CAT Eligibility: Age, Reservation, Qualification

Candidates must keep track of CAT Eligibility to appear for the exam. Knowing the eligibility criteria will ease exam preparation and devise a strategy to ace the exam. The official notification will be released around July/August, and registrations will begin in the first week of August 2022. Candidates must register on the official website to take the exam.

Before registering, the candidate must know the eligibility to avoid complications while appearing for the exam. Go through the details mentioned below and keep track of the upcoming information to excel in the exam.

CAT 2022

CAT(Common Admission Test) is a test for admission to the top MBA institutes. It is one of the toughest entrance exams and requires much hard work. More than 2 Lakh aspirants appear for the exam, hoping to get admission to their desired university.

CAT tests the candidate’s problem-solving, time management and decision-making abilities. It comprises three sections: quant, verbal, reasoning, and data interpretation.

The CAT exam pattern has undergone certain changes, and candidates must update themselves with the latest details.

The CAT exam pattern is described below. Go through these details and strategise your preparation accordingly.

CAT Exam Pattern

Here is the description of the CAT exam pattern. The pattern has undergone changes, and candidates must track these changes to attain a higher rank in the exam.

Particulars	Details
Mode of Examination	Online
Total Duration	120 minutes
Type of Questions	MCQs and TITA-type questions
No. Of MCQs	75%
No. of TITA Questions	25%
Sectional Duration	40 minutes
Sections	Three
No. of Questions	66
Section-wise Distribution of Questions	VARC- 24QA- 22DILR- 20
Total Marks	198
Marks for Correct Answer	3
Negative Marking	-1 for every wrong answer; No Negative Marks for TITA-type Questions
Medium	English

Latest Changes in Eligibility Criteria

Some of the latest changes in the CAT Eligibility Criteria are listed below:

• The minimum percentage criteria will be completely removed from the upcoming exams.
• Candidates with backlogs in their graduation are also eligible for taking the CAT Exam.
• Prior working experience is not mandatory; however, candidates with work experience have an advantage as some institutes do consider the experience.
• The time duration of the exam was changed from 180 to 120 minutes.
• The number of questions was also reduced, as stated in the latest notification.

An Overview of CAT Eligibility Criteria

To appear in CAT, the candidate must hold three years of Bachelor’s Degree. However, the final year students can also apply for this exam. Owing to recent changes caused by the pandemic, the criteria for appearing in CAT have become less difficult. Candidates must go through CAT eligibility criteria to avoid any last-minute hustle.

Following are some eligibility requirements for the CAT entrance exam:

Qualification	Requirements
Age	NA
Educational Qualification	Bachelor’s Degree (with min. 50% marks)
Work Experience	Not Compulsory
Reservation	As per category

CAT Eligibility: Age Limit

There is no upper age limit to appear in the CAT Exam. Candidates need to check the other eligibility details as there are no limitations on the maximum age for appearing in the exam. Check the table given below for the maximum age criteria for CAT.

Age  Limit	Details
Upper Age Limit	Not Applicable
Lower Age Limit	Not Applicable

Educational Qualification

The academic qualifications and the number of marks to be secured are stated below. Candidates need to fulfil the given eligibility to be able to appear for the exam.

Qualification	Affiliation	Percentage/ CGPA
Bachelor’s Degree from any Institute	Recognized by UGC	50% aggregate marks (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD)
Engineering Degree – B.Tech/ B.E.	Recognized by MHRD/ AICTE	50% marks (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD)
Final year students of graduation	Recognized by MHRD/ AICTE/ UGC	50% aggregate marks (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD)

CAT Eligibility: Registration with Backlogs

According to the new CAT Eligibility Criteria, candidates with backlogs in graduation can also apply for the CAT Exam. Any candidate who scores above 50% (45% for the reserved category) in the Degree can apply for CAT. While filling out the CAT Registration Form, select the final year student of bachelor’s degree option.

Reservation Criteria

Reservations for different categories are available for students applying for any business management program. See the table below for the CAT Eligibility of different categories:

Category	Reserved Percentage
Non-Creamy Other Backward Classes	27%
Scheduled Caste	15%
Economically Weaker Sections	up to 10%
Scheduled Tribe	7.5%
Person with Disability	5%

A general category candidate has 54% seats for them. The total number of seats in the IIMs is about 4000. The number of seats available to general category students is over 1900. By adding 20 or more top Institutions, the general category have about 4000 seats to compete.

CAT Eligibility: Calculation of Marks

• The percentage calculation is based on the fact that the institutions/ universities will follow the set procedure of calculating the total marks.
• Marks will be converted into percentages based on the practice certified by the institution.
• If no university offers any change, the percentage will be calculated by dividing the CGPA by the maximum CGPA and multiplying the result by 100.
• Example – Suppose a candidate has a CGPA of 8.8 and a maximum of 10 CGPA, then 7.8/10 = 0.78 and multiplying the result by 100 = 0.78 X 100 = 78%.

Who is in eligible for CAT 2022?

• A candidate who didn’t appear for a Bachelor’s Degree and failed to meet any of the required qualifications.
• AICTE / UGC / MHRD does not approve the applicant’s Institution.
• If the candidate’s marks are less than the prescribed eligibility for graduation.
• If a candidate has completed any professional course but not a bachelor’s.

Conclusion:

CAT eligibility is not a guarantee of admission to any prestigious B-schools. The final admission is based on a wide range of parameters such as your profile, CAT score, performance in admission rounds (GD/WAT/PI), etc. Candidates need to be familiar with the above information to provide the relevant details while applying for the CAT 2022 exam. In case of any deviations, your application is liable to be cancelled by the authorities without notice.