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    CAT 2025: How Much Marks to Target Section-Wise, Score vs Percentile, Expected Cutoff

    CAT 2025: How Much Marks to Target Section-Wise, Score vs Percentile, Expected Cutoff

    Malvika ChawlaUpdated on 15 Dec 2025, 05:28 PM IST

    CAT is one of the most competitive MBA entrance exams in India and serves as the gateway to admission to top MBA colleges in India, such as the IIMs, FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, MDI Gurgaon and several others. However, one of the biggest challenges for aspirants is understanding the relationship between the CAT score and the percentile. Since CAT is a scaled-score-based exam, the raw marks are converted into scaled scores and percentiles. This can vary each year depending on the exam’s difficulty. CAT 2025 exam is scheduled to be held on November 30. Candidates appearing for this MBA entrance must check out this article to know how much to target section-wise in the upcoming CAT 2025 exam, make sure you keep reading the article.

    This Story also Contains

    1. CAT 2025: How Much to Target Section-Wise
    2. CAT 2025 Slot-wise Score vs Percentile (Expected)
    3. CAT 2025 Section-wise Score vs percentile: IMS India
    4. What is CAT Percentile and How is it Calculated?
    5. CAT 2025 Normalisation and Slot Difficulty
    6. How to Plan Section-wise CAT Targets Effectively?
    7. Which Colleges Accept CAT 2025 Percentiles?
    CAT 2025: How Much Marks to Target Section-Wise, Score vs Percentile, Expected Cutoff
    CAT 2025: How Much Marks to Target Section-Wise, Score vs Percentile, Expected Cutoff

    CAT 2025: How Much to Target Section-Wise

    The CAT 2025 score vs percentile depends on the previous year’s analysis. The section-wise CAT 2025 score vs percentile (expected) data helps a candidate get an idea of both sectional cut-off and the overall cutoff required by them for MBA admissions 2026.

    CAT 2025 Slot-wise Score vs Percentile (Expected)

    Check out the following tables, which mention the CAT 2025 section-wise scores which all candidates must target (slot-wise) by iQuanta.

    CAT 2025 Slot 1 Sectional Cutoff

    CAT PercentileCAT VARCCAT DILRCAT QAOverall
    99.9 %ile544344120
    99.5 %ile443536100
    99 %ile40303288
    98 %ile35252775
    95 %ile30202165
    90 %ile24161654
    85 %ile20131345
    80 %ile18111140
    75 %ile159930


    CAT 2025 Slot 2 Section-wise cutoff

    CAT PercentileVARCDILRQAOverall
    99.9%ile544642121
    99.5%ile463834102
    99%ile41333190
    98%ile35282777
    95%ile30232067
    90%ile25161656
    85%ile21131347
    80%ile18111142
    75%ile159932
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    Slot 3 Section-wise cutoff fro CAT 2025

    CAT PercentileVARCDILRQAOverall
    99.9%ile544238115
    99.5%ile46363397
    99%ile41302885
    98%ile35272672
    95%ile30222065
    90%ile25171652
    85%ile21121242
    80%ile18101138
    75%ile158930
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    CAT 2025 Section-wise Score vs percentile: IMS India

    The CAT 2025 section-wise cutoff for each slot is mentioned in the following tables as per IMS India.

    Slot 1



    PercentileCAT VARC ScoreCAT DILR ScoreCAT QA ScoreCAT Overall
    99.9514648122
    99.5443940103
    9940343390
    9834313081
    9530262570
    9023191853
    8519151645
    8017131440
    7515111234
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    Slot 2



    CAT PercentileVARC ScoreDILR ScoreQA ScoreCAT Overall
    99.9524243115
    99.545353597
    9941302883
    9836272575
    9532232065
    9025171551
    8520131341
    8018111237
    7517101033


    Slot 3



    CAT Percentile CAT VARC Score CAT DILR ScoreCAT QA ScoreCAT Score
    99.9534445119
    99.5463737101
    9941323087
    9834292777
    9530242366
    9023181752
    8519151443
    8017121237
    7515111133

    What is CAT Percentile and How is it Calculated?

    The CAT percentile is the percentage of test takers a candidate has scored better than, not their percentage score. The CAT 2025 percentile is calculated by comparing a candidate’s rank to the total number of test takers. The final percentile score is rounded to two decimal places.

    For example, if a candidate has a 99th percentile, it means that their performance was better than 99 per cent of all the CAT test takers that year.

    The formula for calculating the CAT sectional as well as the overall CAT percentile for each candidate is provided below. For percentile calculation, the raw CAT scores of every candidate across the exam sessions are scaled to be marked on the same scale.

    CAT 2025 Normalisation and Slot Difficulty

    The CAT 2025 normalisation process is conducted to adjust scores across different exam slots. This is to ensure fairness due to potential variations in difficulty. This is a statistical process that uses the mean and standard deviation of each slot, which can be equated to a slightly higher scale score than a raw score from an easier slot.

    How to Plan Section-wise CAT Targets Effectively?

    The CAT exam is not just about overall percentile; it’s also about how well you perform in each section. To crack CAT 2025, one will need a section-wise strategy that will align with their strengths, weaknesses and target percentile.

    Take a look at the following table to understand the CAT 2025 exam structure and how one can plan section-wise CAT targets.

    Section

    Number of Questions

    Time Limit

    Type of Questions

    Marking Scheme

    VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension)

    24

    40 mins

    MCQs + TITA

    -3/-1

    DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning)

    20

    40 mins

    MCQs + TITA

    -3/-1

    QA (Quantitative Ability)

    22

    40 mins

    MCQs + TITA

    -3/-1

    Total

    66

    120 mins


    Which Colleges Accept CAT 2025 Percentiles?

    Take a look at the following table, which mentions the list of colleges that will fall under the required CAT 2025 percentiles.

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    Q: What marks is 99.9 percentile in CAT?
    A:

    A 99.9 percentile in the CAT exam will correspond to an overall score of approximately 102-106 marks, with the exact number varying slightly by year and slot. 

    Q: What is a safe score in CAT?
    A:

    A safe score in CAT will usually be between 90 and 98 and will be achieved with 72-84 raw marks. Such a percentile is appropriate for admissions to new IIMs and other B-schools as per the previous year's CAT cutoff. 

    Q: What percentile is 40 marks in CAT?
    A:

    A 40-mark score in CAT exam is estimated to be around 85 percentile. However, this can vary based on the exam’s difficulty and the number of test takers. 

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    Questions related to CAT

    On Question asked by student community

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    With a CAT 2025 percentile of 98.25, you have a good chance of receiving calls from several IIMs, particularly newer IIMs. However, IIM Ahmedabad , Bangalore , Calcutta , and Lucknow generally require higher percentiles for General-category candidates. Calls also depend on sectional percentiles, academics, work experience, and

    Hello Aspirant,

    Yes, you can access CAT preparation resources, including mock tests, practice questions, previous-year papers, and study material. Explore the CAT preparation resources and test series using the link below:

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