CAT Score vs Percentile 2025: Check Slot wise Percentiles here

Q: What is the difference between CAT Exam Marks vs Percentile?

CAT Exam Marks refer to the actual marks scored by a candidate in the CAT Exam, while Percentile compares the candidate’s score to the scores of other candidates who have taken the exam.

Q: How is the CAT Exam Percentile calculated?

The CAT Exam Percentile is calculated by comparing the candidate’s score to all other candidates who have taken the exam.

Q: What are the maximum CAT Exam Marks and Percentile?

The maximum CAT Exam Mark is 198, and the maximum Percentile is 100.

Q: Is there any correlation between CAT Exam Marks and Percentile?

Yes, CAT Exam Marks and Percentile are directly related. The higher the marks scored, the higher the percentile of the candidate.

Q: What is the best way to improve CAT Exam Marks and Percentile?

The best way to improve CAT Exam Marks and Percentile is to practice regularly, understand the topics covered, and develop a good strategy for attempting the exam.

Q: How is the CAT percentile calculated?

CAT percentile is calculated based on the scaled score, reflecting your rank compared to all test-takers.

Q: Is CAT percentile more important than the score for MBA admissions?

Yes, most MBA colleges consider the percentile to shortlist candidates for admissions.

Q: Can a high CAT score guarantee a high percentile?

A high score usually leads to a high percentile, but it depends on the overall performance of other candidates.

Q: Why is CAT 2025 percentile more important than the raw score for admissions?

The CAT 2025 percentile is significant because it reflects a candidate's standing relative to others. Business schools use it as a benchmark to shortlist top candidates, ensuring a competitive evaluation process.

Q: What is the expected CAT 2025 score needed for the 99th percentile?

The CAT 2025 score required for the 99th percentile is typically around 100-110 (out of the total marks), depending on the difficulty level of the exam and the overall performance of candidates.

Author : Lalita Vishwakarma

June 17, 2025

Overview: CAT score vs Percentile 2025 is the method to find out the CAT raw score against the CAT percentile. This can be calculated once the CAT answer key is released. In this blog, we will look into the steps to compute the CAT 2025 marks vs percentile.

The individual sectional scores are calculated from the number of questions answered correctly and the difficulty level of the CAT exam. The overall score is derived from your performance in all sections.
The CAT exam score is then converted into a percentile, which compares one candidate's performance with other candidates who appeared for the exam. This is why candidates search for CAT 2025 marks vs percentile.

Coming to CAT marks vs Percentile 2025, the percentile is calculated based on the number of candidates who appeared for the exam and the number of candidates who secured the same or higher score than others. Let's understand the distinction between CAT score vs Percentile 2025!

CAT Score vs Percentile 2025 - Overview

How to calculate CAT score? The CAT exam score is converted into a percentile to determine a candidate's relative performance compared to other candidates who appeared for the exam.

The percentile helps the IIMs and other top B-schools compare candidates' performance with other candidates.

This helps the institutions to determine the candidate’s ranking within the group of candidates who appeared for the exam.

The percentile score is calculated based on the number of candidates who appeared for the exam and the number of candidates who secured the same or higher score than the candidate.
The percentile score is then used to determine the overall rank of the candidate.

Note: Candidates can also use the CAT percentile calculator or CAT score calculator available online to get an instant overall idea of their CAT exam performance.

Learn More | How To Calculate Percentage In CAT Exam?

What is CAT Score?

The CAT score refers to the actual marks a candidate secures in the exam. The CAT paper is divided into three sections

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
Quantitative Ability (QA)

Each section has a mix of MCQs and non-MCQS. Candidates receive:

+3 marks for every correct answer
-1 mark for each incorrect MCQ
0 marks for unanswered or incorrect non-MCQS

The scores obtained in all three sections are summed up to arrive at the total raw score. This raw score is then scaled to account for variations in difficulty levels across different slots, resulting in the scaled CAT score a key component in understanding the comparison of CAT score vs percentile, which highlights the difference between actual marks and relative performance.

Check: How to score 99 percentile in CAT?

What is CAT Percentile?

While the CAT score reflects a candidate’s individual performance, the CAT percentile indicates how a candidate has performed in comparison to other test-takers.

A percentile score is the percentage of candidates who have scored equal to or below a particular score. For example, if you receive a 98 percentile, it means you scored better than 98% of all test-takers.

Percentiles are calculated both section-wise and overall, and are often the key metric used by B-schools to shortlist candidates.

Steps to Compute CAT Score vs Percentile 2025

Here are the steps to calculate the CAT 2025 score vs percentile or CAT marks vs Percentile 2025

Step 1: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in the morning session.

Let's consider Mean = M1 and SD = S1 and G1 = M1 + S1.

Step 2: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in the afternoon session.

Let's consider Mean = M2 and SD = S2 and G2 = M2 + S2.

Step 3: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in the evening session.

Let's consider Mean = M3 and SD = S3 and G3 = M3 + S3.

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Step 4: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in CAT (i.e. including all three sessions).

Let's consider Mean = M, SD = S, and G = M + S.

