CAT Score vs Percentile 2026: Expected Scores, Section-Wise and Slot-Wise

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 2026 percentile more important than the raw score for admissions?

The CAT 2026 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 2026 score needed for the 99th percentile?

Based on the past few years, candidates aiming for 99 percentile in CAT should target: Overall Score: 80–100 marksVARC: 38–42 marksDILR: 22–29 marksQA: 25–33 marksHowever, the exact marks may vary depending on the exam difficulty.

Q: What is the relationship between CAT marks vs percentile?

The CAT percentile is derived from the scaled score, and the conversion varies each year based on the difficulty level and overall performance of candidates. Generally, a raw score of around 100-105 can result in a 99+ percentile, while a score of 75-80 may lead to an 85-90 percentile.

Q: How is CAT percentile vs marks calculated?

CAT percentile vs marks is determined based on the normalization process. Higher raw marks generally lead to a higher percentile, but the exact conversion depends on factors like slot-wise difficulty and overall candidate performance. A raw score of 120+ typically translates to a 99.5+ percentile, while around 90 marks may correspond to 95+ percentile.

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Author : Jainab Alvi

November 12, 2026

CAT 2026 is on 29 November 2026, and the question every aspirant is asking is simple: how many marks will I need? For CAT 2026, 99 percentile is expected at roughly 76–95 scaled marks out of 204, which is less than half the paper. CAT 2026 won’t reward perfection; it will reward scoring a little better than the lakhs of other candidates in your year. This guide on CAT score vs percentile 2026 gives you expected targets for 99, 95 and 90 percentile, overall and section-wise, so you know exactly what you’re aiming for before exam day.

For CAT 2026 (exam on 29 November 2026), expect to need roughly 76–95 scaled marks for 99 percentile, 55–70 for 95 and 44–58 for 90, based on actual results from 2022–2025. A score of 96+ would have been 99 percentile in every recent year. In CAT 2025, about 85 marks fetched the 99th percentile.

CAT Score vs Percentile 2026 (Expected)

The official CAT 2026 mapping will only be known after the result in January 2027. Until then, the best guide is the range each percentile needed between 2022 and 2025. Scoring at the top of the range would have secured that percentile in every one of those years.

Target Percentile	Range Seen (2022–25)	Expected Safe Score (CAT 2026)
99.9	101 – 127	127+
99	76 – 95	96+
95	55 – 70	70+
90	44 – 58	58+
80	36 – 44	44+

CAT Score vs Percentile 2026: Section-Wise Expected Scores

Clearing the overall percentile is not enough if one section falls below an IIM’s sectional cut-off. This table gives the expected CAT 2026 section-wise scores, built from the range each section needed in CAT 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Section	99 %ile	95 %ile	90 %ile
VARC	40–44	29–33	23–26
DILR	27–38	19–27	16–23
QA	25–33	17–22	14–17

Ranges are scaled scores from 2023–2025 actual data. DILR has the widest range because its difficulty has changed the most from year to year. Aim for the upper end of each range to be safe.

CAT 2026 Score vs Percentile: Slot-Wise (Updated After 29 November)

CAT 2026 will be held in three slots on 29 November 2026. Each slot has a different paper, so the raw score needed for a percentile can differ by slot until normalisation evens it out. We will add slot-wise CAT 2026 score vs percentile estimates here after each slot, based on SuperGrads’ analysis of candidates’ responses.

Percentile	Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
99	To be updated	To be updated	To be updated
95	To be updated	To be updated	To be updated
90	To be updated	To be updated	To be updated
80	To be updated	To be updated	To be updated

CAT 2025 Score vs Percentile (Overall)

These are the scaled scores at each percentile in CAT 2025, compiled from candidates’ scorecards after the result. This is the most recent real data and the best benchmark for CAT 2026.

Percentile	Overall Scaled Score (out of 204)
99.99	~133
99.9	~111
99.5	~93
99	~85
98	~76
97	~70
95	~62
90	~51.5
85	~44
80	~38
75	~33
70	~29.5
60	~23

CAT 2025 Section-Wise Score vs Percentile

IIMs apply sectional cut-offs, so your score in each section matters as much as your total. DILR was the toughest section in CAT 2025, which is why a lower DILR score still reached a high percentile.

