025 Slot 2 was marginally difficult.
  • The section had 7-8 non-MCQs or TITA questions.
  • As expected, arithmetic and Algebra dominated the section.
Check CAT 2025 Slot 2 Detailed Analysis

Slot 1 CAT Exam Analysis 2025: Key Highlights

  • Overall difficulty was similar to CAT 2023, but did not look so scary → marginally better
  • VARC - Almost the same as last year
  • DILR - Marginally difficult than last year and similar to CAT 2022 and CAT 2023.
  • QA - More of Number System questions - Straightforward questions
Check CAT 2025 Slot 1 Detailed Analysis

CAT Exam Pattern 2025 - Section-Wise Pattern

The CAT Exam is a computer-based test (CBT) conducted in 3 slots on 30th November 2025. The CAT 2025 exam pattern was similar to that of CAT 2024.

  • The exam had a total of 68 questions to be solved in 120 minutes.
  • 40 minutes are allocated for each section.
  • The order of sections remained the same: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA).
  • The use of a basic on-screen calculator for computations is allowed.
  • Every correct answer will fetch 3 marks while a wrong answer will lead to the deduction of 1 mark. Thus, the marking scheme is +3/-1.

CAT Section-Wise Exam Pattern

The CAT 2025 exam pattern is provided in the table below for your reference:

Section

Total Questions

Total Marks

Time Allotted

VARC

24

72

40 Mins.

DILR

22

66

40 Mins.

QA

22

66

40 Mins.

Total

68

204

120 Mins.

Appearing for CAT Exam 2025

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CAT Cut-Off 2025 Expected

CAT cutoff is the minimum percentile that a candidate is expected to achieve to get into a B-school. While top B-schools are known to have a higher CAT cutoff range, the minimum cutoff varies both from institute to institute and profile to profile.

Shortlisting from B-schools after CAT exam depends on various factors such as the candidate's CAT percentile, academic record, work experience, category, academic diversity and the institute's specific criteria.

Further, it is worth noting that there are two stages to qualify for the admission procedure of CAT:

Find below the tabulated CAT minimum percentile 2025 of top-tier IIMs based on the previous year’s cutoff:

List of IIMs

CAT Cutoff 2025

(Expected Percentile)  

IIM Ahmedabad

99+

IIM Bangalore

99+

IIM Calcutta

99+

IIM Lucknow

98+

IIM Kozhikode

98+

IIM Indore

98+

IIM Shillong

97+

IIM Raipur

96+

IIM Rohtak

95-96%ile

IIM Vizag

96+

IIM Amritsar

95+

IIM Mumbai

97+

*Please note that the above-mentioned percentiles are just the indicative numbers (as per the admission criteria of B-schools for 2025-26 academic batch).

For Example: The above percentiles do not guarantee an admission call from a B-school. The final admission decisions are based on a composite score.

The composite score typically includes components such as your CAT score, academic performance (10th, 12th, graduation marks), work experience, gender diversity, and discipline background. For instance, even two candidates with the same CAT percentile may receive different outcomes depending on their academic profile and work experience weightage in a particular institute’s selection criteria.

A noticeable difference exists in the expected B-school cutoffs for different candidates with different profiles.

Profile A

Profile B

Category: NC-OBC

Category: General

Gender: Female

Gender: Male

Percentile: 99.2

Percentile: 99.2

Education: Engineer (Graduation: 85%)

10th and 12th - 90%)

Education: Engineer (Graduation: 85%

10th and 12th - 90%)

Work Experience: 6 months

Work Experience: 24 Months

Even though both have the same percentile, Candidate A might have a higher chance of getting a call from top B-Schools because of the profile.

Candidates can predict their B-schools with the help of our IIM profilizer by filling in their relevant details as per their profiles.

What Do Students Feel About

Career Launcher's Predictions

★★★★★

Student

Actual 99.98 %tile
Predicted 99.96 %tile

Great prediction model, most accurate amongst all predictors I used.

★★★★★

Student

Actual 96.72%ile
Predicted 96.80%ile

Closest prediction out of all the available predictors super impressed!

★★★★★

Student

Actual 92%ile
Predicted 92.07%ile

Spot on!

CAT 2025 Selection Process

The IIM admission process differs based on the admission criteria - preferences of various participating institutes:

  • Phase 1: Most institutes shortlist candidates after CAT results, but each institute applies its own eligibility filters, such as overall and section-wise percentiles, minimum academic thresholds, and category-wise cutoffs. Phase 1 also included test scores and profile score.  So, the preliminary shortlisting criteria vary across institutes, and there is no single uniform preliminary round. 
  • Phase 2: Shortlisted candidates appear for the Writing Ability Test (WAT) or Analytical Writing Test (AWT) (conducted by IIM Ahmedabad) and a Personal Interview (PI).
    • Most IIMs have replaced Group Discussions (GD) with WAT/AWT, though institutes like SPJIMR still conduct Group Interviews (GI). 
    • Institutes such as IIM Shillong, IIM Rohtak, IIM Indore, FMS, and few others also conduct extempore. The newer IIMs follow a Common Admission Process (CAP) for WAT and PI, while some (like IIM Kashipur, IIM Bodh Gaya, and IIM Sirmaur) conduct a Joint Admission Process (JAP). 
    • A few other B-schools may include case discussions or group tasks as part of their selection rounds.

After the CAT results are declared, each IIM conducts its own selection process based on its individual admission policy. The final selection is typically based on a composite score that includes CAT performance, Written Ability Test (WAT), Personal Interview (PI), academic record, and, in some cases, work experience. Each institute then releases its separate merit list based on these parameters.

CAT Exam Past Year Analysis (2024)

It is essential to examine past trends before preparing for CAT 2025. By doing so, you can adopt a better exam-taking strategy and learn smart tips and tricks to score better.

One frequently asked question among CAT aspirants is, What CAT score is required to reach the top percentiles, which are essential for clearing the cutoffs of B-schools?

Given below are the CAT scores and percentiles that candidates can aim for according to CAT 2024:

CAT Score Vs Percentile 2024 Overall Trends

Percentile

Approximate Marks in 2024

99.5

104

99

103

95

58

90

47

85

44

80

43

CAT Exam Analysis 2024 - CAT 2024 Difficulty Level

The overall difficulty of CAT 2024 was higher than that of CAT 2023. The exam followed a new pattern, with 68 questions to be answered in 120 minutes. The distribution of questions across the sections also remained the same, with 24 questions in VARC, 22 questions in DILR, and 22 questions in QA. Each section had to be attempted in 40 minutes.

Among the 3 slots, there was only a marginal difference in the level of difficulty.

Section (CAT 2024)

Most Difficult

Moderately Difficult

Least Difficult

VARC

Slot 2

Slot 1

Slot 3

DILR

Slot 1

Slot 2/3

-

QA

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Career Launcher's CAT 2024 Achievers Receiving IIM Calls

493

IIM Ahmedabad

901

IIM Bangalore

484

IIM Calcutta

2103

IIM Lucknow

Frequently Asked Questions