Key Takeaways
- The CAT 2026 admit card is scheduled for November 4, 2026. It stays available on iimcat.ac.in until exam day.
- CAT 2026 is on Sunday, November 29, 2026. IIM Indore conducts it in three sessions on that one day.
- Registration is closed. It ended on September 22, 2026, after an extension from September 15.
- The 2026 slot timings have not been announced. Your session will be printed on your admit card.
- Other deadlines fall in the same weeks. The IIFT application and SNAP registration close on November 25, and XAT 2027 registration closes on December 6.
The CAT 2026 admit card is scheduled for release on November 4, 2026, on the official CAT site, iimcat.ac.in, and it remains available until the exam. CAT 2026 will be held on Sunday, November 29, 2026, in three sessions, with IIM Indore as the conducting institute. Registration closed on September 22, 2026, so only candidates who registered and paid the fee by the deadline will get an admit card.
This page lists the dates that matter between now and the exam, what to check on the admit card when it comes out, what the CAT 2025 paper looked like, and what candidates who took CAT 2025 reported about the exam hall. The 2026 dates come from the IIFT MBA 2027-29 brochure, which lists the CAT 2026 exam date, and from Careers360's CAT 2026 schedule, as of October 22, 2026.
CAT 2026 dates
| Event | Date | Status on October 22, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Notification | Late July 2026 | Released |
| Registration | August 3 to September 22, 2026 (extended from September 15) | Closed |
| Last date for fee payment | September 24, 2026, 5 PM | Closed |
| Admit card | November 4, 2026, available until exam day | Scheduled |
| CAT 2026 exam | Sunday, November 29, 2026, three sessions | Upcoming |
| Result | Expected in early January 2027 | Not announced |
The fee was ₹2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates and ₹1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates. If you registered but are not sure the payment went through, log in to the CAT site and check your application status well before November 4.
💡 Tip
Put November 4 in your calendar. Download the admit card on the first day, print it, and keep a copy on your phone and on email so you are not depending on the site working in the last week.
What to check on your admit card
The admit card tells you where and when you are taking the test. When you download it, read every line once, slowly, and check these:
- Your name, photograph and signature. They should match what you uploaded during registration.
- The test centre address. Candidates chose five preferred cities from about 170 test cities. Look up the exact centre on a map on the day you download the card.
- Your session. CAT 2026 runs in three sessions on November 29. Your session decides what time you need to leave home.
- The instructions printed on the card. The admit card carries the rules for reporting time, the identity documents you must bring and what you may carry into the hall. Those printed instructions are the ones the centre staff will follow, so read them on the card itself.
If anything on the card is wrong, raise it through the CAT site's candidate support as soon as you notice it. A mistake caught on November 5 is far easier to sort out than one caught on November 28.
CAT 2026 test cities and slots
CAT 2026 is held in about 170 test cities, and each candidate chose five preferred cities while registering. The exam runs in three sessions on the same day. As of October 22, 2026, the slot timings for CAT 2026 have not been announced.
For reference, these were the session timings in the last cycle:
| CAT 2025 slot (last cycle) | Timing |
|---|---|
| Slot 1 | 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM |
| Slot 2 | 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM |
| Slot 3 | 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM |
These are CAT 2025 timings and should not be read as the 2026 schedule. The time that applies to you is the one printed on your CAT 2026 admit card. CAT 2025 was held on November 30, 2025, at 339 centres in 170 cities, with IIM Kozhikode as the conducting institute.
If you have been taking full mocks, start taking them at your own session's clock time once you know it. A morning-slot candidate and an evening-slot candidate spend exam day very differently.
What the CAT 2025 paper looked like
The question count and per-section timing for CAT 2026 have not been confirmed by any source we read as of October 22, 2026. CAT 2026 has the same three sections as earlier years: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA), in a computer-based test.
The CAT 2025 paper had this pattern:
| Feature | CAT 2025 (last cycle) |
|---|---|
| Total duration | 120 minutes (160 minutes for PwD candidates) |
| Time per section | 40 minutes, in a fixed order |
| Questions | 68 in total: VARC 24, DILR 22, QA 22 |
| Correct answer | +3 marks |
| Wrong answer on a multiple-choice question | −1 mark |
| Wrong answer on a TITA (type-in-the-answer) question | No negative marking |
One outlet reported 66 questions for CAT 2025 Slot 1, so treat the exact split as a reported figure. The 120-minute duration comes from IIM Kozhikode's media release for CAT 2025, as quoted by Careers360.
