CAT percentile vs score: how raw, scaled and percentile scores work, and the minimum percentile each IIM asks for

Raw score, scaled score and percentile: what each one means

Raw score. Marks you earn in each section. The CAT 2026 FAQ gives +3 for a correct answer, minus 1 for a wrong multiple-choice answer, and nothing deducted for a wrong typed answer or a blank. Our answer key guide has a worked example.

Scaled score. CAT 2026 is held on 29 November 2026 in three sessions, and each session has its own paper. The IIMs say candidates cannot choose the session. To compare people fairly, they adjust the raw scores. Per the CAT 2025 normalisation note, the process adjusts "for location and scale differences of score distributions across different forms", and "after normalisation across different forms, the scores shall be further normalised across different sections." For the section step, "we will use the percentile equivalence."

Percentile. Your rank among all candidates who appeared, converted to a number out of 100. The note says scaled scores are "converted into percentiles for purposes of shortlisting."

As of 24 October 2026 the CAT 2026 website does not list a 2026 normalisation document. The CAT 2025 documents are the best official description of the method. Check the CAT 2026 version when it is posted.

How CAT normalisation works across slots

The 2025 "Scaled Score Calculation" document gives the steps for one section (it uses QA as the example). The overall scaled score is the sum of the three section scaled scores.

For each session:

1. Find the mean and standard deviation (SD) of raw scores of everyone in that session. Add them: G (session) = mean + SD.
2. Find the mean raw score of the top 0.1% of candidates in that session. Call it T (session).
3. Do the same for all candidates in all three sessions together. Call these G (all) and T (all).
4. A candidate with raw score R in a session gets the scaled score:

scaled score = (R minus G of session) x (T of all minus G of all) / (T of session minus G of session) + G of all

If the formula gives more than 100 for a section, the document says it "will be rounded down to 100."

In effect, each session is shifted and stretched so that its "mean plus one SD" point and its "top 0.1% average" point land on the same two marks as the all-candidate figures.

Worked example (invented numbers, only to show the arithmetic): suppose in your session G is 30 and T is 60, and across all sessions G is 33 and T is 62. A raw score of 45 gives (45 minus 30) x (62 minus 33) / (60 minus 30) + 33 = 15 x 29 / 30 + 33 = 47.5.

How CAT percentile is computed

The same CAT 2025 document sets out the percentile steps. QA is again the example, and the document says the same method is used for the overall and the other two sections:

1. Count N, the total number of candidates who appeared across all sessions.
2. Rank everyone by scaled score. Equal scaled scores get the same rank. If two candidates share the top score, both are rank 1 and the next score is rank 3.
3. Percentile P = (N minus r) x 100 / N.
4. Round P to two decimal places. Anything from 99.995 up becomes 100, and anything from 99.985 to below 99.995 becomes 99.99.

Worked example (invented numbers): if 200,000 candidates appeared and your scaled score ranks 10,000, then P = (200,000 minus 10,000) x 100 / 200,000 = 95.00.

CAT 2025 gives real headline numbers. The CAT Centre said 2.95 lakh eligible candidates registered and 2.58 lakh appeared. Its release of 24 December 2025 lists 12 candidates at 100 percentile, 26 at 99.99 and 26 at 99.98.

Overall percentile and sectional percentile

Each section has its own percentile, worked out from that section's scaled score. The overall percentile is worked out from the total scaled score. They are separate ranks. A candidate can clear the overall cut-off and still miss one section, which is why IIMs publish both. Overall is not an average of the three sectional percentiles.

What a percentile means in head-count

This is our own arithmetic on the CAT 2025 figure of 2.58 lakh test takers, not an official table. It shows roughly how many people sit above a given percentile.

The same percentile will mean a different headcount in CAT 2026, because N will be different.