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA
99.9	53	38	37
99.5	48	33	31.2
99	44	29.8	27.3
95	32.5	21.5	18.5
90	26	16.7	15
85	22	14	12
80	19	11.5	10

Maximum marks: VARC 72 (24 Qs), DILR 66 (22 Qs), QA 66 (22 Qs). All figures are scaled scores and are approximate.

CAT Score vs Percentile: Year-Wise Comparison (2022–2025)

The same percentile needs a different score each year. A tougher paper pulls the required score down; an easier one pushes it up.

Percentile	2025	2024	2023	2022
99.9	~111	~127	~101	~109
99	~85	~95	~76	~84
95	~62	~70	~55	~62
90	~51.5	~58	~44	~49
80	~38	~44	—	~36

CAT 2024 and 2025 had 68 questions (204 marks); CAT 2022 and 2023 had 66 questions (198 marks).

How Many Questions Do You Need to Attempt? (Score Scenarios)

Percentile tables are more useful when you turn them into attempts. The scenarios below assume every wrong answer is an MCQ (the worst case, −1 each) and that your scaled score is close to your raw score. The percentile column uses the CAT 2025 mapping.

Attempts (of 68)	Correct	Wrong	Score	~Percentile (2025)
40	34	6	96	99.5+
35	30	5	85	99
30	27	3	78	98
25	21	4	59	94
20	16	4	44	85
15	12	3	33	75

What this tells you: 99 percentile in CAT 2025 did not need you to attempt even half the paper. Around 35 attempts at 85% accuracy was enough. Accuracy matters more than attempts: 30 careful attempts with 3 errors score higher than 35 rushed attempts with 10 errors (78 vs 65).

Key Takeaways

The CAT 2026 score vs percentile shows how your raw marks translate into a relative rank.
Even small differences in marks can create large jumps in percentile.
Typically, 99 percentile in CAT has required around 76–95 scaled marks (out of 198–204) in recent years, depending on difficulty. In CAT 2025 it was about 85.
Percentiles are calculated based on scaled scores after normalisation.
Top B-schools mainly use percentile (not raw score) for shortlisting candidates, along with sectional cut-offs.

What is CAT Score vs Percentile?

CAT Score vs Percentile 2026 explains how the marks you score in the CAT Exam translate into a percentile rank among all test-takers. Understanding CAT scores vs percentiles helps candidates estimate their chances of being shortlisted by top B-schools such as the IIMs.

The conversion between CAT scores and percentiles depends on factors such as exam difficulty, the number of candidates, and overall performance trends. In this blog, we analyse the actual CAT score vs percentile data for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and use it to set targets for CAT 2026.

CAT Score refers to the marks obtained in the exam.
The CAT Percentile indicates how you performed compared to other candidates.

For example:

If you score 99 percentile, it means you performed better than 99% of all candidates who appeared for the exam.

Because lakhs of candidates appear for CAT every year, the percentile becomes the most important metric for MBA admissions.

What is CAT Score?

The CAT score is the total marks you obtain based on your answers in the exam.

The CAT exam consists of three sections:

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) – 24 questions in CAT 2024 and 2025
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) – 22 questions
Quantitative Aptitude (QA) – 22 questions

CAT Marking Scheme

+3 marks for each correct answer
−1 mark for each incorrect MCQ
0 marks for unanswered or incorrect TITA questions

The raw scores from all sections are then normalised to account for differences in difficulty across exam slots. This produces the scaled CAT score.

Term	What it means
Raw score	Marks from your responses using the marking scheme
Scaled score	Raw score adjusted for your slot’s difficulty; this is printed on the scorecard
Percentile	Your position among all test-takers, based on the scaled score

What is CAT Percentile?

The CAT percentile indicates the percentage of candidates whose scaled score is below yours.

For example:

95 percentile means you performed better than 95% of candidates.
99 percentile means you performed better than 99% of candidates.

Percentiles are calculated section-wise and overall, and they play a key role in MBA admission shortlists.

