Associate Content Manager | Updated On - Jul 3, 2024
CAT Percentile Calculation 2024: Candidates often find it difficult to understand how CAT percentile is calculated. For a better understanding of candidates, a stepwise method of CAT 2024 Score and Percentile Calculation is mentioned below in the article. First of all, let us understand what is CAT Percentile: It is a relative score that indicates the percentage of candidates who scored less than or equal to a particular candidate. In other words, if a candidate scores 99 percentile, then the performance of that candidate is better than 99% of CAT test-takers. Check CAT 2024 Score Vs Percentile
CAT Percentile for each candidate is mentioned on CAT Scorecard released with the declaration of CAT 2024 Result.
The procedure and formula of CAT Score & Percentle Calculation for preparing the PI shortlists is given by the IIMs in their respective admission brochures. Candidates can also use CAT 2024 Percentile and College Predictor to easily assess their CAT percentile as well as their chances of getting into different management institutes.
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How Scaled CAT Score will be Calculated for Three Slots?
CAT 2024 exam will be conducted in three slots. With no changes in CAT exam pattern from last year, the total marks of the paper are 198.
While illustrating the scaling process, CAT chose QA section as an example. Similar process will be valid for the other two sections, i.e. DILR and VARC.
- Step 1: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in QA section for all candidates appearing in the morning session. Let Mean = M1 and SD = S1 and G1 = M1 + S1.
- Step 2: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in QA section for all candidates appearing in the afternoon session. Let Mean = M2 and SD = S2 and G2 = M2 + S2.
- Step 3: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in QA section for all candidates appearing in the evening session. Let Mean = M3 and SD = S3 and G3 = M3 + S3.
- Step 4: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in QA section for all candidates appearing in CAT (i.e. including all the three sessions). Let Mean = M and SD = S and G = M + S.
- Step 5: Calculate the mean raw score in QA section of the top 0.1% of candidates in the morning session and denote it by
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- Step 6: Calculate the mean raw score in QA of top 0.1% of candidates in the afternoon session and denote it by
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- Step 7: Calculate the mean raw score in QA of top 0.1% of candidates in the evening session and denote it by
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Suppose now XYZ is a candidate who appeared in the morning session and the raw score in QA section is R. Then the scaled score of XYZ in QA, say 
is given by:
:
is given by:
given by:
CAT 2024 Percentile Score Calculation
Keeping Quantitative Ability (QA) as an example, the stepwise procedure for the calculation of overall score and percentile score is as follows:
- Step 1: Calculate the total number of candidates (N) who appeared for CAT in all sessions.
- Step 2: Assign a rank (r), based on the scaled scores obtained in the QA section, to all candidates who appeared for CAT 2024. If two or more candidates obtain equal scores in the QA section, then identical ranks will be assigned to those candidates.
For example, if two candidates obtain the highest scaled score in the QA section, then the assigned rank of both the candidates will be 1. The candidate(s) obtaining the second highest scaled score in the QA section will be assigned Rank 3 and so on.
- Step 3: The percentile score (P) of a candidate with rank(r) in the QA section can be calculated using the following formula:
P = ((N-r) N) x 100
- Step 4: Finally, round off the calculated percentile score (P) of a candidate up to two decimal points. For example, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.995 are rounded off to 100, all percentile scores which are greater than or equal to 99.985 but less than 99.995 are rounded off to 99.99 and so on.
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CAT Normalization Process
- Exam creation is a set of statistically profiled questions. These questions of same difficulty levels are used in re-scaling candidate’s score to the metric of item bank.
- The questions are properly analysed and their difficulty levels is assessed according to a standard metric.
- The normalization carries a base assumption that “in all multi session CAT papers, the distribution of abilities of candidates is the same across all of the sessions”.
- Then, the raw score of the candidate is scaled, and scores are established accordingly. This helps in awarding ranks to the candidates.
- The percentile rank is equated based on percentage score that falls below a certain specified score.
- With the total scale scores arranged in rank order from the lowest to highest in 100 equally sized groups, a table with the total scale scores to percentile ranks will be created.
