Great Lakes - PGDM & PGPM Admissions 2026
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CAT Admit Card Date:05 Nov' 25 - 30 Nov' 25
How to Calculate Work Experience For CAT 2025 - CAT work experience 2025 is calculated as the sum of the days worked till July 31, 2025 (-minus) number of days of breaks. The CAT work experience 2025 tab automatically calculates the CAT 2025 work experience of the candidate by counting the days between July 31, 2025, and the day they have joined the industry after completing their graduation. Once the IIM work experience 2026 is calculated in days, the work ex is then converted into months. Based on the CAT form work experience 2025 details, IIM work experience points will be given to the candidates for the IIM selection 2025. However, it is important to note that for the CAT work experience calculation, only the full-time work experience after graduation is considered. The last date for CAt 2025 registartion is September 13, 2025.
 
                The CAT 2025 work experience calculation is done in several steps.
CAT 2025 work experience = sum of the days worked till July 31, 2025 - number of days of breaks
IIM work experience criteria for BLACKI range between 0-10%. On the other hand, Baby IIMs and New IIMs give 10-20% weightage to the CAT work experience criteria. The weightage of the CAT form work experience differs across the different IIMs. Here is the complete breakdown of the credit points given to the candidates for their work experience during the IIM Selection 2025.
| Top IIMs in India 2025 | IIMs Credit Point on the Work Experience | 
| 8% | |
| Less Than 12 months : 0 | |
| 5% (IIM Bangalore Final Selection) | |
| 5% | |
| 5% | |
| 0% | |
| Less Than 12 months : 0 | |
| 15% | |
| 0 to ≤ 12 Months = 0 | |
| 9% | |
| 12 | |
| Less than 12 months = 0 12 months to less than 18 months 8 18 months to less than 24 months = 12 42 months to less than 48 months = 2 48 months or more = 0 | |
| 10 | |
| 10 | |
| Less than 6 months = 0 | |
| 16% | |
| x< = 12 = 0 | |
| 15% | |
| 15% | |
| 20% | 
The IIM work experience weightage can differ from 0-20% based on various IIMS. So, if you are wondering whether work experience is necessary for CAT or not, you should know that CAT work experience is not a mandatory criterion as per the CAT 2025 notification.
However, candidates having CAT work experience would get additional IIM work experience points based on the number of days they have worked a full-time job after their graduation. In previous years IIM Lucknow freshers percentage was 35.24% while 30% of the IIM Indore batch size consisted of freshers.
In the last few years, Baby IIMs MBA admissions witnessed around 40-70% of the students with 0 work experience get into MBA courses. So if you have no work experience for CAT, you might have a chance to get into Baby IIMs.
However, CAT work experience provides an edge to get into prominent IIMs like IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad, and IIM Indore etc. In the previous year, IIM Calcutta admitted 70% students with more than 12 months of work experience. Similarly, in 2025, 73% of the IIM Bangalore PGP students had the IIM work experience of more than 12 months.
Hence, though CAT work experience is not mandatory to apply for IIMs or top B-Schools, IIM work experience plays a significant role in getting into the top. Freshers or Candidates with 0 work experience can apply for the CAT. However, if the candidates have any work experience, they should fill out the CAT form for work experience 2025.
There is no minimum work experience for CAT 2025. Freshers or candidates with 0 work experience can apply for CAT 2025. However, ideal work experience for IIMs is between 12-36 months to get into the top IIMs in India. From the above discussion, it became evident that having IIM work experience for the CAT provides the CAT 2025 aspirants an upper hand, as CAT work experience weightage is given during the IIM interview 2026 or the IIM selection process. Now, as IIM work experience weightage varies according to IIMs, here is the minimum CAT work experience table for IIMs for which they can get work experience points in the IIM selection process.
| IIMs in India 2025 | Minimum CAT work experience to get IIM work experience points for different IIMs | 
| Between 6 to 24 months | |
| Between 12 to 36 months | |
| Between 0 to 36 months | |
| More than 6 Months | |
| Between 12 to 36 months | |
| IIM Lucknow | More than 6 months Minimum points = min {(x-24)8.50, 10} | 
| Between 12 Months to 24 Months Minimum Points = 5 | |
| 12 months to less than 18 months | |
| Between 6 to 12 months | |
| Between 12 to 8 months Minimum Points 4 | 
If 6 months of work experience is enough for IIM depends on the IIMs. Candidates with 6 months of CAT work experience would get 2 points in IIM Calcutta admission criteria, while in IIM Kozhikode, only if candidates have work experience of atleast more than 6 months, they would get 0.017. In the case of IIM Bangalore, candidates with 6 months of CAT work ex would get less than 0.5 per cent of marks. So, looking at the scenarios, 6 months of work experience might not be enough for IIM BLACKI. However, 6 months of experience can also play a role in the overall CAT profile of the candidates, where IIM work experience criteria can be anything between 10-20%.
No apprenticeship is not considered as work experience in CAT 2025. Only the work experience which is gained after the completion of graduation will be considered at the CAT 2025 work experience. It must be noted that CAT work experience would only be counted till July 31, 2025, for IIM admission 2026.
IIM check the CAT work experience of the management aspirants via any or more than any of the following means. IIM check the CAT work experience of the management aspirants via
Salary Slips
Bank statements
Income tax return
DIPP certificate of
Checking with the HR of the
CAT from work experience, end date is July 31, 2025. Therefore, students filling out the CAT form for work experience should count their IIM exam work experience till July 31, 2025. Once the candidate fills the CAT form work ex. till the CAT work experience end date, the CAT application work experience tab will automatically calculate the number of days for the CAT work experience 2025. Candidates can fill out multiple CAT forms work experience in a single application, but the CAT exam work experience will only be counted till July 31, 2025. Moreover, the CAT exam work experience needs to be filled in chronological order, as mentioned earlier, where the latest CAT exam work experience will be the first.
Admissions Open | Globally Recognized by AACSB (US) & AMBA (UK) | 17.8 LPA Avg. CTC for PGPM 2025
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
IIM Sirmaur, IIM Amritsar, and IIM Bodh Gaya have the lowest fees as compared to other IIMs.
The CAT work experience end date is July 31, 2025.
Looking at the trends, anything between 12-24 months of work experience is ideal for CAT.
The work experience is verified through the pertinent documents in CAT
Yes. CAT considers work experience.
The work experience in the CAT form will be entered after filling in the previous two sections. Personal details and the academic section.
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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