CAT Score Vs Percentile 2024: Check Formula, How to Calculate
Common Admission Test 2024 ( CAT )
What is the difference between CAT score and Percentile? How much CAT score will fetch you 99 percentile? Why do B-Schools consider CAT percentile for candidate shortlisting? Read below all about CAT 2024 Score vs Percentile.
Check Detailed score vs percentile analysis for CAT exam
CAT Score vs Percentile 2024: MBA aspirants who are planning to appear for CAT 2024 must understand the key criteria of selection. CAT result is released in percentile. MBA colleges also consider CAT percentile for MBA admission. Thus, it is very natural to ask "what is CAT percentile?", "what is he difference between CAT score and CAT percentile?" and "which of the two is more important?"
The answer: CAT score is the total marks obtained by a candidate in the exam and CAT percentile is a relative score/rank viz, the total number of candidates who qualify the exam. CAT score and CAT percentile are equally important as they both directly influence the chances of admission into IIMs and other top B-schools. CAT percentile matters a lot in the screening of candidates for the first round of IIM admission, i.e. Written Ability Test and Personal Interview (WAT-PI). And the basis of CAT percentile calculation is the CAT score. Read this blog to understand what is the difference between CAT score and CAT percentile. CAT result 2024 has been released, you can check you IIM admission chances now.
Latest: CAT 2024 result live updates: Scorecard out, download now
Also Read:
Q: How much percentile is a good score in CAT exam?
Q: What is sectional cutoff in CAT exam?
Sectional cut off in CAT exam refers to the section wise percentiles required by the candidate for making it to the Personal Interview round of the IIMs or other top MBA colleges. The sectional cut offs are lower than overall cut offs of any institute. To understand better, check the table below for sectional CAT cut offs for IIM Ahmedabad:
Category | VARC percentile | DILR percentile | QA percentile | Overall percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 |
NC-OBC-Transgender | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
SC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
PwD (General, NC-OBC-cum-transgender, SC) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
PwD (ST) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
For sectional cut offs of all IIMs, check this article – IIM shortlist and selection criteria
Q: What is the CAT cut off for IIM Lucknow?
Explore colleges based on CAT
Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.As mentioned earlier, CAT percentile is a measure of obtaining relative score by categorising a candidate on the basis of their performance compared to other candidates. This relative score is arrived at by analysing marks scored in the CAT exam along with a few other parameters. CAT result cum scorecard contains candidaet's score as well as percentile.
Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates
18 Dec '24 - 24 Jan '25
21 Jan '25 - 25 Jan '25
CMAT
25 Jan '25
25 Jan '25
27 Jan '25 - 28 Jan '25
16 Dec '24 - 29 Jan '25
29 Jan '25
12 Dec '24 - 30 Jan '25
28 Jan '25
So, how to calculate the CAT score and CAT percentile? In order to clear the CAT score vs percentile confusion, let’s understand it in detail.
- The CAT 2024 question paper had 68 questions from Quantitative Ability (24), Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (22) and Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (20).
- The total marks of CAT exam 2024 was 204. For each correct answer, three marks are allotted and for each wrong question, one mark is deducted.
- There is no negative marking for unanswered questions and non-MCQs.
- The CAT score of any candidate is the total score they obtain in the paper.
- The sectional scores are summed up and sorted to arrive at the total CAT score.
cat_percentile_Score_Calculation_2024
Also Read:
Q: Are CAT cut offs announced along with the CAT result?
Q: What is the minimum percentile required for IIM Trichy?
IIM Trichy accepts minimum CAT percentile for shortlisting candidates for the Personal Interview round. For IIM Trichy MBA admission 2024, the estimated overall CAT cutoff for the General category students is 92 percentile. Candidates can refer to the table given below to check out the section-wise minimum CAT percentile required for various categories:
Category | PVRC | PDILR | PQA | Overall percentile rank (PT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 92 |
NC-OBC | 45 | 45 | 45 | 74 |
EWS | 40 | 40 | 40 | 70 |
SC | 35 | 35 | 35 | 54 |
ST | 25 | 25 | 32.5 | 40 |
DAP | 25 | 25 | 32.5 | 40 |
Q: What is the CAT cut off for IIM Ahmedabad?
Q: What are the qualifying CAT cutoffs for all the IIMs?
Q: How many questions should I solve to score 99 percentile in CAT exam?
CAT Score Vs Percentile: What is CAT Percentile?
