CAT Score vs Percentile 2025: Understanding Differences, How to Calculate

CAT Score vs Percentile 2025:  CAT 2025 exam is scheduled for November 30, 2025, and results are expected by December 19-20, 2025, leaving anxious aspirants eagerly checking iimcat.ac.in for updates. If you're one of those, this guide on CAT Score vs Percentile 2025 clarifies the key differences between raw scores and normalized percentiles that determine IIM calls. Understanding how to calculate your percentile from sectional and overall scores now will help you gauge shortlisting chances immediately after results. Stay prepared as cutoffs typically start at 90-99+ percentile for top B-schools.​

CAT Score vs Percentile 2025 Overview

The percentile achieved in CAT holds significant importance during the initial screening process for the first round of IIM admissions, including the Written Ability Test and Personal Interview (WAT-PI) stage. In simpler terms, the CAT percentile indicates a candidate's performance relative to their peers, categorizing them based on how they compare with other test-takers. This relative score is determined by evaluating the marks obtained in the CAT exam alongside a few additional factors. The CAT result is presented as both a numerical score and a percentile, with many MBA institutions considering the overall percentile for admission purposes.

CAT 2025 Marking Scheme

The CAT question paper encompasses 66 questions spanning Quantitative Ability (24), Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (22), and Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (20). The maximum attainable score in the CAT exam is 198. Candidates earn three marks for each correct response, while one mark is deducted for each incorrect answer. Notably, no negative marking applies to unanswered questions and non-MCQs. A candidate's CAT score is the sum of their sectional scores, culminating in their total CAT score. These individual sectional scores are combined and ranked to determine the overall performance.

What is the CAT 2025 Percentile?

The CAT 2025 percentile serves as a comparative measure, showcasing where candidates stand about others who took the CAT 2025 exam. It categorizes a candidate's performance by considering the scores achieved by fellow CAT test takers. For instance, achieving a 99th percentile implies that the candidate outperformed 99% of all CAT examinees during that particular year.

How to Calculate the CAT Percentile in 2025

Outlined below are the steps outlining how to compute the CAT 2025 percentile for both individual sections and the overall paper. To illustrate, the Quantitative Ability (QA) section will be used as an example.

Step 1: Counting the total number of participants

Begin by recording the overall number of participants (denoted as N) who took the exam across all sessions, both morning and afternoon.

Step 2: Allocating a rank according to the scaled score

Following the normalization process, a scaled score is achieved for each section as well as an overall scaled score. Your rank (denoted as r) is determined based on this scaled score. In instances where multiple candidates secure identical marks within a particular section, they will receive the same rank for that specific section.

Step 3: Determining the percentile score

The formula employed to calculate the percentile is given by the equation: P = (N-r) / N*100, where: P signifies the percentile of a candidate, N stands for the total number of candidates, and r represents the rank assigned to the candidate.

Step 4: Rounding

Proceed to round up the computed CAT 2025 percentile score for a candidate, ensuring it is rounded to two decimal places. This identical approach is employed for deriving the CAT 20235 percentile scores for the remaining sections, specifically DILR and VARC, within CAT 2025. Check the Estimated CAT 2025 Percentile based on CAT Score in the table provided below:

CAT 2025 Exam Result

The CAT 2025 results will be officially unveiled by IIM on the CAT website. The CAT result for 2025 will showcase candidates' names, their biometrically scanned photographs, and other details. This includes sectional cutoffs, obtained marks, and overall CAT 2025 percentile, all reflecting their performance in the exam.

The scaled scores for each segment—verbal ability and reading comprehension (VARC), quantitative ability (QA), and data interpretation and logical reasoning (DILR)—will be indicated. Moreover, the cumulative scores and CAT percentiles will be presented on the scorecard. Successful candidates will need to apply to their chosen colleges based on their CAT scores for admission. IIMs will shortlist and extend invitations to candidates as per their admission criteria. Candidates must successfully navigate the GD/PI and WAT rounds to convert these invitations into actual seats in esteemed B-schools.

CAT 2025 Exam Cut-off

IIMs and other MBA institutions will soon begin to release their respective thresholds. The CAT 2025 cutoff represents the minimum percentile that a candidate must achieve in the CAT 2025 exam to qualify for the subsequent selection stages. The specific CAT cutoff for 2025 is influenced by several factors, including the exam's difficulty, the total number of test-takers, available seats, and more. To progress to the selection rounds (WAT-GD/PI), candidates taking the CAT 2025 exam must meet both the sectional and overall cutoff requirements. Historically, renowned B-Schools such as old IIMs and prominent institutions like FMS (University of Delhi), SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, etc., have had cutoffs exceeding the 99th percentile. Lesser-established IIMs like IIM Sambalpur, IIM Trichy, IIM Kashipur, IIM Ranchi, etc., typically set their cutoffs at the 90th percentile and above, based on previous year trends.

Final Selection for Admission

Admission will be granted to candidates based on a composite score, derived from their CAT 2025 performance, along with evaluations from WAT/GD and PI, academic achievements, and professional experience. Refer to the provided table to understand the detailed components of this composite score. It's important to note that while the composite score (CS) shared below is a general outline, each IIM employs a distinct approach to compute their CS.

Composite Scores

Section-Wise CAT Score vs Percentile Previous Year Trends

Aspirants could also compare the previous year's CAT Score compared with Percentile in all areas to get an idea of the competition level and set goal scores for each subject appropriately. To get the 99.5 percentile in Quant in CAT, candidates required to receive about 36 scores. In a comparable way, people aiming for the 99.5 percentile in LRDI had to receive about 41 scores in CAT 2024. To get the 99.5 percentile in CAT VARC 2024, students have to receive about 44 marks. The section-wise Score vs. Percentile CAT Trends from 2024 to 2022 are shown in the tables below.

CAT Score vs Percentile 2024: Quant Score Trends

The CAT 2024 Quant score vs percentile comparison helps candidates understand how raw scores translate into percentiles. The updated Quant marks vs percentile data is provided below for quick reference.

CAT Marks vs Percentile 2024: LRDI Score Trends

For the LRDI section, CAT 2024 scores vary significantly across percentiles—around 50 marks corresponds to 99.9 percentile, while 41 marks aligns with 99.5 percentile. The complete LRDI score vs percentile breakdown is available in the table below.

CAT Score vs Percentile 2024: VARC Score Trends

In CAT 2024 VARC, 55 marks roughly equate to 99.9 percentile, and 44 marks correspond to 99.5 percentile. The detailed VARC marks vs percentile trends can be checked in the table provided below.

CAT Marks vs Percentile 2023: VARC Score Trends

For CAT 2023 VARC, 61.66 scaled marks represented 100 percentile, while 57.32 scaled marks corresponded to 99.99 percentile. These figures help candidates understand CAT 2023’s score vs percentile mapping for the VARC section.

CAT Score vs Percentile 2023: LRDI Score Trends

In the LRDI section of CAT 2023, 50.6 scaled marks equaled 100 percentile, and 42.7 scaled marks matched 99.99 percentile. The complete LRDI marks vs percentile chart for 2023 is included in the table below.