Who Will Conduct CAT 2026: Analysis Based on Previous Year CAT Conducting IIMs

Students can check the data given below which represents the IIMs which conducted CAT exam in the previous years. This will give them a clear idea about which IIM could possibly conduct the CAT 2026 exam.

Here we can see that a consistent pattern is being followed by the CAT conducting bodies. Every year, a different IIM conducts the CAT examination. We can see that for the past 5 years a different IIM out of the 6 has conducted CAT. Hence, we can anticipate that IIM Indore can be the CAT 2026 conducting IIM.

CAT Conducting IIM Selection Criteria

Every year, the CAT conducting duty is given to a different IIM out of the 6 senior most IIMs in India. These include IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Kozhikode and Indore. The CAT conducting IIM changes every year to ensure a fair CAT conducting process for everyone as each IIM sets a different difficulty level of the CAT examination. Last year we surveyed around 5000 CAT appearing students who gave consistent responses with CAT 2025 conducted by IIM Kozhikode being tougher than CAT 2024 conducted by IIM Calcutta.

CAT 2026 Exam Overall Difficulty Prediction

Given below is the Score vs Percentile comparison of the CAT exams conducted by different IIMs in the past 6 years. IIM Indore conducted the CAT 2020 exam. We can compare the score vs percentile of CAT examination conducted by different IIMs to find out what can be the difficulty of CAT 2026 based on previous trends.

After comparing the previous 6 year trends of CAT score vs percentile, we can conclude that CAT 2026 exam can go easier as compared to other years as IIM Indore is known to conduct comparatively easier CAT exams. The highest score was achieved to get a certain percentile when CAT was conducted by IIM Indore in 2020. Hence, we can predict a similar pattern this year as well.

Read More- How to Prepare For CAT 2026: Step by Step Strategy and More

What Happens to the Exam Difficulty Level When This IIM Conducts CAT 2026?

Based on the previous CAT exams conducted by IIM Indore, we can conclude the overall exam difficulty to range from easy to moderate. However, the sectional-wise difficulty level can be different based on the sections. Students can refer to the sectional-wise analysis of the pattern followed by IIM Indore white setting up the CAT exam. On the basis of this, we can predict the section-wise level of difficulty of CAT 2026.

CAT 2026 Section-Wise Difficulty Level Analysis (Expected)

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

The difficulty level of VARC section set by IIM Indore is usually easy to moderate where RCs can be easy to crack but the TITA (Type in The Answer) questions can be quite ambiguous. For targeting 99 percentile in VARC, candidates need to target around 14 correct questions.

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

For CAT 2026, we can expect the DILR section to be moderate to difficult as IIM Indore mostly leans towards calculation-heavy DI sets and multi-step reasoning. To be on the safer side, candidates need to target 2 DILR sets with 100% accuracy.

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

The difficulty level of the QA section can vary from moderate to difficult as IIM Indore is known to set the QA section comparatively tougher than the other 2 sections. With high weightage given to arithmetic, algebra and geometry are given almost equal weightage by IIM Indore. Attempting simple arithmetic questions with 3-4 correct answers from algebra, geometry and modern math can make up a good score in QA.

Why The CAT 2026 Conducting IIM Matters?

CAT conducting IIMs have played a major role in predicting the CAT exam pattern and the difficulty level of the exam. Looking at the recent years data, IIM Lucknow has raised the difficulty bar by conducting the most difficult CAT exam in 2023. After interviewing numerous CAT taking candidates in 2023, we concluded that IIM Lucknow prepared the most difficult QA section in 2023 where the questions were twisted in the most confusing ways. The students said they saw a new level of difficulty in the QA section where 90 percentile in QA was achieved at just 11 marks.

Read more- CAT 2023 Question Paper PDF with Solutions

On the other hand, students saw a different exam pattern in 2024 as they found the overall level of difficulty of CAT 2024 to be comparatively less compared to the previous years. Similarly, every year the IIMs use different strategies to set the exam and change the level of difficulty.

Final Conclusion

Based on the consistent previous trends, CAT 2026 is most likely to be conducted by IIM Indore. IIM Indore is known to conduct CAT exams with an easy to moderate level of difficulty. Hence, we can see the CAT 2026 to be comparatively easy. This means that candidates might be required to score high marks to achieve their desired percentile. Also, the final normalisation of the CAT scores will be done based on the CAT 2026 slot difficulty level. Hence, candidates need to prepare well for CAT 2026 to get their desired IIM.