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  • 12th March 2026
  • Rama Krishna, IIM Udaipur
CAT Exam – Everything You Need to Know | Blog

CAT 2025 · IIM Admissions · Student Results

CAT Decoded: History, IIMs, and the Students Who Made It

From a handwritten entrance test in 1950 to a high-stakes computer-based exam taken by over three lakh aspirants every year — the CAT has quietly shaped the careers of India's top managers. Here's everything you need to know, plus our 2025 results and IIM admission roll of honour.

What Is CAT?

The Common Admission Test — better known simply as CAT — is the most prestigious management entrance examination in India. Conducted every year by one of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) on a rotational basis, it serves as the gateway not just to the IIMs but also to hundreds of other top business schools across the country. Think of it as the JEE for MBA aspirants — brutally competitive, deeply respected, and life-changing for those who crack it.

CAT tests candidates on three broad areas: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). The exam is held in a computer-based format, split into two sessions on a single day in November, and the results are typically declared in January of the following year. Scoring above the 99th percentile is considered exceptional; anything above 90 is seen as a strong foundation for a call from a top IIM.

What makes CAT particularly fascinating — and frustrating — is that it is not just a test of knowledge. It is a test of speed, accuracy, and composure. A candidate who reads slowly, or panics under pressure, can lose precious percentile points even with sound conceptual clarity.

CAT is not just an exam. It's the first real test of how well you perform when the stakes are highest.

The IIM Family: All 20 Institutes

India currently has twenty Indian Institutes of Management, spread from Ahmedabad in the west to Shillong in the northeast. The older IIMs — often called the "Big 6" — carry the heaviest brand weight and attract the most competitive applicant pools. The newer IIMs, established after 2010, are still building their reputations but are increasingly placing students in marquee roles. Here is the full list:

IIM Ahmedabad (1961)
IIM Bangalore (1973)
IIM Calcutta (1961)
IIM Lucknow (1984)
IIM Kozhikode (1996)
IIM Indore (1996)
IIM Shillong (2007)
IIM Rohtak (2009)
IIM Ranchi (2010)
IIM Raipur (2010)
IIM Trichy (2011)
IIM Udaipur (2011)
IIM Kashipur (2011)
IIM Mumbai (2011)
IIM Nagpur (2015)
IIM Visakhapatnam (2015)
IIM Amritsar (2015)
IIM Sambalpur (2015)
IIM Bodhgaya (2015)
IIM Sirmaur (2015)

Each IIM conducts its own post-CAT selection process, which typically includes Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI) rounds. Your CAT percentile gets you the shortlist; how you perform in WAT-PI determines whether you walk through the door.

CAT 2025: Conducting IIM

CAT 2025 was conducted by IIM Calcutta — one of India's oldest and most respected management institutions. IIM Calcutta has conducted the exam multiple times over the decades and is well known for running a tightly managed examination process. The test was held in November 2025 across multiple cities and test slots, with results announced in January 2026.

CAT 2025 at a Glance: Conducted by IIM Calcutta  |  Format: Computer-Based Test  |  Sections: VARC, DILR, QA  |  Duration: 2 hours  |  Results: January 2026

CAT 2025 Results — Our Students' Percentiles

When results day arrived, we were keeping a very close eye on our students' performance. We are immensely proud to share that our students delivered strong scores right across the board — with eleven students crossing the 90th percentile, a landmark we have been working toward as a cohort. These scores reflect months of consistent preparation, honest self-assessment, and the kind of mental resilience that CAT demands.

# Student Name Percentile
1V.N. Benny98.56%ile
2G. Rakesh95.74%ile
3S. Manjari95.32%ile
4N. Sanjana95.24%ile
5C. Aanandhini95.15%ile
6Prince Murari92.27%ile
7T. Krishna Deepak91.85%ile
8VN Raju91.78%ile
9C. Sravan91.20%ile
10Manasa90.87%ile
11D. Karthik Varma90.09%ile

V.N. Benny led the pack with an outstanding 98.56 percentile — a score that puts him among a very small group of candidates nationally. Five students crossed the 95th percentile, which is the typical cut-off for shortlists from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta for most engineering profiles. This is a batch to be genuinely proud of.

IIM Admissions — Our Roll of Honour

Percentile scores are only half the story. What matters most is walking into an IIM on the first day of the academic year. Over the last two CAT cycles, our students have collectively secured over 100 IIM admissions across 20 students — a number that speaks for itself. Below is a record of confirmed admissions for CAT 2024 and CAT 2023.

CAT 2024 Admits
Gayatri
IIM Kozhikode
Gayatri
Durga Varshit
IIM Kozhikode
Koushik
IIM Shillong
Koushik
Sushma
IIM Mumbai
Sushma
Mansi
IIM Rohtak
Mansi
Harshith
IIM Kashipur
Harshith
Banu Prakash
IIM Sambalpur
Rahul
IIM Sambalpur
Rahul
Arinjay
IIM Bodhgaya
Arinjay
Anil
IIM Sirmaur
Anil
Akash
IIM Sirmaur
Akash
Lekhana
IIM Raipur
Lekhana
CAT 2023 Admits
Tarun
IIM Calcutta
Tarun
Sahiti Changanti
IIM Udaipur
Snehal
IIM Ranchi
Snehal
Likitha
IIM Raipur
Likitha
Hemambica
IIM Trichy
Hemambica

What This Means for Future Aspirants

Looking at these results and admissions together, the message is clear: cracking CAT is hard, but it is very much achievable with the right preparation strategy, consistent effort, and honest self-evaluation. Many of the students listed above started with modest mock scores and built up steadily over six to twelve months. None of them had a secret formula. What they had was discipline and a willingness to stay uncomfortable.

If you are preparing for CAT right now, look at this list not as intimidating competition but as proof that it can be done. These are real people — some of whom would have sat in the same kind of uncertainty you're sitting in today. They made it. So can you.

We will keep updating this page as more results and admission letters come in. If you are a student of ours and have received an IIM call or final admit, write to us so we can add your name to this list and celebrate alongside you.

Every IIM admit started as an aspirant who simply refused to stop.
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