Step 5: Calculate the mean raw score in the QA section of the top 0.1% of candidates in the morning session and denote it by 𝑀1 0.1

Step 6: Calculate the mean raw score in QA of the top 0.1% of candidates in the afternoon session and denote it by 𝑀2 0.1

Step 7: Calculate the mean raw score in QA of the top 0.1% of candidates in the evening session and denote it by 𝑀3 0.1

Step 8: Calculate the mean raw score in QA of the top 0.1% of candidates appearing in CAT (i.e. considering all three sessions) and denote it by 𝑀0.1

Know More | How to Get Good Score in CAT Exam?

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CAT Score vs Percentile 2025: Section-wise Scaled Score Calculation

Here are the details for the section-wise scaled score calculation:

CAT 2025 Score vs Percentile Slot 1

CAT Percentile	CAT VARC Score	CAT DILR Score	CAT QA Score	Overall CAT Score
100	42-44	29-30	30-32	100-102
99+	40	25-27	25-28	80
95+	28-30	18-20	20-22	55
90+	22-24	15-17	15-17	45-48
85+	20-22	13-14	15-14	40-45
80+	18-20	18-22	18-20	35-37

Also Read | CAT Exam Colleges Accepting CAT score

CAT Score vs Percentile 2025 Slot 2

CAT Percentile	CAT VARC Score	CAT DILR Score	CAT QA Score	Overall CAT Score
100	43-44	25-27	29-30	98-100
99+	40-42	22-23	27-28	82-83
95+	30-33	18-20	20-22	57-58
90+	24-26	14-15	15-17	46-48
85+	20-22	13-14	15-14	40-43
80+	18-20	18-22	18-20	36-39

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CAT Score vs Percentile 2025 Slot 3

CAT Percentile	CAT VARC Score	CAT DILR Score	CAT QA Score	Overall CAT Score
100	42-23	27-28	32-34	98-100
99+	38-40	23-24	27-28	78-80
95+	28-30	18-20	18-20	57-58
90+	24-25	15-17	15-17	46-48
85+	20-22	13-14	15-14	40-41
80+	18-20	18-22	18-20	36-37

How to Calculate Percentile in CAT 2025?

CAT score vs percentile 2025 - Section-wise

Suppose now XYZ is a candidate who appeared in the morning session, and her raw score in the QA section is R. Then the scaled score of XYZ in QA, say 𝑅̂, given by:

𝑅̂ = (𝑅 − 𝐺1) 𝑀0.1 − 𝐺/ 𝑀10.1 − 𝐺1 + 𝐺

In case XYZ is a candidate who appeared in the afternoon session and her raw score in the QA section is R. Then the scaled score of XYZ in QA, say 𝑅̂, given by:

𝑅̂ = (𝑅 − 𝐺2) * 𝑀0.1 − 𝐺/ 𝑀2 0.1 − 𝐺2 + G

In case XYZ is a candidate who appeared in the evening session and her raw score in the QA section is R. Then the scaled score of XYZ in QA, say 𝑅̂, given by:

𝑅̂ = (𝑅 − 𝐺3) 𝑀0.1 − 𝐺/ 𝑀30.1 − 𝐺3 + 𝐺

A similar Methodology is applied to compute scaled scores for other sections. If this formula yields any scaled score of more than 100, it will be rounded to 100.

Check | CAT 2025 Exam Marking Scheme

CAT Score vs Percentile 2025: Percentile Score Calculation

Calculation of the percentile score of a candidate:

The steps described below are followed to calculate the CAT 2025 overall and sectional percentile scores obtained by a candidate. To help understand the concept of CAT score vs percentile, the QA section is chosen as an example to illustrate the percentile score calculation process. A similar process is followed for the overall percentile score calculation and the other two sections, DILR and VARC, in CAT 2025.

Step 1: Calculate the total number of candidates (N) who appeared for CAT (i.e., morning, afternoon, and evening sessions).

Step 2: Assign a rank (r) to all candidates who appeared for CAT based on the scaled scores obtained in the QA section. If two or more candidates obtain identical scaled scores in the QA section, assign identical ranks to all those candidates.

As an illustration, suppose exactly two candidates obtain the highest scaled score in the QA section, and then both candidates are assigned a rank of 1. Moreover, the candidate(s) obtaining the second highest scaled score in the QA section are assigned a rank of 3.

Step 3: Calculate the percentile score (P) of a candidate with rank (r) in the QA section as:

𝑃 = (𝑁 − 𝑟)/ 𝑁 x 100

Read More | CAT Cut Off For IIMS

Step 4: Round off a candidate's calculated percentile score (P) to two decimal points. For example, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.995 are rounded off to 100; all scores greater than or equal to 99.985 but strictly less than 99.995 are rounded off to 99.99.

A methodology similar to the one described above is used to compute the overall CAT percentile scores of other sections.

Learn More| Minimum Marks Required to Qualify CAT

How Normalisation Affects Your CAT Percentile?

While the exact normalisation formula is complex to IIMs, the general idea is to statistically adjust scores based on the performance of all candidates in all sessions.

If your session was more difficult, your raw scores might be scaled upwards. Conversely, if your session was easier, your raw scores m ight be scaled downwards.