CAT Score vs Percentile: Key Differences

Aspect	CAT Score	CAT Percentile
Definition	Actual marks obtained in the exam	Relative ranking among candidates
Calculation	Based on correct and incorrect answers	Based on the ranking among all candidates
Range	Up to 204 (68 questions × 3)	Between 0 and 100
Nature	Fixed for the candidate	Relative to competition
Importance	Used to compute the percentile	Used by B-schools for shortlisting

Also Read | CAT Exam Colleges Accepting CAT score

CAT Score vs Percentile Trend 2024

CAT Percentile	VARC	DILR	Quant	Overall
99.9	55	50.1	45	~127
99.5	44	41.4	36.5	~104
99	40.3	37.8	33	~95
97	33.54	30.8	25	~79
95	30	27	22	~70
90	24	22.5	17	~58
85	20.42	19.5	13.7	~50
80	18.2	17	11.6	~44
75	15.60	14.95	9.92	~40

The data show that even a 5–10-marks difference can significantly affect percentile ranking. CAT 2024 needed the highest scores of the last four years for every percentile band, especially in DILR.

CAT Score vs Percentile Trend 2023

CAT Percentile	VARC	DILR	Quant
100	61.66	50.4	49.46
99.99	58.20	42.66	44.89
99.9	51.14	36.58	34.96
99.5	44	30.58	28.28
99	39.83	27.29	25.20
95	28.78	18.92	16.87
90	23.37	15.63	13.63
80	17.58	11.67	9.2

Compared with 2024, the required marks for the same percentile were noticeably lower in 2023 (about 76 overall for 99 percentile against about 95 in 2024), reflecting a tougher DILR and QA paper.

CAT Score vs Percentile Trend 2022

Percentile	CAT Marks (2022)
99.9	109
99.5	92
99	84
97	72
95	62
90	49
80	36

This historical trend helps aspirants estimate the target score required to achieve a desired percentile.

Minimum CAT Score Required for 99 Percentile

Based on actual data from CAT 2023, 2024 and 2025, candidates aiming for 99 percentile in CAT should target:

Overall Score: 76–95 marks (about 85 in CAT 2025)
VARC: 40–44 marks
DILR: 27–38 marks
QA: 25–33 marks

However, the exact marks may vary depending on the exam difficulty. DILR shows the widest swing from year to year, so it is the section where a tough paper helps or hurts most.

How is the CAT Percentile Calculated?

CAT is held in three slots with different question papers, so the IIMs first normalise each section’s raw scores across slots. The normalisation method described by the IIMs uses each slot’s mean score and the average score of the top 0.1% of candidates in that slot, so that a candidate in a harder slot is not penalised. The resulting scaled scores are then ranked to give percentiles.

The percentile is calculated using the following formula:

P = (N − R) / N × 100, where:

P = Percentile score
N = Total number of candidates who appeared for the exam
R = Rank of the candidate based on the scaled score

The percentile is then rounded to two decimal places in the final CAT scorecard.

Worked example: If 3,00,000 candidates take CAT and you rank 3,000 on scaled score, your percentile is (3,00,000 − 3,000) / 3,00,000 × 100 = 99.00. In other words, 99 percentile means roughly the top 1% of test-takers.

Factors Affecting CAT 2026 Score vs Percentile

Several factors influence the relationship between CAT marks and percentiles.

1. Exam Difficulty: The difficulty level of the CAT paper affects how much candidates score. An easier paper may lead to higher scores, while a difficult paper may result in lower scores.

2. Number of Test Takers: The number of candidates appearing for CAT can affect the percentile calculation, as your percentile depends on how you perform compared to others.

3. Candidates' Performance: Your percentile also depends on how other candidates perform. If many candidates score well, you may need more marks to get a higher percentile.

4. Normalisation Across Slots: CAT is held in different slots, and the difficulty level may vary. Normalisation is used to adjust scores across slots so that candidates are assessed fairly.

CAT Score vs Percentile for Top IIMs

Most top B-schools require a very high percentile. The figures below are typical overall percentiles at which general-category candidates have received interview calls; they are not official cut-offs.

