CAT Answer Key 2026: Expected December 3, Response Sheet and Score Calculation

The CAT 2026 Answer Key will be released by IIM Indore on the official website iimcat.ac.in after the exam is conducted on November 29, 2026. Based on CAT 2025 trends — when IIM Kozhikode released the provisional key on December 4, 2025 — students can expect the CAT 2026 provisional answer key around December 3, 2026. CAT 2026 registration is currently open and closes on September 15, 2026. Once the key is live, registered students must log in with their CAT 2026 ID and password to view their slot-wise answer key and response sheet.

Source: IIM CAT Official Website – iimcat.ac.in

• The CAT 2026 provisional answer key is expected approximately 4–5 days after the November 29, 2026 exam, based on IIM Kozhikode’s December 4, 2025 release for CAT 2025.
• Students can view their response sheet (CBT equivalent of OMR) alongside the slot-wise answer key only through the candidate login at iimcat.ac.in — there is no public direct PDF link.
• The objection/challenge window is expected to remain open for 3–5 days; students can challenge answers by paying an approximate fee of Rs 1,200–1,500 per question (refundable only if the challenge is accepted by the IIM committee).
• The final CAT 2026 answer key and official scorecard are expected in the third week of December 2026. IIM Indore will notify registered candidates via email and iimcat.ac.in.

You can use the final CAT 2026 answer key to calculate your estimated raw score and, combined with coaching institute percentile predictor tools, get an early indication of your expected percentile before the official CAT 2026 scorecard is released.

In CAT 2025, over 2.58 lakh students appeared for the exam across 3 slots on November 30, 2025, conducted by IIM Kozhikode — making CAT one of India’s most competitive MBA entrance exams.

CAT 2026 Provisional Answer Key  (Soon)

The provisional answer key of CAT 2026 will be released slot-wise — covering all three sessions (Morning, Afternoon, Evening) held on November 29, 2026. Each student can access only their respective session’s answer key through the login portal. The table below will be updated with live download links once IIM Indore makes the key available.

CAT 2026 Unofficial Answer Key  (Soon)

Top MBA coaching institutes release comprehensive slot-wise unofficial answer keys and detailed analysis within hours of the CAT exam concluding on November 29, 2026. These give students an early score estimate before the official provisional key is published.

CAT 2025 Answer Key with Solutions PDF  (Available)

IIM Kozhikode released the CAT 2025 provisional answer key on December 4, 2025 — four days after the November 30, 2025 exam. The objection window ran from December 8–10, 2025, with a challenge fee of Rs 1,500 per question. The final answer key was released alongside the CAT 2025 scorecard in the third week of December 2025. Students preparing for CAT 2026 can use these resources for authentic practice.

Source: IIM CAT Official Portal – iimcat.ac.in

How to Download the CAT Answer Key 2026?

The CAT 2026 answer key is accessible only via the secured candidate login portal at iimcat.ac.in. Unlike NTA exams, there is no publicly accessible direct PDF link — each student must authenticate with their own CAT 2026 credentials to view the answer key for their specific exam slot.

Here are the complete guided steps to download the CAT 2026 Answer Key:

• Step 1: Open your browser and go to the official CAT website at iimcat.ac.in.
• Step 2: Click on the "Candidate Login" button on the homepage.
• Step 3: Enter your CAT 2026 Registration ID and Password created during the application process.
• Step 4: Click "Login" to access your candidate dashboard.
• Step 5: Navigate to the "Answer Key" or "Response Sheet" tab on the dashboard — this tab appears only after the official answer key has been published.
• Step 6: Your slot-specific answer key PDF will be displayed. Click "Download PDF" to save it to your device.
• Step 7: Download your response sheet as well, and compare each of your marked answers against the official answer key, section by section (VARC, DILR, QA), to calculate your estimated raw score.

Note: The CAT answer key is not publicly accessible without candidate login credentials. Ensure you remember your CAT 2026 Registration ID and Password. If you have forgotten your password, use the "Forgot Password" option on the login page.