The scaling aims to bring the scores to a comparable metric across all sessions.

Normalisation Impact on Percentile:

Your percentile indicates the percentage of test-takers who scored below you. It's a relative measure of your performance.

Since the percentile is calculated based on the scaled scores of all candidates, the normalisation process directly influences your final percentile.

A high raw score in an easier session might result in a lower scaled score (and consequently a lower percentile) than a slightly lower raw score in a tougher session that gets scaled up.

Conversely, a low raw score in a difficult session might still lead to a decent percentile if the scaling factor is significant.

CAT 2025 Score Interpretation: Raw Score vs Scaled Score vs Percentile

Aspect	Details
1. Raw Score	The actual score is based on correct and incorrect answers. Correct Answer (MCQ/Non-MCQ): +3 marks Incorrect Answer (MCQ only): -1 mark Incorrect Non-MCQ (TITA): No negative marking
Raw Score Formula	Raw Score = (3 × No. of Correct MCQs) - (1 × No. of Incorrect MCQs) + (3 × No. of Correct Non-MCQs) Example: If 20 MCQS are correct, 5 MCQs wrong, 10 Non-MCQS correct: Raw Score = (3×20) - (1×5) + (3×10) = 85
2. Scaled Score	A normalised score adjusts for varying difficulty levels across CAT exam slots. Conducted in multiple sessions, normalisation ensures fairness. Tougher slots may lead to upward scaling, easier ones may lead to downward scaling. Only scaled scores appear in the scorecard.
Why Normalise?	To ensure fairness across sessions To maintain consistency despite difficulty variation Proprietary normalisation process used by IIMs
3. Percentile	Indicates the percentage of candidates who scored equal to or below your scaled score. A 99 percentile means you scored better than 99% of test-takers. Calculated section-wise and overall based on scaled scores.
Percentile Formula	Simplified: (Number of candidates with scaled score ≤ your scaled score ÷ Total candidates) × 100 Or: P = [(N - R) ÷ N] × 100, where: • N = Total candidates • R = Your rank based on scaled score 🧮 Percentile rounded to 2 decimal points in results

CAT Sectional Score vs Percentile 2025

Here is the expected sectional CAT score vs percentile:

Percentile	Expected VARC Score	Expected DILR Score	Expected QA Score
99+	38-42	22-24	27-29
95+	28-33	18-20	18-22
90+	24-26	14-17	15-17
85+	20-22	13-14	13-15
80+	18-20	11-12	10-12

How to Convert Your Score into a Predictive Percentile?

Predicting your exact percentile based solely on your raw score before the official CAT results is impossible. The concept of CAT score vs percentile highlights that percentile is a relative measure that depends on

The performance of all candidates who appeared for the CAT exam in your year.
The difficulty level of the specific slot you appeared in. The normalisation process adjusts scores based on the relative difficulty across different slots.

However, you can understand the general concept of how percentile is calculated and use past trends to make predictions.

Understanding Percentile Calculation:

Your percentile indicates the percentage of candidates who scored equal to or below your score.

The basic formula for calculating a percentile is:

Percentile = [(Number of candidates with a score less than or equal to your score

Minimum CAT Score Required for 99+ Percentile in 2025

For a 99+ percentile in CAT, you would likely need an overall scaled score in the range of 80-95 marks out of the total marks.

Here's a section-wise expected score range for the 99 percentile based on CAT 2024 trends:

VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension): 38-42 marks
DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning): 22-29 marks
QA (Quantitative Aptitude): 25-33 marks

Important Considerations:

These are just estimates based on the previous year's trends and analyses by coaching institutes. The actual scores required for a 99+ percentile in CAT 2025 could be different.

CAT 2025 Marks vs Percentile: What to Expect This Year

It's important to note that the exact marks vs. percentile for CAT 2025 will only be known after the exam and the release of results. However, we can look at the trends from previous years, particularly CAT 2024, to get an indicative idea:

General Trends from CAT 2024:

CAT 2024 was generally considered moderately difficult, with some variations across the three slots. Some sources indicated that the VARC section was slightly tougher compared to CAT 2023, while some perceived DILR and QA as relatively easier.

Due to the perceived difficulty level, the marks required for a particular percentile might have changed compared to previous years. For instance, some analyses suggested that a slightly higher raw score was needed to achieve the same percentile as in CAT 2023.

Expected Marks vs. Percentile Ranges (Indicative based on 2024 Trends)

The following are approximate ranges based on the analysis of CAT 2024. These are subject to change for CAT 2025 depending on the actual exam difficulty and candidate performance.

Percentile	Overall CAT Score (Approximate Range)
99+	80 - 95
95+	55 - 70
90+	45 - 58
85+	39 - 49
80+	35 - 44

Conclusion

The CAT score vs percentile is used to determine the candidate's relative performance compared to other candidates who appeared for the exam.

The CAT 2025 Score vs Percentile helps the IIMs and other top B-schools compare the candidate's performance with that of other candidates. This helps the institutions determine the candidate’s ranking within the group of candidates who appeared for the exam.

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