Why "score X equals percentile Y" tables are only estimates

You will find many tables online that say a particular scaled score equals the 99th percentile. We do not publish one, and no CAT notice we read gives one. Here is why they can only be guesses:

• Percentile depends on the rank among that year's test takers. A tougher cohort pushes the same score down.
• The scaled score depends on the session averages and top 0.1% averages, which exist only after the exam.
• The number of questions, and how many are typed answers, is not disclosed in advance. As of 24 October 2026 the total number of CAT 2026 questions has not been published.
• Your raw score is not shown on the scorecard, so a raw-to-percentile table cannot even be checked by candidates.

If someone shows you such a table before the result, treat it as a forecast. After the result, your scorecard is the only number that counts.

What percentile do IIMs ask for? Minimum CAT cut-offs by IIM

The table below is taken line by line from each IIM's own admission policy. Read the "Batch and CAT year" column first: only IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta have published numbers tied to CAT 2026. The rest are the latest published, based on CAT 2025, and may change. Every IIM reserves the right to alter its policy.

General or Open category, minimum percentile

A few notes on reading it:

• IIM Ahmedabad applies the 95 and 85 to General and EWS candidates alike. Its PwD minimum for those categories is 85 overall and 75 in each section. The CAT percentile is also 65% of its raw composite score. The rest, 35%, comes from an application rating.
• IIM Calcutta states it "may be much higher than the above-mentioned minimum percentiles" in practice, and it requires non-negative raw scores in all sections.
• IIM Bangalore requires a positive raw score in every CAT 2026 section. Its 2027-29 document prints the 2026-28 cut-offs, and notes that the scores of those called for interviews were higher. The CAT 2026 cut-offs are not stated.
• IIM Indore lists the same figure of 80 for each section. IIM Kozhikode asks for "a positive (greater than zero) scaled score in all sections" on top of its table.
• IIM Ranchi calls its table "indicative" and says shortlisted candidates of the four joint-process IIMs are merged into one list.
• IIM Rohtak gives only an overall figure as the registration floor.

Other categories: overall percentile / minimum in each section

Format: overall / sectional minimum. Where an IIM sets different sections, they are listed in order. Each row cites the same document as above.

IIM Calcutta's EWS and NC-OBC rows list VARC, DILR and QA as 70, 65 and 65. IIM Bangalore uses the same split. IIM Kozhikode's table groups ST and PwD together. IIM Udaipur's table calls PwD "DAP". IIM Rohtak's table also sets separate percentiles for PwD candidates by category (for example 87 for General PwD), but we have left it out for space.

How IIMs use your percentile after the minimum

Clearing the minimum only puts you in the pool. After that, the shortlist is a composite. The weights differ:

• IIM Ahmedabad: 65% overall CAT percentile, 35% application rating. The final score after the writing test and interview is 40% composite, 50% interview, 10% writing test. Its shortlist is planned for the second week of January 2027.
• IIM Bangalore: 55 points for CAT across sections (VARC 19, DILR 21, QA 15), out of a total that also includes board marks, graduation, work experience and gender diversity.
• IIM Lucknow: 60 points for the scaled CAT score for the MBA, measured against the highest CAT score of the year.
• IIM Kozhikode: 50% for a CAT index built from the three scaled scores with equal weight.
• IIM Rohtak: 60% for CAT percentile, 20% for the interview and 20% for diversity.
• IIM Udaipur: 55% for a normalised CAT score, and the policy says "the CAT Score would be used and not the CAT Percentile."

That last point matters: a percentile is only one view of your score. Some IIMs read your scaled score directly.

What to do with this before the result

• Treat the table as a map of minimums, not a prediction of calls. Every policy we read says the actual percentile needed can be higher.
• Aim at the section minimums as hard as at the overall. A strong overall percentile does not help if one section falls short.
• Look at the IIMs you are targeting. IIM Ahmedabad's 95 and 85 are the highest section floors in the table, while IIM Kozhikode's 75 is the lowest.
• Re-read each policy once the CAT 2026 versions go up. As of 24 October 2026 only Ahmedabad and Calcutta have done so. The CAT 2026 result is "likely" in the first week of January 2027, per the CAT bulletin. For Ahmedabad see IIM Ahmedabad on CareerBox.