CAT 2026 answer key: release date, how to check your response, objection window and how to work out your raw score

What the CAT 2026 notices say about the answer key (as of 24 October 2026)

The CAT 2026 Information Bulletin, dated 26 July 2026, covers the score and result in a short paragraph. It says scorecards will be on the CAT website, that candidates may also get an SMS, and that results are "likely" in the first week of January 2027. It does not mention a provisional key or an objection window.

The CAT 2026 FAQ also stops at the exam itself. It explains marking, the on-screen calculator, the scribble pad and what to do if a computer fails. It has no question on answer keys.

So the answer for 2026 is simple: the dates have not been announced. The CAT Centre has said that IIMs reserve the right to change the test date and time. Watch iimcat.ac.in, which the CAT Centre calls the only official CAT website.

When IIMs released the answer key in past years

These two cycles are the only official reference. The gaps differ from year to year, so nothing here can be read as a prediction for 29 November 2026.

Sources: CAT 2024 media release of 29 November 2024; CAT 2025 media releases of 3, 17 and 24 December 2025.

Three things stand out. The gap between exam and key was 9 days in 2024 and 4 days in 2025. The objection window was open for about 2 days and 6 hours in 2024 and about 2 days and 12 hours in 2025. And in 2025 the result came on 24 December, although the 2025 Information Bulletin had said "first week of January, 2026". The CAT 2026 bulletin repeats the same "first week of January" wording for 2027. Treat that as the outer limit, not a promise.

How to check the CAT answer key and your response

The CAT notices describe one route. Here is what they say, using the 2025 wording as the reference:

1. Go to iimcat.ac.in only. The CAT Centre warns candidates to ignore look-alike sites and to report them to [email protected].
2. Log in with your CAT application login ID and password, the same ones you used to download the admit card.
3. Open the Objection Management link when the window is live. The notice says it is "available only during the below specified time window."
4. Only candidates who have "successfully completed the test" get the option to raise an objection.

One honest gap: the notices we read do not use the words "response sheet", and they do not describe a separate download of your recorded answers. If the CAT 2026 notice adds a response sheet, the instructions will be in that notice. Until then, do not rely on any site that claims to "fetch" your CAT response sheet. They would need your login.

The key is released shift by shift. The 2025 results table lists objections separately for Shift 1, Shift 2 and Shift 3, which means each session had its own paper and its own key.

How to calculate your CAT 2026 raw score

The CAT 2026 FAQ gives the marking scheme in plain terms:

• MCQ, correct: +3
• MCQ, wrong: minus 1
• Typed (non-MCQ) answer, correct: +3
• Typed answer, wrong or blank: 0
• MCQ left blank: 0

The FAQ also says "all questions carry equal marks" and that the number of non-MCQs in each section "varies and cannot be disclosed". As of 24 October 2026 the total number of questions in CAT 2026 has not been published, so the example below uses invented numbers. It is an illustration, not a prediction of the paper.

Worked example (made-up numbers):

Check the VARC row: 12 right MCQs give 36, 4 wrong MCQs take away 4, 2 right typed answers add 6, and the wrong typed answer costs nothing. That is 36 minus 4 plus 6 = 38.

Do the same for each section, add the three, and you have your raw score. Count blanks as zero.

Why your raw score is not what IIMs use

CAT is held in three sessions, each with its own paper. The CAT 2025 normalisation note says the scores "shall be subjected to a process of Normalisation" to keep comparison fair across sessions, and that scaled scores for each section and the total, along with percentiles, "shall be published". It does not mention raw scores on the scorecard. The method and the arithmetic are in our guide to CAT percentile vs score.

The objection window: how it works

The 2024 and 2025 media releases set out the rules, and they were the same in both years:

• Objections are accepted only through the Objection Management link on the CAT website, with your CAT login.
• The facility is open only during the stated window. In 2025 that was 8 December at 12.00 pm to 10 December at 11.55 pm.
• "Objections raised through any other channel shall not be accepted." That rules out email, social media and the helpline.
• The notices we read mention no fee per question or per objection. This is what the documents say, so check the CAT 2026 notice when it appears.

Pick your questions with care. The notices give no appeal beyond the review and do not say how many objections one candidate may file. The 2025 release says "panels of sectional review experts" looked at every objection received.

What changes after objections: the final key

After the window closes, the CAT Centre reviews the objections and publishes final keys. The best evidence is the 2025 release of 17 December 2025:

That is 187 objections across 3 sections and 3 shifts, and one accepted. The QA paper in Shift 1 drew 113 objections on its own. The release does not name the question or describe how the accepted objection was scored, so we do not either.

The practical lesson: a wrong key is rare, and the final key will almost always match the provisional one. Use the window for answers you can prove from the question itself, not for ones you simply disliked.

After the final key: result, scorecard and IIM shortlists

1. Result. The CAT 2026 bulletin says "likely by the first week of January 2027". In 2025 the CAT Centre declared the result on 24 December 2025 and candidates downloaded scorecards from iimcat.ac.in using the CAT login.
2. Scorecard. The scorecard will carry scaled scores and percentiles for each section and overall. Score validity for CAT 2026 runs until 31 December 2027.
3. Shortlists. Each IIM publishes its own list. The CAT 2025 release says IIMs "will release their shortlists... based on the CAT 2025 scores and other criteria specific to each IIM's Admissions policies." The same will hold for CAT 2026.
4. Which percentile you need. See the IIM-by-IIM table in CAT percentile vs score.
5. Non-IIM institutes. In 2025, 93 non-IIM institutions used CAT scores, and you apply to each one separately.

If you are still preparing for the exam itself, read the main CAT 2026 article.