CAT 2025: How Much You Need to Score to Crack IIM Lucknow in 2026?

CAT 2025: How Much You Need to Score to Crack IIM Lucknow in 2026?

Malvika ChawlaUpdated on 30 Nov 2025, 10:37 AM IST

The CAT 2025 percentile needed for admission to IIM Lucknow is 90 for the General category, while the minimum percentile for EWS and NC-OBC categories is 82. The lowest acceptable IIM Lucknow admission criteria for the PGP 2026-28 batch have no major change in the selection process. To get admission to IIM Lucknow, the candidate will need to clear multiple rounds, such as having a minimum of 60% CAT score + 10% academic performance (Class 12+GM) + Diversity factor + WAT+PI score to get shortlisted to IIM L.

LiveCAT 2025 Result LIVE: IIM Kozhikode to declare CAT results today at iimcat.ac.in; how to check percentileDec 24, 2025 | 1:05 PM IST

No IIM explicitly accepts “low” CAT scores, as all institutes have minimum cut-offs for shortlisting candidates. However, some newer IIMs, such as IIM Sambalpur, IIM Amritsar, and IIM Bodh Gaya, may have relatively lower CAT percentile requirements compared with older IIMs like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, or Calcutta. Admission also depends on other factors, including academic record, work experience, diversity, and performance in the written ability test and personal interview.

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This Story also Contains

  1. CAT 2025 Percentile Needed for IIM Lucknow Admission
  2. IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile 2026 For Final Selection
  3. IIM Lucknow Highest Composite Score 2026 For Final Admission
  4. IIM Lucknow Selection Criteria 2026
CAT 2025: How Much You Need to Score to Crack IIM Lucknow in 2026?
CAT 2025: How Much You Need to Score to Crack IIM Lucknow in 2026?

Furthermore, the IIM CAT Call percentile 2025 is expected to be 98+ GEM and 97+ for other categories. To find complete information on the CAT percentile needed for IIM MBA admission 2026.

CAT 2025 Percentile Needed for IIM Lucknow Admission

IIM Lucknow candidates will be shortlisted for WAT and PI, based on CAT score, prior academic performance, and work experience. The IIM Lucknow minimum sectional and total CAT Percentile for general candidates are 85 and 90, respectively. Check this table to find IIM Lucknow's shortlisting criteria for the WAT & PI Stage are given below in the table.

IIM Lucknow Category

VARC

DILR

QA

Total

General

85

85

85

90

EWS

77

77

77

82

NC-OBC

77

77

77

82

SC

55

55

55

65

ST

50

50

50

60

PwD

50

50

50

60

IIM Lucknow Composite score Calculation for WAT PI Shortlist

IIM Lucknow score for WAT-PI selection will be calculated for the candidates who have fulfilled the above-mentioned IIM Lucknow minimum sectional and total CAT percentile requirements. IIM Lucknow CAT score is given the highest weightage of 60. Weightage for each component considered for the IIM Lucknow score is given below.

Components

Weightage

IIM Lucknow Scaled CAT score

60

HSC (12th)

10

Graduation marks

10

Work experience

10

Diversity Factor (A)

5

Diversity factor (B)

5

IIM Lucknow Composite score

100

IIM Lucknow Composite score Cutoff for WAT PI Round

The minimum composite score cutoff required for the Interview and WAT shortlist at the IIM Lucknow 2026 admissions is given in the table below, based on previous year trends and data.

IIM Lucknow Category of Candidates

2026-28

2024-26

2023-25

IIM Lucknow Cut-Off for General

48-49

48.80

48.96761

IIM Lucknow Cut-Off for EWS

33-35

35.43

33.34357

IIM Lucknow Cut-Off for NC- OBC

32-38

38.28

32.94748

IIM Lucknow Cut-Off for SC

26-27

27.14

26.2287

IIM Lucknow Cut-Off for ST

17-19

19.40

17.73247

IIM Lucknow Cut-Off for PwD

8-14

8.73

14.03112

IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile 2026 For Final Selection

IIM Lucknow minimum CAT percentile is expected to be between 92 and 93 for general category candidates. Based on the previous year's data obtained from RTI IIM Lucknow Cutoff 2026 (expected) for final selection is given in the table below for all categories.

IIM Lucknow Category of Candidates

2026-28 (expected)

2024-26

IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile for General

92-93

92.48

IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile for EWS

88-89

88.18

IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile for NC-OBC

83-84

83.74

IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile for SC

67-68

67.36

IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile for ST

62-63

62.51

IIM Lucknow CAT Percentile for PWD

61-62

61.29

IIM Lucknow Highest Composite Score 2026 For Final Admission

IIM Lucknow's highest Composite Score for each Category is different. The composite score for the IIM Lucknow 2026 admission general candidate can range between 73 and 79. The lowest range of the highest composite score falls between 50 and 60, belonging to the ST category. See the table below for the highest score for the past few years for a better idea of the expected score for each category.

