Great Lakes - PGDM & PGPM Admissions 2026
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CAT Admit Card Date:05 Nov' 25 - 30 Nov' 25
For the candidates who attended CAT 2024 Exam on November 24, 2024, can predict their CAT score by using the CAT answer key 2024 and response sheet. IIM Calcutta released the CAT 2024 answer key along with the response sheet on December 3, 2024. The question that arises in the mind of the CAT aspirants is, how many marks one should score in the CAT to get the 99 percentile would lead them to calculate the probable score after analysing the CAT 2024 slot-wise answer key. The CAT 2024 question paper had a total number of 68 questions, for a total score of 204. 22 questions came in the VARC section, LRDI and QA sections had 22 questions each. As CAT 2024 score calculation is a complex process, involving RAW CAT score, CAT percentile, and normalized score, read this article to learn about how many marks should one score in the CAT to get the 99 percentile. Read the Careers360 article to know what will be the probable CAT marks for the 99 percentile.
As CAT 2024 has concluded, let us look at the section-wise marks and the probable percentile for that. These would be crucial for candidates to understand how many CAT marks for the 99 percentile are needed in the CAT 2024 Slot 1.
CAT Percentile | CAT VARC Score | CAT LRDI | CAT QA Score | Overall CAT Score |
99 | 39-40 | 31-32 | 30-31 | 90 |
95 | 31-32 | 24-25 | 23–24 | 66 |
90 | 25-26 | 19-21 | 17-18 | 56-57 |
85 | 22-23 | 16-18 | 14-15 | 45-46 |
80 | 20-21 | 13-14 | 12-13 | 40-41 |
70 | 16-17 | 11-12 | 10-11 | 35-36 |
As CAT 2024 has concluded, let us look at the section-wise marks and the probable percentile for that. These would be crucial for candidates to understand how many CAT marks for the 99 percentile are needed in the CAT 2024 Slot 2.
CAT Percentile | CAT VARC Score | CAT LRDI | CAT QA Score | Overall CAT Score |
99 | 41-42 | 27-28 | 28-29 | 87 |
95 | 33-34 | 22-23 | 22-23 | 63 |
90 | 26-27 | 18-19 | 16-17 | 55-56 |
85 | 23-24 | 15-17 | 13-14 | 44-45 |
80 | 21-22 | 12-14 | 11-12 | 39-40 |
70 | 17-18 | 11-12 | 10-11 | 35-36 |
CAT Percentile | CAT VARC Score | CAT LRDI | CAT QA Score | Overall CAT Score |
99 | 39-40 | 32 | 33-35 | 90 |
95 | 31 | 24 | 24 | 72 |
90 | 26 | 19-20 | 21-22 | 60 |
One of the best ways to get an idea of how the CAT marks for the 99 percentile have differed over the years is to look at the scaled marks for the past year along with the scaled score of CAT 2024. This will also help the candidate to understand the difficulty level of the CAT 2024 compared to previous years.
CAT Percentile | Scaled Score 2022 | Scaled Score 2023 | Scaled Score 2024 |
100 CAT Percentile | 145.83 | 138.59 | To be Announced |
99.95 CAT Percentile | 115 | 106.95 | To be Announced |
99.90 CAT Percentile | 109.9 | 101.43 | To be Announced |
99.50 - CAT Percentile | 92.87 | 84.29 | To be Announced |
99 CAT Percentile | 83.64 | 76.02 | To be Announced |
98 CAT Percentile | 73.88 | 68.68 | To be Announced |
96.6 CAT Percentile | 65.40 | 59.99 | To be Announced |
95.5 CAT Percentile | 59.75 | 56.41 | To be Announced |
93 CAT Percentile | 53 | 52.35 | To be Announced |
90 CAT Percentile | 48.44 | 45.1690 CAT Percentile | To be Announced |
85 CAT Percentile | 41.32 | 42.29 | To be Announced |
80 CAT Percentile | 36.02 | 41.19 | To be Announced |
70 CAT Percentile | 28.5-29 | 38.94 | To be Announced |
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There are three sections in the CAT 2024 Examination- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). 68 questions will be divided into these three sections, each correct answer carrying 3 marks with them. The candidate would get 40 minutes for each of the section. Each section would contain several non-MCQ questions along with primarily MCQ questions.
Section | Number of Questions | Time Allotted | Marks (+3 for every correct answer and -1 for every wrong answer) |
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 24 | 40 | 72 |
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI ) | 22 | 40 | 66 |
Quantitative Aptitude (QA). | 22 | 40 | 66 |
Total | 68 | 120 | 204 |
Read Also: CAT 2024 Score Calculation: How Raw Score Converts to Scaled Score
New: CAT Score Calculator: Estimate Your Raw and Scaled Scores Instantly
Suggested: CAT 2024 Percentile Predictor: Estimate Your Percentile Instantly
To understand how many marks should one score in CAT 2024 to get the 99 percentile, one needs to understand the how raw score is calculated. The RAW CAT score is determined according to the following process-
Raw Score = 3 * (number of correct answers given by the candidate) - 1 * ( number of wrong answers given by the candidate)
Example: Let us assume that one of the applicants has attempted 58 questions out of 66 questions. Out of these, they have answered 48 correctly. Out of 10 wrong answers 8 wrong answers are from MCQ and 2 are from non-MCQ, so the RAW CAT Score would be
Attempted - 58
Correct- 48
MCQ incorrect- 8
Non-MCQ Incorrect 2
So Total = (48*3)- (8*1) = 136
Moreover being a competitive exam, the CAT also provides the percentile apart from the RAW CAT Score. Percentile shows how one candidate has scored better than other candidates. For instance, last year 76.02 marks fetched one a percentile of 99, which in turn implies that one candidate has scored better than the 99% of the appeared candidates. To calculate the percentile of one candidate, the following process is taken-
Percentile = [1-{One’s CAT Rank / Number of Candidates appeared for the test}] * 100
CAT Percentile Predictor can be a handy tool for the applicants to get a glimpse of what they can expect as a percentile. They need to calculate the RAW score and then put it in the calculator tool mentioned above, to get a sneak peak about the expected Percentile.