The CAT percentile is referred to as the total percentage of candidates who scored less than or equal to a particular candidate in the exam. For example, if a candidate’s CAT percentile is 99, it means his/her performance was better than 99 per cent of the total CAT test takers that year. Or one can say, candidates scoring above 90 percentile would be the top 10 per cent of the students that year.
Suppose,1,000 people take an exam and you bag the top rank, which means 999 candidates scored less than you. Then your CAT percentile will be 999/1000*100 = 99.9.
Therefour, CAT percentile does not refer to the actual performance in the CAT exam. It refers to a particular candidate’s performance in comparison to all the test takers.
CAT Score Vs Percentile: What is CAT Scaled Score?
CAT exam is held in three sessions. The question papers of all CAT sessions are slightly different from each other and to ensure fairness and equity in comparison of performances, a scaled score is calculated through normalisation process. A formula is applied for CAT score normalisastion. This scaled CAT score might be more or less than the raw score.
Also Read: How Scaled CAT Score will be Calculated for Three Slots?
CAT 2024: Expected Marks vs Percentile Estimation
Take a look at the table below to understand how much CAT score will fetch how much CAT percentile as estimated by IMS experts. These are slot wise CAT 2024 expected marks vs percentile for various ranges, basis the number of questions.
| CAT Percentile |
VARC score |
DILR score |
QA score |
Overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99.9 %ile |
48 |
36 |
40 |
102 |
| 99.5 %ile |
44 |
32 |
30 |
89 |
| 99 %ile |
40 |
28 |
27 |
80 |
| 98 %ile |
36 |
25 |
23 |
71 |
| 95 %ile |
30 |
19 |
18 |
57 |
| 90 %ile |
25 |
16 |
15 |
49 |
| 85 %ile |
21 |
13 |
12 |
40 |
| 80 %ile |
19 |
11 |
10 |
36 |
| 75 %ile |
17 |
10 |
9 |
31 |
| 70 %ile |
15 |
9 |
8 |
29 |
*The above figures are estimation and not actual representation.
CAT 2023 Score Vs Percentile
Check the table below for CAT 2023 score vs percentile. These figures are an estimation and can help you in analysing your performance basis the number of questions you solve correctly in the CAT exam.
| CAT Percentile
|
CAT Score (Scaled) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VARC |
DILR |
QA |
Overall |
|
| 100 |
61 |
50 |
50 |
143 |
| 99.99 |
58 |
42 |
44 |
120 |
| 99.50 |
44 |
31 |
29 |
85 |
| 99.00 |
40 |
28 |
26 |
77 |
| 97.00 |
33 |
22 |
23 |
63 |
| 95.00 |
29 |
19 |
18 |
55 |
| 90.00 |
24 |
16 |
14 |
46 |
| 85.00 |
21 |
14 |
12 |
34 |
| 80.00 |
18 |
12 |
10 |
40 |
| 70.00 |
13 |
8 |
7 |
32 |
Also Read:
CAT Score Vs Percentile 2024: What is Normalisation of CAT score?
CAT normalisation process is based on GATE scoring, where the normalisation is based on the assumption that distribution of abilities of candidates is the same across all the sessions. The calculations are based on statistic equations. GATE normalisation takes into account all the variations in the difficulty levels of the question papers across different session.
Also Read: Understanding CAT normalisation process
CAT 2024 Score Vs Percentile: How is Overall CAT Percentile Calculated?
The CAT percentile is mapped against scaled score of each of the three sections and overall scaled score. All these six measurements are taken into account for reporting purpose, i.e. each candidate’s CAT result-cum-scorecard will contain section wise and overall scaled scores and percentiles.
CAT result cum scorecard
It must be noted that even though CAT percentile is a popular terms and indicates the candidate’s performance compared to the rest, it is the CAT score (scaled) which is used for the calculation of composite score for shortlisting candidates for WAT-PI round of IIMs.
Also Read:
- Colleges accepting CAT scores range 50-60 percentile
- Colleges accepting CAT scores range 60-70 percentile
- Colleges accepting CAT scores range 70-80 percentile
- Colleges accepting CAT scores above 85 percentile
- Colleges accepting CAT scores range 80-90 percentile
CAT Score Vs Percentile: CAT Composite Score Calculation
The composite score of each candidate is arrived at by calculating their score on the basis of some parameters. The parameters for CAT 2024 score and percentile calculation will include:
- CAT score (scaled)
- Class 12 marks
- Class 10 marks
- Graduation score
- Work Experience
- Diversity (Gender)
- Diversity (Academic)
Given below is the formula of calculating CAT Composite Score used by the IIMs.
