CAT 2025 Result Compared With CAT 2024: Key Changes in Toppers, Participation and Trends

CAT 2025 Result Compared With CAT 2024: Key Changes in Toppers, Participation and Trends

Team Careers360Updated on 25 Dec 2025, 10:44 AM IST

The CAT 2025 results were declared on December 24, 2025, by IIM Kozhikode, bringing clarity to nearly three lakh MBA aspirants across India. As candidates begin analysing their performance and admission prospects, a natural question arises — how does CAT 2025 compare with CAT 2024?

From the number of test takers and toppers to gender, category, and academic background trends, the CAT 2025 result data reveals several notable shifts compared to last year. This article offers a data-backed comparison of CAT 2025 and CAT 2024, helping aspirants understand what truly changed this year.

Read detailed analysis on CAT Toppers 2025

CAT 2025 vs CAT 2024: Key Overview

ParameterCAT 2024CAT 2025
Registered candidates3.28 Lakh2.95 Lakh
Appeared candidates2.88 Lakh2.58 Lakh
Exam conducting IIMIIM CalcuttaIIM Kozhikode
Result DeclarationDec 19, 2024Dec 24, 2025

Key takeaway: CAT 2025 witnessed a drop in both registrations and appearances, indicating either a more cautious applicant pool or increased diversification towards other MBA exams.

Participation Trend: Fewer Candidates in CAT 2025

One of the biggest changes in CAT 2025 is lower participation.

  • CAT 2024: Around 2.88 lakh candidates appeared

  • CAT 2025: Around 2.58 lakh candidates appeared

BIMTECH PGDM Admissions 2026

AACSB Accredited | Highest CTC: 22 LPA

The Vedica Scholars Programme for Women 2026

Assured Placements and Career Support

This nearly 30,000-candidate drop suggests:

  • Reduced multiple-attempt behaviour

  • Greater focus on profile-based MBA admissions

  • Rising interest in exams like XAT, GMAT Focus, and NMAT

CAT 2025 College Predictor
Use CAT 2025 College Predictor to check your chances for IIM and top MBA calls based on CAT percentile, profile, work experience and cut-off trends.
Use Now

Despite fewer test takers, competition at the top percentiles remained intense.

Toppers Comparison: Fewer 100 Percentilers in CAT 2025

CAT 2025 produced 12 candidates with a 100 percentile, which is lower than CAT 2024, where the number was in the higher teens.

CAT 2025 Top Percentile Breakdown:

  • 100 percentile: 12 candidates

  • 99.99 percentile: 26 candidates

  • 99.98 percentile: 26 candidates

Great Lakes - PGDM & PGPM Admissions 2026

Last Date to Apply: 10th Feb | Globally Recognized by AACSB (US) & AMBA (UK) | 17.8 LPA Avg. CTC for PGPM 2025

K J Somaiya Institute of Management MBA Admissions 2026

Highest Package 27.25 LPA | Top 100 Average package 16.65 LPA | AACSB Accredited | Ranked 52 by QS International

This indicates a slightly tighter score distribution at the very top, reinforcing that even a marginal error had a greater impact on percentile in CAT 2025.

Gender Trends: Marginal Shift, Same Pattern

Gender-wise participation in CAT 2025 remained largely consistent with CAT 2024.

CAT 2025 Appearance Data:

  • Female: 0.97 lakh

  • Male: 1.61 lakh

  • Transgender: 9

While male candidates continue to dominate numerically, female representation at top percentiles showed improvement, including 2 female 100 percentilers in CAT 2025.

This aligns with CAT 2024, where women also demonstrated stronger percentile efficiency relative to participation.

Engineer vs Non-Engineer Performance: A Clear Shift

A key change in CAT 2025 compared to CAT 2024 is the strong showing of non-engineers at the highest percentiles.

  • Among CAT 2025 100 percentilers:

    • Engineers: 3

    • Non-engineers: 9

This continues and strengthens a trend first noticed in CAT 2024, where non-engineers began closing the gap at the top. The CAT exam’s increasing focus on reasoning, comprehension, and decision-making appears to be levelling the field.

Category-Wise Trends: Stable Distribution

The category-wise distribution of candidates in CAT 2025 remains almost identical to CAT 2024.