- After the scores are identified and arranged, high scoring candidate’s name will be determined from the top among high scorers and subsequent list of low scorers.
- CAT percentile decides the rank of a management aspirant, relative to the rest of the aspirants who appeared for the same MBA entrance exam. The basic idea of the CAT percentile is to tell you what per cent of the students have scored less than you in the examination.
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CAT Marking Scheme
CAT scores are sub-normalized based on three parts of the exam- Quantitative Reasoning, Data Interpretation, and Logical Reasoning and Verbal and Reading Comprehension. CAT exam score, which is valid for one year only, is converted into percentile form and the best scorer is highlighted at the top to up the level of competition.
- A candidate is awarded three marks each for the correct answer.
- However, it also applies negative marking, since one mark each is deducted for every wrong answer.
- Candidates may note that no mark will be deducted for an unanswered question.
- CAT score helps in shortlisting of the eligible candidates for further rounds.
CAT exam generally maintains a consistent level of difficulty throughout the examination process. CAT Exam is designed in a manner that makes it difficult for candidates to answer all the questions correctly and thus chances for a perfect score are minimal.
How is CAT Score Equated?
Equating CAT follows a psychometric process to adjust differences in difficulty level. The process is followed to keep a tab on comparable metric and be justified to candidates who test across multiple days. There are three phases in equating the CAT Exam
- Raw scores are calculated where three marks are awarded for a correct answer, and one mark is deducted for every wrong answer.
- Through an equating process, raw scores are adjusted for variances in difficulty levels across the different test forms. Then through statistical properties, candidates’ performance is judged on the same questions asked in two or more different forms. These equating measures help to adjust raw marks accordingly.
- Equating helps in placing the scores on a common scale and create a range of scores which help in creating percentile rank.
CAT Raw Score Vs Percentile: Accuracy Levels and Attempt
What accuracy level is needed while attempting CAT answers? Find out from the tables below
CAT Score, Attempts, and Accuracy for 99 Percentile
| CAT Section | Good Attempt | Accuracy Level | Raw Score | Scaled Score | Expected Percentile Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VARC | 15-17 | 85 | 38-42 | 45-50 | 99 |
| DILR | 10-12 | 90 | 30-34 | 40-44 | 99 |
| QA | 16-18 | 85 | 40-44 | 48-54 | 99 |
| Overall | 41-47 | 85 | 111-120 | 133-148 | 99 |
CAT Score, Attempts, and Accuracy for 95 Percentile
| CAT Section | Good Attempt | Accuracy Level | Raw Score | Scaled Score | Expected Percentile Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VARC | 13-15 | 85 | 34-38 | 40-45 | 95 |
| DILR | 8-10 | 90 | 26-30 | 32-36 | 95 |
| QA | 14-16 | 85 | 35-40 | 40-44 | 95 |
| Overall | 35-41 | 85 | 95-108 | 112-125 | 95 |
CAT Score, Attempts, and Accuracy for 90 Percentile
| CAT Section | Good Attempt | Accuracy Level | Raw Score | Scaled Score | Expected Percentile Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VARC | 12-13 | 90 | 32-35 | 36-40 | 90 |
| DILR | 7-9 | 90 | 17-22 | 22-28 | 90 |
| QA | 13-14 | 85 | 34-36 | 38-40 | 90 |
| Overall | 29-38 | 85 | 83-93 | 96-108 | 90 |
Must Read: IIM WAT (Written Ability Test): Topics, Tips, and Weightage
Overall CAT Percentile and Marks
| CAT Percentile | CAT VARC Score | CAT DILR Score | CAT QA Score | Overall CAT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 45-50 | 38-45 | 38-43 | 125-130 |
| 99.8-99.9 | 38-45 | 35-40 | 35-38 | 112-125 |
| 99-99.5 | 34-35 | 28-30 | 36-37 | 98-105 |
| 98+ | 32-33 | 27-28 | 30-32 | 90-93 |
| 95+ | 32-34 | 20-21 | 28-30 | 80-82 |
| 90+ | 29-30 | 17-19 | 26-27 | 72-75 |
| 85+ | 24-25 | 14-15 | 20-22 | 59-61 |
| 80+ | 20-22 | 11-13 | 15-16 | 46-48 |
CAT Percentile Calculation 2024 FAQs
Ques: What is the difference between Raw Score and Scaled Score in CAT?