Composite score calculation formula
FAQs on CAT Score vs Percentile 2024
Q: What is the difference between CAT score and CAT percentile?
A: CAT score is the total marks obtained by a student in the exam (total marks scored upon 198) while CAT percentile is the candidate’s rank among all the test takers calculated after normalisation of the CAT score of every candidate across all three slots on a common scale. For admission, all the MBA colleges take CAT percentile into consideration to shortlist candidates.
Q: How is CAT percentile calculated?
A: CAT percentile calculation is based on a formula of total percentage of candidates who scored less than or equal to a particular candidate. CAT percentile is the relative performance of a candidate against rest of the test takers. Let’s take an example. Suppose 1,00,000 people take an exam and a candidate gets the highest score. It will mean that 99999 candidates scored less than that candidate. Thus, their CAT percentile will be 99999/100000*100= 99.9.
Scroll up for the CAT percentile formula.
Q: What is a good score in CAT for IIM admission?
A: For IIMs, nothing less than 97-98 percentile is good. If you are aiming for the top 6 IIMs, then you must score 99 percentile for even getting shortlisted for the Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI). However, for other top MBA colleges 90-95 percentile is good. A majority of CAT test takers fall in the category of 80-90 percentile. A large number of private and goverment management institutions accept candidates with CAT score between 80-90 percentile.
Q: Is scoring 90 percentile in CAT easy?
A: 90 percentile is not difficult to score in CAT. A large number of students start scoring 90 percentile in mock tests by the time CAT exam nears. However, the journey from 90 to 99 percentile is tough. With correct planning of exam preparation and correct execution, one can score 99 percentile in CAT. All they need is good study material, good guidance, enough practice and dedication.
Q: How difficult is it to score 99 percentile in CAT exam?
A: Over 2 lakh students appear for CAT exam every year, so it is indeed difficult to score 99 percentile. But, it is not impossible. If you study well for about six to nine months with full dedication, you too can score 99 percentile. You need to focus on the fact that in each section, you have to get at least 2/3rd of the total questions correct to stand a chance to score 99 percentile. In VARC, get about 14-18 questions correct, in DILR get about 12-14 questions correct and in QA get about 14-15 questions correct.
Q: How much should I score in CAT to get 99 percentile?
A: To aim 99 percentile in CAT, one should attempt at least 75 per cent questions accurately. Which means they need to solve 2/3rd of total questions in each section. This is achievable with a good strategy of smart selection of questions and time management. Read here how to get 99 percentile in CAT
Q: I have 85 percentile in CAT. Will I get a good MBA college?
A: Yes, you can get a good private MBA college with 85 percentile in CAT such as GIM Goa, FORE School of Management, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Loyola Institute of Business Administration, etc. Check the list of colleges accepting CAT score above 85 percentile
Q: What are the factors taken into consideration for calculating CAT percentile?
A: For calculation of CAT percentile, factors taken into consideration are difficulty level of the paper (to normalize raw score), raw CAT score and total number of candidates who cleared the exam.
Q: Which MBA college accept CAT score in range of 60 to 70 percentile?
A: A number of MBA colleges accept CAT score in range of 60 to 70 percentile including AIMS Institutes (AIMS), Bangalore, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, International School of Business & Media, Kolkata, Doon Business School (DBS), Dehradun, etc. Check the list of Colleges accepting CAT score 60-70 percentile range
Q: Which MBA college accept CAT score in range of 70 to 80 percentile?
A: A number of MBA colleges accept CAT score in range of 70 to 80 percentile including Amity Business School, Noida, Asia-Pacific Institute of Management (AIM, Delhi), Birla Institute of Technology and Science, BITS-Pilani, Christ University-Institute of Management, Bangalore, GITAM School of Business, etc. Check the list of Colleges accepting CAT score 70-80 percentile range
Q: Which MBA college accept CAT score in range of 80-90 percentile?
