CAT Cutoff 2026: Check Category-wise Cutoff for IIMs and Top MBA Colleges, Marks vs Percentile, Good Score

The CAT 2026 cutoff will be released by the participating IIMs and other MBA colleges after the declaration of the CAT 2026 results, which is anticipated around December 21–24, 2026. Each institute will publish its own sectional and overall percentile cutoffs on its official website.

The cutoff details will be used for shortlisting candidates for the next stages of the admission process, including WAT, GD, and Personal Interview rounds.

• For the General category, the overall cutoff percentile for top IIMs like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta is expected to be in the range of 95-100 percentiles.
• While newer IIMs like Bodh Gaya, Sirmaur, and Amritsar have the cutoff of around 90-95.
• The cutoffs for reserved categories (OBC, EWS, SC/ST) are the lowest in the range of 32-65 percentiles.
• IIMs like Ahmedabad and Kozhikode require sectional cutoff in the range of 70-85 in each section (VARC, DILR, QA)
• Other IIMs like Indore and Lucknow have higher sectional cutoffs of 80-85.

Based on recent result trend, a raw score of 88–97 converts to the 99+ percentile, which is considered excellent. A score between 72–85 marks, which is equal to the 90–95th percentile, opens doors to good B-schools like MDI Gurgaon, IMI Delhi, and IITs.

IIM Kashipur, IIM Raipur, IIM Ranchi, and IIM Tiruchirappalli are jointly conducting JAP 2026 for admission to their MBA programs. IIM Raipur is serving as the coordinating institute for JAP 2026. They have also released the minimum eligibility criteria for JAP 2026 Registration Process. 

Related Links:

• IIM Ahmedabad Cutoff CAT 2026 & Admission Criteria: Check Eligibility & Score Vs Percentile
• IIM Bangalore Cutoff CAT 2026 and Admission Criteria: Check Category-wise cutoff & Eligibility Criteria​
• IIM Calcutta Cutoff CAT 2026 & Selection Process: Check Category-wise cutoff & Admission Criteria

Key Summary

In this article, we have discussed the category-wise cutoff, CAT cutoff for IIMs, Top MBA colleges, and a detailed analysis of CAT Marks vs Percentile and Good score for CAT 2026.

• The CAT 2026 cutoff will vary across categories and colleges.

• As per the CAT 2026 result, with a score of 118-136, a 99+ percentile requires a raw score of around 118-136.

• The top IIMs (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta) continue to have a cutoff of 99+ percentile for General category candidates.

• Reputable B-schools like IMI, IMT, and TAPMI, as well as Baby IIMs, require a mid-range cutoff percentile of 90-95.

• OBC/EWS candidates typically need to have cutoffs that are 10–15 percentiles lower.

• SC/ST candidates may need cutoffs that range from 35–70 percentile, depending on the institute.

CAT 2026 Cutoff: Previous Year Category-wise Cutoff Percentile Lists

Here are the category-wise cutoffs for different CAT 2026 percentile ranges below. 

CAT 2026 Cutoff for IIMs (Expected)

• The CAT 2026 Cutoff will be released officially on the respective IIMs' websites.
• Based on the current CAT 2025 results and previous years’ trends, the cut-off pattern remains consistent. For General category candidates, a percentile range of 95-99+ is considered safe.
• The Tier-2 IIMs like Lucknow, Indore, and Kozhikode are expected to have the cutoffs ranging from 90–99.5, with most selections happening above 95 percentile.
• The New IIMs like Amritsar, Nagpur, and Trichy are expected to have the cutoff range of 95+ percentile, reflecting an increase in competition.
• To stay competitive, aspirants should aim for the 95+ percentile for newer IIMs and the 99+ for the Tier-1 IIMs.

CAT 2026 Category-wise Expected Cutoff

The CAT 2026 Cutoff differs across the categories and colleges. The CAT cutoff for IIM for the General Category is higher as compared to the other categories, with top IIMs like Rohtak having a 95th percentile, Indore and Lucknow have 90, and others like Trichy, Ranchi, and Udaipur (92) reflecting a strong competition. The Tier-2 IIMs like Shillong and Sambalpur have comparatively lower cutoffs of 75 and 74, respectively.

