IIM Ahmedabad rewrites its MBA shortlist: CAT 2026 percentile now gets 65% weight

By TUF News Desk · Published 22 October 2026 · 4 min read

Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy

The rulebook for an IIM Ahmedabad MBA call has changed. For the PGP 2027-29 batch, the institute will shortlist candidates for its Analytical Writing Test and Personal Interview using the overall CAT 2026 percentile instead of the normalized CAT score. That percentile carries 65 per cent of the shortlisting composite, with the remaining 35 per cent coming from the Application Rating, which grades school marks, graduation marks, work experience and diversity.

The revision sits in the institute’s official admission policy for the 2027-29 batch. CAT coaches reading the fine print this week (Ahmedabad Mirror, October 22) say it reshapes how test-takers should value each part of their profile.

CAT percentile moves into a narrow band

The new formula is plain arithmetic. The raw composite score equals 35 per cent of the normalized Application Rating plus 65 per cent of the candidate’s total CAT 2026 percentile. That composite is then normalized within the applicant’s undergraduate discipline before the AWT-PI shortlist is drawn.

The tactical consequence is that the CAT component now operates in a tight range. General category candidates already face a minimum qualifying bar of 95 percentile, so the 65 per cent weightage plays out roughly between 95 and 100 percentile multiplied by 0.65. CAT mentor Manish Shah told Ahmedabad Mirror that a 10-percentage-point rise in Class 10 or Class 12 marks can shift the Application Rating by 2 points, which can outweigh the difference between a 97 and a 100 percentile.

Six academic groups become 20 disciplines

The policy replaces the six broad Academic Categories (AC-1 to AC-6) with 20 undergraduate disciplines, and each candidate is compared only with applicants from their own discipline. The raw composite score is divided by the average of the top 1 per cent of raw composite scores within that discipline, counting a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 100 scores in the top 1 per cent.

Engineering and Technology, Computer Science and IT, Commerce Accounting and Finance, Economics, Management, Law, Arts and Humanities, Medical and Health Sciences, Journalism and Media and Professional qualifications like CA and CS are among the 20 buckets. The admissions committee has the final word on which discipline a programme falls into. The earlier filters, the top-5-per-cent rule per Academic Category, the P threshold and the graduation 80th-percentile rule, have all been dropped.

One rating scale for all marks

School and graduation marks are now graded on one common percentage scale. Earlier, Class 12 carried separate tables for science, commerce and arts streams, and graduation marks were rated within each academic category. Under the new grid, a score above 90 per cent earns 10 points and a score between 80 and 90 per cent earns 8 points, no matter the stream or degree.

Cutoffs and the final selection

The minimum CAT 2026 percentile cutoffs are unchanged. For non-PwD candidates, General and EWS candidates need 95 overall and 85 in each section, NC-OBC candidates need 90 overall and 80 sectional, SC candidates need 85 overall and 75 sectional, and ST candidates need 75 overall and 65 sectional. Clearing these cutoffs only makes a candidate eligible for shortlisting. It does not guarantee a call.

The final admission decision gives 40 per cent weight to the normalized composite score, 50 per cent to the Personal Interview and 10 per cent to the Analytical Writing Test. That puts CAT’s effective weight at 26 per cent of the final score, up from 25 per cent under the old policy, while the Application Rating’s effective share drops from 15 to 14 per cent.

CAT 2026 will be conducted by IIM Indore on November 29, 2026, in three shifts. The official IIMA admission policy has the full detail for anyone checking how the new math applies to their own profile. For a wider view on picking target schools, see our guide on how to choose a university in India, and keep your certificates and score reports ready with help from our admission documents checklist.

Frequently asked questions

What changed in IIM Ahmedabad’s PGP 2027-29 admission criteria?

The institute will use the CAT 2026 overall percentile, not the normalized CAT score, as the CAT component for shortlisting. The shortlisting composite is 65 per cent CAT percentile plus 35 per cent Application Rating, normalized within each of 20 undergraduate disciplines.

What are the minimum CAT 2026 percentile cutoffs for IIM Ahmedabad?

General and EWS candidates need 95 overall and 85 sectional; NC-OBC need 90 overall and 80 sectional; SC need 85 overall and 75 sectional; ST need 75 overall and 65 sectional. These are minimums, not guarantees of a shortlist.

How are school and graduation marks rated now?

On one common percentage scale across all streams: above 90 per cent earns 10 points, 80 to 90 per cent earns 8 points, and the scale steps down from there.

What is the final selection weightage?

The normalized composite score carries 40 per cent, the Personal Interview 50 per cent and the Analytical Writing Test 10 per cent.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Ahmedabad Mirror, NDTV, Telegraph India