CAT Exam Analysis 2026 (Slot 1,2,3) | CAT Paper Analysis, Difficulty Level And Expected Cutoffs.

CAT Cut-Off 2026 (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 in the admission procedure of CAT:

• Stage I → It includes the profile score and the CAT test score, out of which the profile score may include your academic performance, work experience, and academic and gender diversity, which may vary based on the Institute’s pre-defined weightages/ preferences.
  (The CAT percentile is a key part of the shortlisting process, but interview calls also depend on factors like your academic record, work experience, and category. While you can’t change most of your profile-related details, you can focus on maximising your CAT score.)
• Stage II → It includes the WAT-PI and other rounds, which are again something in your control, and you can work on them to gain admission to your dream B-school.

Find below the tabulated CAT cutoff 2026 of top-tier IIMs based on the previous year’s cutoff:

*Please note that the above-mentioned percentiles are just the indicative numbers (as per the admission criteria of B-schools for 2026-27 academic batch). 

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

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.

Career Launcher's AI-Driven CAT 2026 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 2026 Percentile Predictor, as follows:

• At present, our CAT percentile predictor can do normalisation across slots (using the scaling formula provided by the conducting authorities of CAT). 
• CL CAT Percentile Predictor tends to give more accurate results at higher percentiles.
• At the lower percentile ranges (below 70), slight variations may occur due to limited data.
• The more students use our percentile predictor, the better and more accurate data it generates.