What CAT 2025 takers said about the exam hall
A thread on r/CATpreparation from October 14, 2026, asked "what actually happens in the exam hall and the uncertainties?" and drew 63 comments, many from people who took CAT 2025. These are reports from individual candidates at their own centres. They are not official rules, and the 2026 experience may differ.
| What candidates reported | What you can do about it |
|---|---|
| Waiting at least 30 minutes at a blank screen before the test started | Expect a wait after you are seated, and do not read the delay as a problem with your system |
| Signing the attendance sheet while the VARC section was running | Sign quickly and return to the passage you were on |
| An A5 rough booklet with a limited number of pages | Practise rough work on small sheets in your last few mocks |
| The mouse wheel not scrolling inside RC passages | Know how to use the scroll bar so it does not cost you time |
| Very high mouse sensitivity | Move the cursor slowly for the first minute until you are used to it |
| The system going to sleep during DILR and taking 3 to 4 minutes to restart | Raise your hand and tell the invigilator at once |
One candidate in a different thread wrote that they "Got stuck with two DILR sets in 2025 exam". That is about set selection more than the hall itself. If it happens to you in mocks, log it in your CAT error log so you can see whether it repeats before November 29.
Read the official instructions. Everything in the table above comes from candidates describing their own centres in CAT 2025. The rules that apply to you in 2026 are the ones on your admit card and on iimcat.ac.in.
Other MBA exam and application dates around CAT
Many CAT candidates also take XAT, SNAP or NMAT, or apply to institutes that use the CAT score. These dates fall in the same weeks as the CAT admit card and the exam.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| October 22, 2026 | NMAT 2026 slot booking for a first attempt closes |
| November 2 to December 20, 2026 | NMAT 2026 exam window |
| November 4, 2026 | CAT 2026 admit card scheduled |
| November 25, 2026 | Last date for the IIFT MBA (IB) and MBA (BA) 2027-29 application, which uses the CAT 2026 score |
| November 25, 2026 | SNAP 2026 registration and payment close |
| November 29, 2026 | CAT 2026 exam |
| December 6, 2026 | XAT 2027 registration closes |
| December 7, 11 and 18, 2026 | SNAP 01, 02 and 03 admit cards |
| December 13, 19 and 26, 2026 | SNAP 01, 02 and 03 tests |
| From December 20, 2026 (tentative) | XAT 2027 admit card |
| January 3, 2027 | XAT 2027 exam, 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM |
IIFT does not run its own entrance test. It shortlists on the CAT 2026 score and other parameters, followed by a group discussion and personal interview in person. If IIFT is on your list, the November 25 application deadline comes four days before CAT itself, so apply before you go into the last week of preparation. CMAT 2027 has not been announced as of October 22, 2026.
After November 29
The CAT 2026 result is expected in early January 2027. The exact date has not been announced, and the CAT 2025 result came on December 24, 2025, so a late-December release is also possible. Our guide to the CAT result date and what comes next covers the result itself.
Once you have your percentile, the IIM call predictor estimates your chances of an interview call at each college from your percentile, academics, work experience and category. The figure is an estimate, because each IIM shortlists on its own formula. IIM Ahmedabad says it will publish its shortlist tentatively by the second week of January 2027, and the other IIMs have not announced 2027 dates. The CAT interview timeline lists the shortlist and WAT-PI dates announced so far.
⭐ Pro Tip
In the three days after the exam, write down what happened in each section while you still remember it: which sets you chose, where you got stuck and how you used the time. You will want these notes if you take XAT or SNAP in the following weeks, and again if you sit CAT next year.
Keeping your notes in one place
This page is published by Rehearsal. In the Rehearsal app you record yourself answering out loud, and the app keeps what you said along with the PDFs, screenshots and links you save, so you can come back to them. You can use it in November to keep your error notes in one place, and after the result to record your answers to likely interview questions, such as why you want an MBA or how you would explain a gap year, and listen to them again before a WAT-PI round.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: When will the CAT 2026 admit card be released?
The CAT 2026 admit card is scheduled for release on November 4, 2026, on iimcat.ac.in, and it stays available for download until the exam on November 29, 2026.
Q2: Where do I download the CAT 2026 admit card?
You download it from the official CAT site, iimcat.ac.in, by logging in with the details you used to register.
Q3: Can I still register for CAT 2026?
No. CAT 2026 registration closed on September 22, 2026, after it was extended from September 15, and the fee payment deadline ended on September 24, 2026.
Q4: What are the CAT 2026 slot timings?
The CAT 2026 slot timings have not been announced as of October 22, 2026. In CAT 2025 the slots were 8:30 to 10:30 AM, 12:30 to 2:30 PM and 4:30 to 6:30 PM, and your 2026 session will be printed on your admit card.
Q5: How many questions will CAT 2026 have?
The question count for CAT 2026 has not been confirmed. The CAT 2025 paper had 68 questions (VARC 24, DILR 22, QA 22) in 120 minutes, with 40 minutes per section.
Q6: Who is conducting CAT 2026?
IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2026. IIM Kozhikode conducted CAT 2025.
Q7: Which other MBA deadlines fall close to the CAT exam?
The IIFT 2027-29 application and SNAP 2026 registration both close on November 25, 2026, XAT 2027 registration closes on December 6, 2026, and the NMAT 2026 exam window runs from November 2 to December 20, 2026.
Rehearsal
Keep your CAT notes and your spoken answers in one place
Record yourself answering out loud. Rehearsal keeps what you said and what you saved, so you can come back to it before the next round.