Details Mentioned on CAT Answer Key 2026

The official CAT 2026 answer key document — viewed through the candidate portal — will display the following information for each question in your exam slot:

• Question number and its section (VARC / DILR / QA)
• Question type — MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) or TITA (Type in the Answer)
• Correct answer — option letter/number for MCQ; numerical value for TITA questions
• Your marked response — drawn from your response sheet (what you submitted during the exam)
• Status — whether your answer was Correct, Incorrect, or Not Attempted
• Marks awarded or deducted per question based on the marking scheme (+3 / –1 / 0)
• Section-wise summary — total correct, incorrect, and unattempted count for VARC, DILR, and QA

The response sheet is released simultaneously with the answer key, allowing you to trace each decision made during the exam and pinpoint where marks were gained or lost across all three sections.

How to Challenge the CAT Answer Key 2026?

After reviewing the CAT 2026 provisional answer key, if you believe any answer listed is factually incorrect or that multiple options are valid, you can formally raise an objection through the official portal. Only students who registered and appeared for CAT 2026 are eligible to raise objections — third-party challenges are not accepted. The challenge committee of IIM Indore will review all valid submissions and update the final answer key accordingly.

Here are the steps to challenge the CAT 2026 Answer Key:

• Step 1: Log in to iimcat.ac.in using your CAT 2026 Registration ID and Password.
• Step 2: On your dashboard, click the "Objection Management" or "Answer Key Challenge" tab (available only during the active objection window).
• Step 3: From the list of questions in your slot, select the specific question number you wish to challenge.
• Step 4: Enter the answer you believe to be correct and provide a clear, detailed justification for your challenge.
• Step 5: Upload supporting evidence (scanned textbook excerpts, official study material, or authoritative references) to strengthen your objection.
• Step 6: Proceed to payment and pay the challenge fee of approximately Rs 1,200–1,500 per question (based on CAT 2025 precedent; exact CAT 2026 fee to be announced by IIM Indore).
• Step 7: Review all details carefully and click "Submit Challenge" before the objection window closes (expected December 10, 2026).

Note: The challenge fee is refundable only if IIM Indore’s expert committee validates and accepts your objection. Rejected challenges forfeit the fee. Based on CAT 2025 (IIM Kozhikode), the fee was Rs 1,500 per question. The exact fee for CAT 2026 will be confirmed in the answer key release notification from IIM Indore.

How to Calculate Your Score Using the CAT Answer Key 2026

Once the CAT 2026 answer key and your response sheet are both available on iimcat.ac.in, follow these steps to estimate your total raw score:

• Log in and download both your response sheet (your answers) and the official answer key for your exam slot.
• Go through the questions one by one across all three sections (VARC, DILR, QA).
• For every correct MCQ answer, add +3 marks.
• For every incorrect MCQ answer, subtract –1 mark (negative marking applies to MCQs only).
• For every correct TITA (Type in the Answer) response, add +3 marks.
• For incorrect or blank TITA responses, add 0 marks — there is no negative marking for TITA.
• For any question left unattempted (MCQ or TITA), add 0 marks.
• Sum your section scores for VARC, DILR, and QA to arrive at your estimated total raw score out of 204.

Note: The official CAT 2026 scorecard will reflect scaled/normalised scores computed by IIM Indore using a statistical process to account for difficulty differences across the three slots. Your self-calculated raw score is an approximation only. Only the official CAT Result 2026 will contain your final scaled score, section-wise percentiles, and overall percentile.

Example of CAT 2026 Score Calculation

CAT 2026 Marking Scheme – Section-Wise Breakdown

The exact MCQ/TITA split per section may vary slightly across slots. Figures above are based on IIM Indore’s expected CAT 2026 pattern, consistent with CAT 2025.

CAT Marks vs Percentile 2026

For CAT, the performance benchmark is expressed as percentile rather than rank, since IIMs use percentile scores for shortlisting. The table below is based on analysis by IMS, TIME, and Career Launcher for CAT 2025 (total 204 marks, 68 questions). IIM Indore will apply a slot-wise normalisation algorithm for CAT 2026, so your raw answer-key score will differ from your final scaled score on the scorecard. Use the table as an approximate guide only.

Note: Actual CAT 2026 percentile thresholds may vary from the figures below depending on overall paper difficulty, candidate volume, and slot-wise performance distribution.

Source: IIM CAT Official Website | CAT 2025 analysis by IMS India, TIME, and Career Launcher

Colleges Accepting CAT 2026

CAT 2026 score is accepted by more than 1,200 MBA/PGDM programmes across India. The table below lists prominent institutions — from all 20 IIMs to top IIT management schools and leading private B-schools — that use the CAT scorecard for admissions to their 2027–29 batch.