IIM Lucknow Category of Candidates

2026-28

2024-26

2023-25

2022-24

IIM Lucknow Score for General

73-79

77.1353

79.08416

73.66913

IIM Lucknow Score for EWS

61-63

63.65722

61.43109

62.07509

IIM Lucknow Score for NC-OBC

58-63

62.19331

63.25

58.69285

IIM Lucknow Score for SC

57-62

60.9233

62.63

57.56753

IIM Lucknow Score for ST

50-60

52.95453

60.84

50.3556734

IIM Lucknow Score for PwD

55-64

55.38699

59.9546

64.8024421

IIM Lucknow Selection Criteria 2026

The admission score for IIM Lucknow will be released after the successful completion of the Personal Interview (PI) and Written Ability Test (WAT) rounds. The final score required for IIM Lucknow 2026 admission is calculated by assigning marks based on the weightage each component holds, as mentioned in the IIM Lucknow selection criteria 2026.

IIM Lucknow Selection Components

IIM Lucknow Maximum Marks

Personal Interview score

40

CAT 2025

30

Academics

10

WAT

10

Diversity

5

Work Experience

5

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How hard is to get into IIM Lucknow?
A:

The CAT cutoff for IIM depends on the institute and category. Older IIMs like Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta set the IIM CAT percentile cutoff at 98-99+. While mid-tier IIMs such as Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore, and Shillong will accept 95-97 percentiles.

Q: What is the minimum score needed for IIM Lucknow admission?
A:

For general category candidates, a minimum CAT percentile of 90 is required to be considered for admission at IIM Lucknow.

Q: Is 70 a good score in CAT?
A:

70-80 percentile is considered a moderate score in CAT, meaning that you are already above average. 

Q: What is the weightage for work experience in IIM Lucknow?
A:

Work experience is awarded up to 10 marks during the pre-PI (Personal Interview) stage, and up to 5 marks are considered when calculating the final composite score.

Q: Is there a minimum sectional cutoff at IIM Lucknow?
A:

Yes, IIM Lucknow sets minimum sectional percentiles for each section of the CAT EXAM: VARC, DILR, and QA.

Q: What's the meaning of the final composite score at IIM Lucknow?
A:

For the IIM Lucknow MBA, the final composite score refers to the combined score of different components, such as CAT percentile, academics, work experience, diversity, WAT, and PI rounds.

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Questions related to CAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CAT ?

Hello,

The results for the CAT 2025 entrance, which is conducted on November 30, 2025, were declared on December 22, 2025. Candidates can download and see their results on the official IIM CAT website. On the website, click on the "CAT 2025 Result/Scorecard" link to download the result by entering the required details.

I hope it will clear your query!!

Hello,

The link to the website where you can check the published result is attached herewith.  The result will be out soon. You can also check the cutoffs on the website of Careers360.

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/cat-result

Thank you.

CAT does not restrict eligibility based on stream. Candidates from commerce, arts, science, engineering or any other background can appear for CAT and apply to MBA programmes offered by IIMs and other top B-schools.

The basic eligibility criteria for CAT are:
You must hold a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a recognised university with at least 50 percent marks (45 percent for SC, ST and PwD categories). Final-year graduation students are also eligible to apply.

Being a commerce graduate can actually be an advantage in areas such as accounting, finance, economics and business studies, especially during MBA coursework in finance, marketing and operations.

After qualifying CAT, admission depends on multiple factors including CAT percentile, academic background, work experience (if any), performance in GD, WAT and personal interview rounds. Many IIMs and B-schools follow a diverse academic background policy, which means non-engineering candidates, including commerce graduates, often receive additional weightage.

Apart from IIMs, several reputed institutes such as FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad, and many state and private universities also accept CAT scores for MBA admissions.

So, as a commerce graduate, you are fully eligible to appear for CAT and pursue an MBA, provided you meet the minimum academic requirements and perform well in the selection process.

If you want, I can also help you with realistic CAT percentile targets based on your academic profile or suggest suitable MBA colleges.


Hello aspirant,

With a CAT 2025 raw score of 84 and strong sectionals, your expected percentile may fail in the high 98 range , depending on scaling. Your excellent academics and 2 years of work experience strengthen your profile .IIM Lucknow calls are possible but competitive for EWS engineers , while FMS Delhi looks mainly at CAT score and VARC , so you have a reasonable chance there . Final calls depend on cutoffs and composite score.

FOR REFERENCE : https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/cat-cutoff

Hope the details will help you.

THANK YOU

Hello aspirant ,

For MANAGE Hyderabad MBA , the OBC cutoff in CAT 2024 was generally around 85-90 percentile for shortlist consideration , tough exact figures vary by section and profile . For CAT 2025, if fewer candidates appeared , the cutoff might slightly adjust , but percentile based cutoffs dont change drastically year to year. A minor decrease is possible , but you should still aim for 90+ percentile to be competitive. Factors like VARC, QA-LRDI and overall profile influence the final shortlist.

FOR REFERENCE : https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/cat-cutof f

Hope the details will help you.

THANK YOU