The difficulty level of the CAT exam varies each year. So the same number in different years can provide a higher or lower percentile depending upon the nature of the exam in that particular year. One can look into the raw marks of the candidates as well as the percentile of the last year to get an idea about what the section-good score or what section-wise score expectations might look like in CAT 2024, looking at the previous years.
Moreover, as the CAT Exam is conducted in different shifts, there are possibilities that some shifts might have difficult questions compared to the other shifts. So to bring parity between the different shifts, the CAT normalization process is initiated, keeping the difficulties of question in mind. CAT marks for the 99 percentile needed to be comprehended in this context of CAT normalization process:
Step 1: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in the morning session. Let Mean = M1 and SD = S1.
So G1 = M1 + S1.
Step 2: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in the afternoon session. Let Mean = M2 and SD = S2.
So G2= M2 + S2.
Step 3: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in the evening session. Let Mean = M3 and SD = S3 and G3 = M3 + S3.
Step 4: Calculate the mean and the standard deviation (SD) of the raw scores in the QA section for all candidates appearing in CAT (i.e. including all three sessions). Let Mean = M and SD = S and G = M + S.
Step 5: Calculate the mean raw score in the QA section of the top 0.1% candidates in the morning session and denote it by M10.1.
Step 6. Calculate the mean raw score in QA of the top 0.1% candidates in the afternoon session and denote it by M20.1.
Step 7. Calculate the mean raw score in QA of the top 0.1% candidates in the evening session and denote it by M30.1.
Step 8. Calculate the mean raw score in QA of the top 0.1% of candidates appearing in CAT (i.e. considering all three sessions) and denote it by M0.1
Now let's assume that ABC is a candidate who appeared for the CAT exam in the morning shift. ABC gained the Raw Score of R in the QA section. Then the scaled score of ABC is calculated by following this formula- 
A similar process is to be taken for the afternoon and the evening courses.
Similar Methods are taken to calculate marks for other sections as well.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The CAT 2024 Exam has three sections. The CAT VARC section will include 24 questions with a weightage of 72 marks. These will be followed by the DILR section and QA section. The DILR and QA sections comprise 22 and 22 questions, respectively, and with 66 marks.
Applicants can try the Careers360 Percentile to know their CAT percentile. Upon putting the CAT Raw score in the predictor tool.
The difficulty level of CAT 2024 was moderate to hard. However, with the proper preparation, the candidates will be able to clear it.
Looking at the past trends, scoring 120 will gain the candidate's 90 percentile. However, this score can vary according to the difficulty level of the examination each year.
To calculate the the CAT Raw Score one need to follow these steps
Raw Score = 3 * (number of correct answers given by the candidate) - 1 * ( number of wrong answers given by the candidate)
On Question asked by student community
Hello dear candidate,
Yes, you have a very good chance of getting a BPT seat with 488 out of 600 and TS EAMCET rank of 14,000 under the ST category.
As the cut off of BPT for ST category students are generally between 25,000 to 45,000 ranks, depending upon the college and you have TS EAMCET rank of 14,000.
Thank you.
If you got 802 marks in Telangana Intermediate and belong to the ST category, you have a fair chance to get admission in a BPT course in 2025, but it depends on the college and cut-off. Most BPT colleges in Telangana ask for 12th marks in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and some also use the TS EAMCET rank for admission. The cut-off for ST students is usually lower than for general students, but it changes every year. It is better to check the previous year’s cut-offs of the colleges you want to apply to.
Hello, Getting shortlisted for IIM Lucknow or IIT Bombay (SJMSOM) with your profile is challenging, primarily due to your 58% in Class 10th, which significantly impacts the composite score calculation for both institutes. While your 98 percentile CAT score is excellent, and your 24 months of work experience, B.Com (Hons) background (providing academic diversity, especially for IIM-L), and KVS National player status are valuable additions, top IIMs and IITs heavily weigh consistent academic performance. Your 74% in 12th is also on the lower side. IIM Lucknow places substantial weight on 10th and 12th marks, making a call quite difficult despite your strengths. You likely have a relatively better, though still uncertain, chance at IIT Bombay, as their weighting might be slightly less penalizing for past academics compared to IIM-L, and your high CAT score is a major factor. However, the low 10th score remains a significant hurdle for both prestigious institutions.
I hope you found this information helpful and for study related queries you can ask in careers360 app, Have a great day and!
Hey,
You already have a strong profile with the score of 58% in Class 10, 74% in Class 12, and 80% in graduation, but admission in IIT Bombay, Shailesh J Mehta School of Management is quite competitive, especially if you are in general category because the cutoff for general goes to 98.5-99%. Your CAT percentage is impressive but your 10th marks might reduce your score during the shortlisting process. If you perform well in Written Ability Test and Personal Interview, and present your commerce background you still stand a fair chance. But it would also be wise if you have some backups like MDI Gurugram, IMT Ghaziabad, IMI Delhi, where your marks and profile will fit well in their selection range.
HELLO,
I am providing you the link below through which you will be able to download the previous 10 years CAT question papers
Here is the link :- CAT Previous year Question papers
Hope this Helps!
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