Common Admission Test [CAT] exam is a compulsory eligibility test taken by MBA aspirants to secure their seats in India’s top & premier MBA colleges, also known as IIMs – Indian Institute of Management. These IIMs offer MBA programs in the field of management, finance, operations, sales, marketing, human resource management, and strategy. Providing a great career trajectory and high-salaried job roles placements. Getting a seat at the top IIMs is the dream of many aspirants. For instance, IIM Ahmedabad stands at the top with an average salary of 36.14 LPA, offering high salary package, quality networking, upskilling and more career opportunities down the road. Therefore, to get good candidates with the right aptitude, IIMs conduct the CAT exam every year. With many aspirants going to appear for CAT 2025, more aspirants are targeting IIM CAT Exam 2026 to get more preparation and better MBA colleges with a strong profile. The tentative date for the CAT 2026 exam is 29th November 2026. To help out students with every detail of the exam, we have brought you every important exam detail in this blog. This includes application dates, registration, eligibility, and CAT 2026 preparation tips.
CAT Exam 2026 Application Date & Registration
CAT 2026 registration will start from August first week [tentative] and around July CAT 2026 registration notification will be out at the official website https://iimcat.ac.in/.
CAT Exam 2026 Eligibility
Below are the key points related to the CAT 2025 eligibility criteria:
- A candidate should hold a minimum of a 3-year degree in any course from a government-recognized university. However, final year college students are also eligible for the exam, providing a chance for freshers.
- A candidate should have a minimum of 50% of the total score in their graduation or the latest semester result if they are in their final year. For SC/ST candidates, applications are acceptable with of 45% of the total score in their graduation.
- No age limit is present for the CAT exam. A candidate can appear multiple times in the CAT exam.
CAT Exam 2026 Paper Pattern
| Particulars | Exam Details |
| Mode of the Exam | Computer-based online test |
| Number of Slots | 3 |
| Exam Duration | 120 minutes |
| Number of Sections | 3 (40 minutes each) |
| Sections & Order of Attempt | VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension)DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning)Quantitative Aptitude |
| Total Number of Questions | 68 |
| Sections & Number of Questions | VARC: 24DILR: 22Quant: 22 |
| Total Marks | 204 Marks |
| Questions Type | Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) &Type in the Answer (TITA) |
| Marking Scheme for MCQ Questions | +3 Marks for each correct answer-1 mark for incorrect answers |
| Marking Scheme for TITA Questions | +3 Marks for each correct answer0 marks for each unattempted or incorrect answer |
Note: The above information is based on the official details of the CAT 2024 exam and is subject to change without prior notice in the CAT 2026 exam.
CAT 2026 Preparation & CAT 2026 Course
If you’re preparing for the CAT 2026 exam, it is clear that you need a solid strategy to hit the 99%ile mark. Therefore, we have listed down some free resources below to help you out with guidance around CAT 2026 coaching and how it can benefit you with structured guidance.
1. Give a FREE CAT Mock Test
First of all, you need to know how the CAT paper pattern works, its details, and questions difficulty level. Attempting a mock test will ensure you know these details. Therefore, you should checkout iQuanta FREE CAT Mock Test. After signing up, you can attempt the mock test with a CAT-like interface, questions, and detailed analysis to help you know where you stand. This includes, text & video solution, an error tracker tool, rank & percentile, get real-time feedback, and a customized strategy to work on strengths and get better in weak areas.
2. Get all basics clear from FREE CAT YouTube Playlists
To begin your prep, you need to know every basic detail about the CAT 2026 exam. Syllabus, sections, concepts, strategies, and resources. Therefore, one YouTube channel you should subscribe to is the iQuanta YouTube channel. An all-in-one place to prepare for every section of the exam [VARC, DILR & Quant] with specially curated playlists, practice videos, and live marathon sessions.
3. CAT Structured Course & Guidance
Self-preparation is great, but if you need structured guidance and material to ace your CAT 2026 prep. Going for online coaching is a great alternative. This ensures that you have the best guidance, doubt support, limited resources, and CAT-level daily practice in a peer community of serious peer community. Therefore, if you can afford an online CAT 2026 coaching. You should definitely go for it.
If you are looking for the best CAT 2026 online coaching. You should checkout the iQuanta CAT 2026 course. With an experience of over 8 years, iQuanta has produced amazing results like none other. In CAT 2024 alone, they had more than 500 students scoring more than 99 percentile and more than 800 students converting top MBA colleges.
This is all possible thanks to iQuanta unique features like:
- Live & Application Classes: At iQuanta, students have two regular classes. First, live classes where they learn the basics of every concept with teachers. Second, an application class where students get 15-20 CAT-level practice questions in a limited time to master every concept.
- Customized Modulus for Every Unique Aspirant: iQuanta doesn’t follow the motto ‘one size fits all’; instead, they solve the problem by providing customized modulus to students from different backgrounds. Basic modules like VARC essentials, LRDI essentials, Non-Engineers’ Quant videos, and advanced modules like Engineers’ VARC, LRDI Inception, and Cutshort by Indra.
- 24/7 Doubt Solve Support: You get attention for 24/7 for your every academic or non-academic doubt with text and video solutions.
- Practice Assignments & Question Bank: Aside from the application class, iQuanta values practice-based learning by providing assignments and topic-wise question bank to every student. This way, they have assignments to keep with the class and question bank of more than 7500+ questions for consistent problem-solving.
- AI-backed CAT Mock Test Series: As soon as you ready for mocks, you get more than 35 full-length mocks and 45 sectional mocks with iQuanta. The mock tests are of top-notch quality with an exam-like interface, questions and AI-backed clear analysis. In analysis, you get rank & percentile of each section, text & video solution, error tracker, and customized strategy builder tool to provide with daily/weekly/monthly strategy to improve across all sections.
- CAT Books: If you want more practice in offline mode, you can also choose 12 set of CAT books with more than 5000 CAT-level questions. 5 Quant books, 4 LRDI books and 3 VARC books.
- Largest Peer Community: iQuanta has the largest CAT preparation community of more than 400K students only on Facebook. There, you get positive interaction from serious aspirants, mentors, CAT toppers and IIM students.
Finally, we have written every major detail for your CAT 2026 preparation. Even if CAT 2026 is a long run, starting early would only bring benefits and consistency. Also, if you can financially well sounded, going for online coaching is a great option. This way, you get guidance from experienced faculty, get your doubts solved, and focus only on preparation with serious aspirants.