IIM	Typical Percentile for a Call (General)
IIM Ahmedabad	99.5+
IIM Bangalore	99+
IIM Calcutta	99+
IIM Lucknow	97–99+
IIM Kozhikode	96–98+
IIM Indore	97–98+

However, the final selection also considers academics, work experience, WAT, and PI performance. Each IIM publishes its own minimum overall and sectional percentiles in its admission policy, and these minimums are usually well below the percentiles at which calls are actually made. Missing a single sectional cut-off can rule you out even with a high overall percentile.

How to Estimate Your Percentile After CAT 2026

CAT 2026 Result Timeline: From Exam to Percentile

Stage	Date	What you can do
CAT 2026 exam	29 Nov 2026	Note your approximate attempts per section right after the slot
Response sheet and provisional answer key	Early Dec 2026 (expected)	Calculate your raw score and compare it with the expected CAT score vs percentile 2026 tables
Answer key objections	A few days after the key (expected)	Challenge any answer you believe is wrong, with proof
CAT 2026 result	January 2027 (expected)	Get your official scaled score and percentile on iimcat.ac.in

Dates other than the exam date are expected, based on previous years. Check iimcat.ac.in for official announcements.

CAT 2026 is on 29 November 2026. Results are expected in January 2027. In between, you can estimate where you stand:

Download your response sheet from iimcat.ac.in when the IIMs release it along with the provisional answer key.
Calculate your raw score section by section: +3 for each correct answer, −1 for each wrong MCQ, 0 for wrong TITA.
Compare with the CAT 2025 tables above for a first estimate, and check each section against the sectional table, not just your total.
Adjust for your slot. If your slot was widely reported as the toughest, your scaled score may end up slightly higher than your raw score; if it was the easiest, slightly lower.
Don’t wait for the result to act. Keep preparing for XAT, SNAP, NMAT and other exams whatever your estimate says.

Also Read | CAT Exam Day Instructions

Tips to Improve Your CAT Percentile

Getting a good percentile in CAT is not just about solving more questions. You also need to know which questions to attempt, where to save time, and how to avoid mistakes. A few changes in your preparation can help you improve your score.

1. Don't Rush Through Questions

Don't answer a question just to increase your attempts. If you're unsure about the answer, move on to the next question instead of wasting time or taking unnecessary risks.

2. Pick Questions You Can Solve

You don't have to solve every question in the exam. Start with the questions you find easy and leave the time-consuming ones for later.

3. Practise with Mock Tests

Try to take mock tests regularly, especially as the exam gets closer. They give you an idea of how well you can solve questions in 40 minutes per section.

4. Check Where You Went Wrong

Once you finish a mock test, go back to the questions you answered incorrectly or left unanswered. Try solving them again and work on the topics that are causing trouble.

5. Protect Your Weakest Section

Because IIMs apply sectional cut-offs, a 99 overall built on one weak section can still miss calls. Set a floor for your weakest section (for example, at least the 85th-percentile score from the CAT 2025 sectional table) before chasing extra marks in your strongest one.

6. Use TITA Questions Wisely

Wrong TITA answers carry no penalty, so attempt every TITA question where you can reach a reasonable answer. Be more selective with MCQs, where each wrong answer costs a mark.

CAT 2025 Slot-Wise Score vs Percentile: Pre-Result Estimates (Archived)

These raw-score estimates were published before the CAT 2025 result to help candidates gauge their performance. The actual result-based figures in the tables at the top of this page supersede them. Where an estimate was internally inconsistent, it has been marked “—”.

CAT 2025 Score vs Percentile Slot 1

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
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	14-15	40-45
80+	18-20	—	—	35-37

CAT Score vs Percentile 2025 Slot 2

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
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	14-15	40-43
80+	18-20	—	—	36-39

CAT Score vs Percentile 2025 Slot 3

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
100	42-43	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	14-15	40-41
80+	18-20	—	—	36-37

Conclusion

The CAT 2026 score vs percentile comparison helps you understand how your marks may affect your chances of getting into top MBA colleges. Your CAT score is the marks you get in the exam, while your percentile shows how you performed compared to other candidates. IIMs and other top B-schools consider your percentile when shortlisting candidates.

Looking at actual CAT score vs percentile data from 2022 to 2025 can help you set a target score and plan your CAT preparation accordingly. For CAT 2026, a scaled score of 96+ has been enough for 99 percentile in every recent year, and about 85 was enough in CAT 2025.

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