CAT 2026 : Overview

CAT 2026 : Overview

The date of CAT 2026 examination is scheduled for November 29, 2026, and IIM Indore would probably administer the test this year. The official announcement about it would be made through the CAT 2026 notification that is to be released in the last week of July 2026.

CAT is your ticket to 21 reputed IIMs and other renowned management institutes like FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, MDI Gurgaon, IITs, IIFT, GLIM, etc. The number of aspirants increases every year. Almost 2.95 lakh candidates registered for CAT 2025, and CAT 2026 would surely have more aspirants than that.

CAT 2026 Latest Updates

• Registration for the same will begin in the first week of August 2026.
• There will be three sessions of exams with two hours each.
• The test paper would comprise 68 questions in three different sections.
• The pattern of examination will not undergo any significant change.

CAT 2026 Highlights

Following is a quick look at important information related to the CAT 2026 test pattern:

CAT Exam Particulars	Key Details
CAT 2026 Full Form	Common Admission Test 2026
Who Conducts CAT?	One of the older IIMs, on a rotation basis
CAT 2026 Conducting Institute	IIM Indore (expected)
CAT 2026 Exam Date	Sunday, November 29, 2026 (expected)
Total Questions	68 (expected)
No. of Sections & Questions	VARC: 24 Qs, DILR: 22 Qs, QA: 22 Qs
Answer Options for MCQs	4
Answer Options for Non-MCQs (TITA)	No options; type the answer on screen
Scoring Pattern	+3 for a correct answer, –1 for a wrong MCQ, 0 for wrong/unanswered TITA
Exam Slots	3 sessions – Morning, Afternoon, and Evening
Exam Duration	2 hours per slot
Sectional Time Limit	40 minutes per section
Choice of Section Order	No, sections must be attempted in a fixed order
Testing Mode	Computer-Based Test (CBT)
Notification Release	Last week of July 2026 (expected)
Top Colleges Accepting CAT	21 IIMs, FMS, IIFT, IITs, MDI, SPJIMR, IMT, IMI, and 1,000+ others
How to Apply	Entirely online
Registration Fee	₹2,600 (General/OBC/EWS), ₹1,300 (SC/ST/PwD)
Official Website	iimcat.ac.in
Registration Start Date	August 1, 2026 (expected)
Registration Last Date	September 20, 2026 (expected)
Admit Card Release Date	November 12, 2026 (expected)
Result Declaration	Late December 2026 (expected)
Number of Test Cities	Around 170 across India
Applicants (for reference)	CAT 2025: around 2.95 lakh registered

All the dates and numbers mentioned above are purely according to past year patterns. The official announcement in July 2026 will reveal the final information.