Ans: CAT raw score is the actual score that a candidate receive in CAT exam. The raw score is then converted into percentile score. This is done through the process of normalisation as the exam is conducted in two slots. Therefore, in order to judge each candidate on the same scale, normalisation is done to calculate the percentile score.
Ques: Is 80 percentile in CAT considered good?
Ans: Getting 80 percentile in CAT exam can be a tricky situation as candidates getting such as score can not be placed into the old IIMs. IIMs have high cutoff ranging between 98-100. Therefore, candidates can not make it to the IIMs with 80 percentile. Despite of that, they can get into other top B-schools such as:
- Loyola Institute of Business Administration
- Institute of Rural Management
- Delhi School of Management
- Birla Institute of Technology
- Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology
Ques: What is the validity of CAT 2024 score?
Ans: CAT score is valid for a period of one year only. So, CAT 2024 score will be valid for admission to the academic year 2024-26 only.
Ques: How much should I score in CAT 2024 exam to get 99 percentile?
Ans: Depending upon the previous year's trends, percentile score vs raw score is given in the table below:
| CAT Score | CAT Percentile |
|---|---|
| 120+ | 100 |
| 108-112 | 99.99 |
| 105-108 | 99.82 |
| 104 | 99.78 |
| 103.85 | 99.7 |
| 102.85 | 99.66 |
| 102 | 99.61 |
| 101.5 | 99.4 |
| 101 | 99.5 |
| 100 | 99.34 |
| 99.5 | 99.31 |
| 99 | 99.23 |
| 98 | 99 |
Ques: Which IIMs give the highest weightage to CAT Score?
Ans: Admission in IIMs is done depending upon different factors such as CAT score, class 10th and 12th percentile, performance in WAT/GD, and PI. Different weightage is assigned to different factors. Depending on the previous year trends, IIMs with high weightage to CAT score for PI shortlisting are given below:
- IIM Ahmedabad (65%)
- IIM Lucknow (60%)
- IIM Calcutta (56%)
- IIM Kozhikode (45%)
- IIM Bangalore (40%)
Ques: What is the minimum score that IIMs accept for its admission in PGPM?
Ans: IIMs sets a very high benchmark score to get into the program offered by the institute. One cannot define a particular score as every year IIMs releases their own cutoff score. Candidates taking CAT exam must aim to score minimum 95 percentile score in order to get into IIMs.
Ques: What is the minimum percentile needed to get admission in MBA program of IIM Ahmedabad?
Ans: Admission in IIMs is based on CAT score. After the release of CAT score, each IIMs will release their shortlist based on the cut off and admission criteria. Depending upon the same one can decide the minimum percentile score. IIM Ahmedabad will release its minimum cutoff score along with the admission brochure before the declaration of CAT result. Last year, the overall minimum percentile was 80.
Ques: Are the score of class 10th and 12th also important for admission in IIMs?
Ans: Yes, class 10th and 12th scores are equally important for getting admission in MBA program in one of the IIMs as the scores are evaluated while selecting a candidate into the program. As per the admission policy of IIMs, candidates are assigned rating depending upon their percentage score in class 10th and 12th.
Ques: In which non-IIMs can I get admission with a 85-90 percentile score in CAT 2024?
Ans: There are several non-IIMs which have high NIRF ranking in which candidates may get into if they fail to secure a seat in one of the IIMs. The institutes are mentioned below:
- SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai
- Institute of Financial Management and Research, Sri City
- KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai
- TAMPI, Manipal
Ques: What is the highest score of CAT exam?
Ans: IIMs release cat cutoff after the declaration of CAT result. Depending upon the trends of the past year raw score ranging between 182-200 is considered to the higher in CAT.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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