A: A number of MBA colleges accept CAT score in range of 80 to 90 percentile including International Management Institute, Delhi, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Praxis Business School, Kolkata, etc. Check the list of Colleges accepting CAT score 80-90 percentile range
Vipra is a massive Breaking Bad fan. When not watching crime drama series, she spends time in updating the list of places she wants to visit and people she wants to meet, but she is happiest in the company of dogs. ... Read Full Bio
News & Updates
Explore Other Exams
Jan '25 | XAT 2025 Cut Offs Release |
17 Jan '25 | XAT 2025 result |
8 Jan '25 | SNAP 2024 result announcement |
21 Dec '24 | SNAP 2024 session 3 |
13 Jan '25 - 17 Jan '25 | NMAT 2024 Exam Window (second ... |
5 Jan '25 - 10 Jan '25 | NMAT 2024 Scheduling Window (s... |
17 Oct '24 - 5 Dec '24 | IIFT 2025 registration and app... |
24 Dec '24 - 2 Mar '25 | MAT 2024 Registration Process ... |
24 Dec '24 - 9 Mar '25 | MAT 2024 Registration Process ... |
Feb '25 | IBSAT 2024 Selection Process (... |
28 Dec '24 - 29 Dec '24 | IBSAT 2024 Exam |
25 Jan '25 | CMAT 2025 exam date |
20 Jan '25 | CMAT 2025 admit card download |
25 Dec '24 - 25 Jan '25 | MAH CET 20245 registration pro... |
Mar '25 | MAH MBA CET 2025 |
24 Jan '25 - 21 Feb '25 | TANCET 2025 Registration |
Feb '25 | TANCET Admit Card Download |
Feb '25 | IRMASAT Personal Interviews |
Mar '25 | IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno... |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 5 hours ago
Yes, IILM Academy of Higher Learning accept CAT score for both of their courses which are PGDM and PGDM-Finance. The candidates who get shortlisted on the basis of CAT score are finally selected through a Personal Interview. Apart from the CAT Score, the candidate should also have atleast 50% aggre
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 hours ago
Yes, candidates can defenitely get admission into the IILM Academy of Higher Learning PGDM cousre without CAT score. Candidates can opt for other entrance exams in case they don't have the CAT exam scores.
M
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 9 hours ago
N
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 15 hours ago
ASBM Pune considers a 50% of minimum aggregate in graduation along with valid scores in accepted exams such as CAT, MAT, XAT and other equivalent exams. Candidates must analyse the accurate cutoff stats to learn about the eligibility criteria. Candidates can visit the Institute or can visit the offi
J
Beginner-Level 5
Answered Yesterday
It is difficult but not impossible. If you give yourself a good enough time to improve English comprehension, grammar and vocabulary, you will be able to do it. Yes, a non- English medium student will require longer time for CAT preparation as they will have to start reading and improving English co
N
Beginner-Level 3
Answered Yesterday
No, it is not mandatory to attempt all the questions in CAT. Candidates can choose to attempt questions as per their preparation. It is not possible also to attempt all the questions due to time limitation and difficulty level. Reading dense RC passages often take up a lot of time. In DILR and QA to
J
Beginner-Level 3
Answered Yesterday
There is no difference between slot 1, 2 and 3 of CAT exam paper in terms of structure and patten. The sectional break up, marking scheme and time limit are the same in all slots. However, due to unique sets of questions in each slot leads to difference in difficulty levels. There is usually a slig
A
Beginner-Level 3
Answered Yesterday
The key change in CAT question paper 2024 was increase in number of questions in DLIR section. Till 2023, the DILR section used to have 20 questions. In 2024, it had 22 questions. The time limit for it was the same and no other section had less questions. Which means, in CAT 2024, candidates had to
A
Beginner-Level 3
Answered 2 days ago
IIIT Lucknow conducts MBA admission via the CUET PG exam. Candidates must register for the MBAc ourse through the CUET portal. They must complete the registration and secure a valid score in the CUET exam. Further, before applyig candidates must make sure to have a Bachelor's/ Professional degree wi
T
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 days ago
The table below shows the top ranked MBA colleges accepting CAT score in Delhi along with their total tuition fees:
| College Names | Total Tuition Fee |
|---|---|
| DMS IIT Delhi | INR 11 lakh |
| IIFT Delhi | INR 22 lakh |
| IMI New Delhi | INR 21 lakh |
| FORE School of Management | INR 18 lakh |
| IP University | INR 2 lakh |
Disclaimer: This information is sourced from the official website.
T
Contributor-Level 10
The CAT (Common Admission Test) is a highly competitive entrance exam for admission to various management programs offered by top business schools in India. The percentile score in CAT exam is based on the relative performance of the test taker compared to all the other test takers.
The cutoff percentile for admission to top business schools varies from year to year and also depends on factors such as the number of candidates, difficulty level of the exam, and the number of available seats. In general, a percentile score of 90 or above is considered a good score and can help you secure admission to some of the top business schools in India. However, to increase your chances of admission to the top-tier business schools, a percentile score of 95 or above is preferred.