• General Category: Requires the highest scores. Cutoffs peak at a strict 97th percentile for IIM Rohtak and 92nd percentile for colleges like Trichy. However, they drop to 74–75 at Shillong and Sambalpur.
• OBC & EWS Categories: These categories share similar score requirements, usually between 63 and 83rd percentile. Older institutes like Rohtak and Indore demand higher scores. Newer options like Vizag and Sambalpur have lower cutoffs.
• SC & ST Categories: These have the lowest score filters. For SC candidates, cutoffs range from 70 at IIM Ahmedabad down to 35. For ST candidates, scores drop as low as 25–30 percentile at baby IIMs.

CAT Sectional Cutoffs for Top IIMs (General Category)

In CAT 2026, IIMs like Lucknow and Indore have the highest sectional cutoffs of 85th percentile in each section and 90th overall.

• The IIM Bangalore and Calcutta have the sectional cutoffs around 75–80 and overall 85 percentile, whereas the IIM Ahmedabad requires a much lenient sectional cutoff of 70 in each section with an overall cutoff of 80.
• The Newer IIMs like Raipur, Udaipur, Trichy, and Ranchi have the sectional cutoff of around 70–73, but a high overall percentile of 91–94.

CAT Cut Off for JAP 2026

CAT 2026 Marks vs Percentile

The CAT marks vs Percentile data of 2026 shows that the top percentile has slightly increased in 2025, indicating exam difficulty is tough, requiring 118-136 to secure a 99.9+ percentile.

• Candidate with 99 percentile, scored 85-110 marks, slightly higher than previous years.
• For 98 percentile, candidates scored in a score range of 79-85, showing consistent high performance to stay in the top percentiles.
• 95 percentile: 64-66 marks, indicating that if candidates score above 65 ensures a strong percentile.
• 90 percentile: 52-61 marks, suggesting that candidates with moderate accuracy has secured good ranks.

In CAT 2025, a raw score between 102-120+ is considered an excellent score, which can place the candidate in the percentile range 99+, providing an opportunity to get admission into Top IIMS like IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta.

A score range between 80-100 in the CAT is considered a very good score, with the percentile range between 95–98. The candidate can get into Mid Tier IIMs like Shillong and IIM CAP.

A score ranging between 72 and 84 can place the candidate in the 90th-95th percentile and is considered a good score. With this score range, the candidate can get admission into Newer IIMS like Nagpur, Amritsar, Vishakhapatnam, and Sambalpur

CAT Cutoff Percentile

CAT 2026 Cutoff for IIMs

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Non IIMs CAT vs CMAT, XAT, GMAT, MAT, NMAT Exam wise Cut off

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CAT Cutoff for Arts Students (General Category)

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CAT Cut off: B-School Categorisation

Based on the trends of the final CAT cut-off, IIMs and B-schools have been classified below:

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CAT Cut off 2026 for IITs

CAT 2023 scores are also accepted by 8 IITs to offer admission to MBA/ PGDM programmes. Every IIT releases its own qualifying CAT Cut off 2023 and admission criteria 2024-26. Tabulated below is the minimum CAT cut-off for IITs. 

Also Check: CAT Cut Off 2026 for IITs, MBA Admission Criteria 2026-28, Dates, Percentile, Selection Process

CAT Cut off for Top MBA Colleges Other than IIMs

Apart from the top leading IIMs of India, there are Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) and other top MBA Colleges that accept CAT scores too. CAT percentile for some of the top non-IIM CAT accepting MBA colleges at which you will be shortlisted for PI is provided in the table below.

The CAT cut-off 2026 will vary for each participating institute based on a number of factors. The major factors taken into consideration while determining the CAT cut-off percentile are:

• Difficulty level of the CAT exam
• Number of candidates who took the exam
• Number of candidates who cleared the exam
• Number of seats available at the respective institute
• Previous Year Cut-off Trends
• Number of candidates across different categories