As per the recent notification, 2.58 Lakhs candidates appeared for the CAT 2025. This is almost 35 thousand less than that of previous years. At the same time, 2.95 lakh candidates were registered for CAT 2025 this year, which is also 34 thousand fewer candidates than last year. The overall CAT 2025 attendance was approximately 87.46%. MBA aspirants who wish to do management courses in the top reputed B-schools like IIMs, IITs, or any other private and public universities were required to appear for the CAT exam on November 30. The CAT is one of the most important MBA entrance exams every MBA aspirant attends. Explore the article to learn more about how many students take the CAT exam every year.
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The total number of students successfully registered for CAT 2025 is 2.95 Lakhs. The CAT 2025 was conducted by IIM Kozhikode on November 30, 2025. The number of CAT registrations 2025 and the total count of students participating in the CAT exam are mentioned here.
Total CAT 2025 Registrations | 2. 95 Lakh |
Number of students attending the CAT 2025 exam | 2.58 Lakhs |
| % of students attended CAT 2025 | 87.46% |
Last year, IIM Calcutta conducted the CAT 2024 entrance, and 2.93 lakh candidates appeared for the CAT out of 3.29 lakh registrations. Check out the last five years' CAT exam attendance to understand how the trends have changed this year.
Year | CAT Conducting IIMs | Total CAT registrations | Total Students Appeared for the CAT exam |
| 2024 | IIM Calcutta | 3.29 Lakhs | 2.93 Lakhs |
2023 | IIM Lucknow | 3.28 lakhs | 2.88 lakh |
2022 | IIM Bangalore | 2.55 lakhs | 2.22 lakh |
2021 | IIM Ahmedabad | 2.30 lakhs | 1.90 lakh |
2020 | IIM Indore | 2.30 lakhs | 1.90 lakh |
The total number of colleges accepting CAT scores is around 1000+. There are 21 IIMs, 8 IITs, and other premium B-schools run by public or private. Candidates will be called for a written test, GD, or PI for the final selection, based on their performance in the CAT exam. Top MBA colleges accepting CAT results are mentioned in the tables below.
Table below contains the list of IIMs along with their fees and number of seats for the MBA admissions 2026. The seats and fees are subject to change as per the latest admission policy of each IIM.
IIMs Accepting CAT | Number of Seats | IIM Fee |
402 | Rs. 25 lakh | |
535 | Rs. 24.50 lakh | |
475 | Rs. 31 lakh | |
576 | Rs. 14.16 lakh | |
375 | Rs. 20.50 lakh | |
489 | Rs. 16 lakh | |
- | Rs. 21 lakh | |
262 | Rs. 17.30 lakh | |
257 | Rs. 17.9 lakh | |
326 | Rs. 8.85 lakh | |
316 | Rs. 10 lakh | |
297 | Rs. 10.34 lakh | |
- | Rs. 11.5 lakh | |
| 250 | - | |
314 | Rs. 14.20 lakh | |
463 | Rs. 13.15 lakh | |
395 | Rs. 19 lakh | |
330 | Rs. 13.25lakh | |
356 | Rs. 12.10lakh | |
344 | Rs. 12 lakh |
Apart from IIMs, IITs are also known for their MBA courses, IIT colleges with their number of seats for management course are mentioned in the following table.
IITs Offering MBA Admission | Total Seat Intake |
115 | |
152 | |
200 | |
70 | |
95 | |
92 | |
78 |
Apart from IIMs and IITs, the list of colleges accepting the 90-100 percentile of CAT scores is listed below.
Best MBA colleges accepting CAT percentile 90-100 | Course Fees |
Rs. 2.45 Lakhs | |
Rs. 24.16 lakh | |
Institute of Management Technology (Ghaziabad) | Rs. 19.53 lakh |
Rs. 20 lakh | |
Rs. 2 lakh | |
Rs. 24 lakh | |
SDA Bocconi Mumbai | Rs. 20 lakh |
The total number of seats available at IIMs is around 7500 and for IITs, it is 760. The majority of the MBA colleges in India accept the CAT marks for management course admissions. The total number of MBA seats available in India is 15000+. Candidates who achieve CAT cutoff marks above the 90 percentile can join any of the top B-schools in India.
Check out: IIM vs IIT MBA: Which one to choose?
Around 2 to 3 lakh candidates appear for the CAT exam every year. The difficulty level of the CAT exam is higher to select the eligible candidates based on their logical, analytical, mathematical, and language skills. So, the success rate of the CAT exam is only 2 percent. This means only 2 candidates out of 100 will clear the CAT exam with decent scores.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Around 2. 95 lakh applicants who completed the 3 year's bachelor's degree from an approved university have applied for the CAT 2025 exam.
The success rate of the CAT exam is nearly 2%, which means only 2 out of every 100 students clear the CAT exam.
Around 2.93 lakh candidates appeared for CAT 2024 out of 3.29 lakh registered candidates.
Looking at past years' trends, approximately 2 to 3 lakh candidates appear for the CAT exam every year.
On Question asked by student community
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
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