CAT 2025 Registered Candidates:

  • General: 65.76%

  • NC-OBC: 17.82%

  • SC: 8.78%

  • ST: 2.38%

  • EWS: 5.26%

  • PwD: 0.49%

This stability suggests that cat cutoff trends and reservation dynamics are unlikely to change drastically between CAT 2024 and CAT 2025, especially for IIM admissions.

State-Wise Performance: Wider Spread in CAT 2025

CAT 2025 toppers came from a broader range of states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Karnataka.

Compared to CAT 2024 — which saw heavier clustering around a few metro states — CAT 2025 reflects a more geographically diverse topper pool, indicating deeper CAT penetration in Tier-2 and Tier-3 regions.

Admission Impact: What This Means for Aspirants

Despite fewer candidates:

  • IIM shortlisting remains highly competitive

  • Profile factors (academics, work experience, diversity) continue to play a decisive role

  • A high percentile alone, as seen in both CAT 2024 and CAT 2025, does not guarantee top IIM calls

Additionally, with 93 non-IIM institutions accepting CAT 2025 scores, aspirants now have broader quality MBA options beyond the IIMs.

Final Takeaway

The comparison between CAT 2025 and CAT 2024 shows evolution, not disruption.

  • Fewer candidates, but similar competition

  • Stronger non-engineer presence at top percentiles

  • Stable category and gender trends

  • More geographically diverse toppers

For MBA aspirants, the message is clear: percentile matters, but profile strength matters more than ever.

Articles
|
Upcoming Bschool Exams
Ongoing Dates
ACAT Application Date

7 Oct'25 - 26 Jan'26 (Online)

Ongoing Dates
VITBEE Application Date

31 Oct'25 - 12 Apr'26 (Online)

Ongoing Dates
B-MAT Application Date

19 Nov'25 - 8 Feb'26 (Online)

Certifications By Top Providers
Online MBA
Via Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida
Corporate Law
Via National Law University, New Delhi
Strategic Management
Via Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Online BBA
Via Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida
Management of Commercial Banking
Via Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Management of Inventory Systems
Via Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Udemy
 703 courses
Edx
 467 courses
Swayam
 236 courses
Emeritus
 231 courses
Explore Top Universities Across Globe
University of Essex, Colchester
Wivenhoe Park Colchester CO4 3SQ
Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
Headington Campus Oxford OX3 0BP UK
Northumbria University, Newcastle City Campus
Sutherland Building, Northumberland Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST
Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff
Llandaff Campus, Western Avenue, Cardiff, CF5 2YB
University of Reading, Reading
Whiteknights PO Box 217 Reading Berkshire RG6 6AH
Bristol Baptist College, Bristol
The Promenade, Clifton Down, Bristol BS8 3NJ

Questions related to CAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CAT ?

Hello,

Here are some top colleges accepting XAT and CAT exams :

Top colleges accepting CAT:

  • IIMs (All Indian Institutes of Management)

  • FMS Delhi

  • SPJIMR Mumbai

  • MDI Gurgaon

  • IIT Bombay (SJMSOM)

  • IIT Delhi (DMS)

  • IIFT

  • IMT Ghaziabad

  • JBIMS Mumbai

Top colleges accepting XAT:

  • XLRI Jamshedpur

  • XIMB Bhubaneswar

  • IMT Ghaziabad

  • Great

Hi there,

A female candidate with a CAT percentile of 67.97 and low sectional scores should target private and tier-2/3 B-schools that accept overall CAT scores in the 60–70 percentile range and have flexible sectional criteria.

Some suitable options include AIMS Institute Bangalore, Doon Business School Dehradun, Christ Institute of

Hi there,

Yes, you are eligible for XISS Ranchi with a CAT percentile of 67.60.

According to recent admission trends, the CAT cutoff for the PGDM in Human Resource Management for the general category has been around 60 percentile. For other programs such as Marketing, Finance, and Rural Management, the

Hi there,

Careers360 offers a wide range of eBooks and study materials to assist with CAT preparation. You can access past CAT question papers with solutions to understand the exam pattern and difficulty level. Additionally, there are quantitative aptitude handbooks, cheat sheets, and section-specific practice sets for arithmetic, algebra, and

Hi there,

The minimum eligibility criteria for a general candidate to receive a call from IIM Sambalpur are as follows:
VARC: 65%ile
QUANTS: 65%ile
LRDI: 65%ile
Overall: 90%tile
Keep practising and aim to improve your score. You can also focus on other management exams where you may secure a strong