What is the Age Limit for CAT Exam?

There are several questions regarding the age limit for CAT exam and the eligibility criteria among the candidates. Some people are around 50 years of age and still appear for this exam. Even some of the founders and professors of IIM institutes appear for the exam to check their knowledge and sharpen their expertise.

CAT is conducted every year for admission to MBA or PDGM courses offered by IIMs and 1200+ business schools across India. Candidates should check the age limit for CAT exam as well as the eligibility criteria carefully before applying for the entrance exam.

Age Limit for the CAT Exam

Any graduate can appear for the CAT exam irrespective of the age limit. To be precise, there is no age limit for CAT exam. There is a minimum age limit which is 20. Candidates below 20 are not eligible for this particular entrance exam.

CAT Exam Eligibility Criteria

There is no boundary on maximum age limit for the CAT exam. According to the CAT eligibility criteria, a candidate can appear for the exam only if they fulfil the following criteria:

• The candidate must have completed graduation or study in the final year/semester.
• Candidate should hold a minimum of 50% of marks (for general and NC-OBC category) or equivalent CGPA in graduation in any stream and any college.
• Candidates belonging to a reserved category / PwD (person with a disability)/DA (differently-abled) should have secured a minimum of 45% of marks in graduation.
• Candidates should have completed graduation and, if they are waiting for their results, will be eligible but will only be offered provisional admission.
• The candidate who has completed a professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA) with the required percentage is also eligible for CAT Entrance Exam.

Number of Attempts

The CAT examination allows any candidate to attempt limitless for the exam. There is no limit to the number of attempts an aspirant can make. They can appear throughout their entire lifespan, provided these candidates have fulfilled the above-prescribed eligibility criteria.

Who is not Eligible for the CAT Exam?

Here are certain situations in which a candidate is considered ineligible to apply for the CAT exam:

• A candidate who does not hold a bachelor's degree or an equivalent professional degree, such as CS/CA/ICWA
• A candidate who secured lower than 50% marks in their bachelor's degree (45% in case of ST/SC/PwD candidates)
• A candidate who is not in their final year of graduation
• A candidate who possesses a graduation certificate that is not recognised by AICTE/UGC/MHRD.

CAT Eligibility vs IIMs Admission Parameters 

Few people tend to confuse the criteria for CAT and the parameters drawn for candidate selection by an IIM. The Common Admission Test is just an entrance examination that tests the candidates in various fields like Quantitative Aptitude (Mathematics), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (Analytics & Reasoning) and Verbal Ability (English), and gives a score for the candidate.

Generally called the CAT Score, this score is accepted widely by the IIMs and other private B-schools in India. For a candidate to attempt CAT, specific criteria are designed by the conducting authority, such as academic qualification, minimum marks, and reservation policy (for SC/ST/PWD/EWS candidates).

Post CAT, during the admission phase, each IIM (or any B-school) has the right to frame its admission policy to select candidates for admission into a particular program. The colleges may conduct different selection rounds like group discussions, personal interviews, and written tests and assign weightage to these parameters. Some institutes even take the candidate's past academic records and work experience as a criterion for admission.

Bottom line: Hence, the intended point is a vast difference between Eligibility and the CAT selection criteria followed by colleges. The exam acts as a gateway that eventually opens the doors for admission into a b-school.

CAT Seat Reservation Criteria

Now that you are clear with the age limit for CAT exam let us check out the seat reservation criteria for CAT. Seat reservation followed as per the Government of India is 15% for Schedule Caste, 7.5% for Schedule Tribe, 27% for NC-OBC, 10% for EWS (economically weaker section), and 5% for PwD (Person With Disability).

If any candidate belongs to one of these categories, they have to select their respective category when filling out the application. Moreover, candidates belonging to these particular categories have to provide a certificate as proof at the time of admission.

PwD (Person with Disability)

As per the Schedule of the RPwD Act 2016, people with "Specified Disability" can be considered in the PwD category:

• Blindness and low vision
• Deaf and hard of hearing
• Locomotor disability includes cerebral palsy, leprosy, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy.
• Autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability, and mental illness

Candidates belonging to the reserved categories need to be cautious about eligibility requirements before applying for the CAT entrance exam. Even though the Government has reserved the distribution proportion to SC/ST/NC-OBC/EWS/PwD categories to join the program in proportions mandated by the law, they have to meet the minimum eligibility criteria and have a certain minimum level of performance to be entitled to the admission process.

Note: No change in the category will be entertained after CAT registration. Hence, the applicants are advised to pay attention while registering for the exam.

Additional information for the Non-General Category

If a candidate belongs to the SC, ST, NC-OBC, EWS, and PwD categories, the respective caste/tribe must be listed in the Government of India schedule. The caste certificate that the candidate submits to IIM should be approved by the Government and must have all the information like:

• Name of the caste/tribe
• Whether the candidate belongs to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe
•  District and State or Union Territory of the candidate’s original residence 
• The candidate’s caste/tribe certificate must possess the schedule under which that particular tribe is mentioned

Reserved Category Certificate

Candidates must upload a copy of the SC/ST/NC-OBC/EWS/PwD certificate at the time of the CAT registration. Failure to upload a copy of the caste/class certificate will result in rejecting a candidate’s registration. Besides, they must present SC/ST/NC-OBC/EWS/PwD certificate(s) at the time of interviews. 

Moreover, they must submit a certificate(s) when joining any of the programs of IIMs. Failure to do the same during the post-CAT selection process will result in the candidate not being accepted.

Additionally, candidates who belong to the reserved category must have all the essential documents related to the application process. If a candidate neglects to upload a copy of the caste/class documents, it will dismiss the candidate's CAT enrollment. All aspirants are assumed to provide original certificates. Every document is thoroughly verified before the candidate gets admission to any IIMs.

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