CAT Exam Eligibility Criteria 2025: Educational Qualification, Age Limit, Final Year Students

The CAT Eligibility Criteria is defined by NTA and it must be fulfilled to complete the CAT application form. It states that you must have a bachelors degree with 50% for open category and 45% for reserved category candidates. There is no upper age limit for the same.

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If you wish to apply for the CAT Exam 2025, then you must fulfill the CAT eligibility criteria for IIM. It states that you must have a bachelor’s degree with at least 50% of aggregate marks. Also, for the reserved categories, such as ST, SC, and PwD, the required percentage of marks is 45. Only if you sustain this minimum criteria, you can fill the CAT exam 2025 registration form.

Apart from educational requirements, there is no age limit restriction or number of attempts. The detailed information on the CAT eligibility criteria 2025 has been provided below for your convenience.

CAT Exam Eligibility Highlights

The basic CAT exam eligibility has been stated below:

Particulars	Details
CAT Academic Qualification	Bachelor’s
Required Score	GEN- 50% Others- 45%
CAT Eligibility Age Limit	No Restriction
CAT Number of Attempts	Unlimited
CAT Eligibility for Final Year Students	Shall be admitted on provisional basis
Work Experience	Not Required
CAT Reservation	Based on Category

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CAT Exam Educational Qualification Details

You can find the CAT exam educational qualification details below for your reference. You must make sure to go through the eligibility criteria of CAT before proceeding with the application form.

You must have a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized college or university or any equivalent degree.
You must have done a 4-year degree in Engineering or technology after your 10+2 or a post-B.Sc. or post-diploma.
You must have a Diploma degree from a MHRD, UPSC, or AICTE recognized university. However, the degree must be equivalent to the bachelor’s degree.
You can also apply if you have done CA/CS/ICWA (Gen: 50%; SC/ST/PWD: 45%).
The General category candidates must have scored at least 50% of aggregate marks.
However, the reserved categories, such as SC, ST, and PwD must have scored at least 45% of aggregate marks.
The final year students can also apply for CAT Exam 2025. However, you must make sure to present all the documents before the admission process.

The CAT exam eligibility is published officially along with the CAT exam notification 2025. You must also note that mere fulfillment of the eligibility criteria will not give you admission to the IIMs or any MBA colleges.

CAT Qualification-wise CGPA Requirement

The required CAT percentage for each degree has been stated below.

CAT Qualification	Affiliation	CGPA/ Percentage Required
Bachelor’s Degree from any University/Institute	UGC	50% (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD)
Engineering Degree - B.Tech/ B.E. from any University/Institute	MHRD/ AICTE	50% (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD)
Final year of degree examination	MHRD/ AICTE/ UGC	50% (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD)
CA/CS/ICWA/Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India (FIAI)	Recognized by MHRD/ UPSC/AICTE	50% (45% for SC, ST, and PWDs)

CAT Eligibility for Final Year Students

The final year students of your undergraduate degree can also apply for CAT Exam 2025. However, you must submit your completion certificate by your university to the concerned college as per the deadline given by IIM Kozhikode.

CAT Age Limit Details

After the CAT academic qualification details, you must also know the CAT age limit details. There is no upper age or lower age limit for CAT exam 2025. You can be of any age to apply for the exam.

Particulars	Details
CAT Lower Age	No Limit
CAT Upper Age	No Limit

IIM CAT Exam 2025 Category-wise Reservation Criteria

The selection criteria of IIM CAT varies for all institutes and you must adhere to the guidelines very strictly. The reservation in seats is made in accordance with the number of seats and number of students taking the examination.

Category	Percentage of Seat
Scheduled Caste (SC)	15% of the total seats
Scheduled Tribes (ST)	7.5% of the total seats
Physically Disabled	5% of the total seats
Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)	Up to 10% of the total seats
NC-OBC	27% of the total seats

You must also note that the PwD category candidates can only take the benefit of reservation after submitting all the proofs of their disability issued by an appropriate authority. The listed sort of disabilities approved by IIMs is as follows:

Low vision and blind
Hearing loss and deafness
Cerebral palsy, leprosy treatment, dwarfism, acid attack victims, and muscular dystrophy are examples of locomotor impairment.
Mental illness, intellectual disability, autism, and certain learning disabilities.
Other "specified disabilities" included in "The Schedule" of the RPwD Act 2016 Multiple disabilities among those covered by sections (1) to (4)

Is Work Experience Required to Give CAT 2025?

No, work experience is not required to fill out the CAT exam 2025 application form. However, once you pass the CAT exam, the work experience plays an important role in your final shortlisting and college selection process. Almost all colleges and universities prefer students with work experience.

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How Many CAT Attempts Can be Taken?

If you are not satisfied with your scores or the colleges you are being offered, then you can definitely retake the CAT exam. There is no limitation on the number of attempts you give for the CAT 2025 exam. You can sit for the CAT exam as many times as you wish to.

Essential Certificates and Documents Required to Define CAT Eligibility

Before filling out the CAT application form 2025, you must have certain documents and certificates along with you. Thus having a list of such documents will ease the process for you. We have listed down all of them here in the section below.

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What is a Good Percentile for IIMs in 2025?

Conclusion

Meeting the CAT exam eligibility criteria is not very tough, you just need to have a bachelor’s degree or any equivalent degree to apply for it. No age limitation and number of attempts makes it even more easier for candidates to retake the exam.