CAT Exam Eligibility Criteria 2025: Qualification, Age Limit, No. of Attempts, Work Experience

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:

Also Check:

• Do IIMs Give Weightage to Academics in Final Selection?
• Is CAT Necessary for MBA Course in India 2025?

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 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.

Read More: Can a Final Year Student Apply for CAT 2025?

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.

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.

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.

Read More:

• CAT vs NMAT Which is Better?
• IPMAT vs CAT Which is Better?

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.

Also Check:

• 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.