CAT 2024 Eligibility Criteria - Minimum Qualification, Age Limit, Reservation

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2024 - CAT Exam is one of the most popular MBA Entrance Exams conducted in India for admission to MBA and PGDM programs offered by various renowned colleges and universities. These colleges include 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, and IITs. The foremost requirement to take the Common Admission Test is to fulfil the CAT Exam qualification. As the exam is conducted by IIMs on a rotational basis, this year the CAT 2024 is being conducted by IIM Lucknow. IIM Lucknow has released CAT official notification along with the CAT Exam Eligibility on its official website. A valid score in CAT will allow candidates to be eligible to apply for most of the best Business Schools in India.

Candidates who wish to appear in the CAT Entrance Exam for MBA Course must stand eligible as per the CAT 2024 Eligibility Criteria. According to the Eligibility Criteria for CAT 2024, candidates must satisfy a few factors set up by the conducting body of CAT. This article enlists all the basic minimum qualification for CAT Exam fulfilling which candidates will be considered eligible to take the exam.

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2024

According to the CAT 2024 Exam Eligibility, candidates with a bachelor's degree or its equivalent securing at least 50% marks in aggregate from a recognized university can apply for and appear in CAT 2024. Candidates belonging to the reserved categories (SC/ST/PwD) must secured at least 45% marks in aggregate. Those willing to apply for the exam and take it must check the eligibility of CAT Exam before applying or preparing for the exam. In case they fulfil the criteria, they can apply for the exam.

Below mentioned are the requirements candidates must fulfil in order to be eligible-

• Bachelor's degree in any field or its equivalent from a recognized university.
• Secure at least 50% marks (45% marks for SC/ST/PwD category candidates) in aggregate.
• In final year of bachelor's degree. In this case, candidates will be required to submit the certificate of completion of degree signed by the principal or registrar of their university.

CAT 2024 Exam Date

IIM Bangalore has recently released the exam date of CAT 2024 on CAT official website – iimcat.ac.in. Candidates who are interested in taking CAT Exam 2024 and stand eligible for the exam must be aware of the CAT 2024 Exam Dates. IIM Bangalore has announced CAT Registration Date, CAT Admit Card Release Date, CAT 2024 Exam Date, etc.

CAT 2024 Eligibility Criteria

Students can find the detailed CAT 2024 Eligibility on the official website of CAT – iimcat.ac.in. Some of the points regarding the academic details which form part of the CAT Exam Eligibility are also mentioned below and these points are further explained in this article:

• CAT Exam Eligibility with respect to the educational background.
• CAT Eligibility Criteria for final year students.
• CAT Eligibility Criteria for students with backlogs.
• CAT Exam Eligibility and CAT Reservation Details.

Before moving forward to the CAT Exam Eligibility details, students must be aware of “What is CAT Exam?” and “What CAT Exam is conducted for?”.

What is CAT Exam?

Common Admission Test (CAT) is a computer based online test conducted for admission to the Top MBA Colleges in India. CAT is conducted annually by one of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) on a rotational basis. The CAT Question Paper is primarily divided in three sections namely Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC). Before appearing in the exam, CAT Aspirants must also check the CAT Exam Pattern and the latest and updated CAT Syllabus. This will help candidates preparing for the exam accordingly.  

CAT 2024 will be conducted on 24 November 2024 and the CAT Result 2024 will tentatively be published during the third week of January 2025.

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2024 – Educational Qualification

The exam conducting body i.e. IIM Lucknow has mentioned all the academic qualifications and marks that candidates must secure in order to appear in the CAT Exam.

CAT 2024 Eligibility Criteria

Note* Candidates in their final year of graduation must submit the certificate from the Registrar or Principal of the college. The certificate must state that the candidate must fulfil all the requirements for the equivalent qualification on the date when the certificate is issued.

CAT 2024 Eligibility Criteria for Students with Backlogs

Students with any academic backlogs in their bachelor's education are usually confused about if they can register for and take CAT Exam.  It should be noted that these CAT Aspirants who have academic backlogs can apply for the exam and register for CAT 2024 without any issues. Candidates who secure at least 50% marks in aggregate (45% for SC/ST/PwD category) in the degree. While filling the CAT 2024 Registration Form, select “Yes” to the question “Are you in your final year of bachelor's degree?”.

IIM CAT 2024 Eligibility – Reservation Criteria

Each IIM will have its own and individual IIM Selection Criteria for MBA/PGDM Admission 2022-23. They follow the reservation guidelines defined by the Government of India. In order to get details on CAT Exam Eligibility for OBC, MBC, SC, ST, PwD, and General candidates, go through the table below:

IIM CAT Reservation Criteria

Candidates belonging to these above-mentioned categories must ensure that they upload their caste certificates during CAT Registration and bring a photocopy of the same at the time of document verification.

Students belonging to the PwD category must bring a PwD certificate that has been issued by a competent authority. Below mentioned are the several types of disability categories accepted under PwD reservations:

• Blindness or Partial blindness
• Hearing disabilities
• Locomotor disabilities (dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, and acid attack victims)
• Other disabilities such as autism, any mental illness, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, etc.

PwD category candidates are advised to go through the Section 39 of PwD Act 1995 and check the list of all the disabilities accepted under this category. Candidates applying for the specified category must possess at least 40% of disability as certified by any medical authority.

CAT 2024 Eligibility – Minimum CAT Score Required (CAT Marks Calculation)

The calculation of marks for CAT Exam qualification is mentioned below:

• MBA Colleges follow their own criteria for calculation marks on graduation. The CAT Exam Marks calculation will be based on this process only.
• In case the university awards grades or CGPA and not marks, the marks will then be converted into percentage by using the conversion method provided by the university.
• In case the university has no methodology for converting the marks into percentage, then it will be done through the direct conversion.
• In this case the candidates will have to divide the achieved CGPA by the highest CGPA possible and multiply the result with 100.

Who is Ineligible for the CAT Exam?

• Candidates with no bachelor's degree or who failed in their graduation.
• Candidates with less than 50% marks in their graduation (45% for SC/ST/PwD category students).
• Candidates pursuing both bachelor's and professional degree and have not completed any of these yet.
• Bachelor's degree from a university not recognized by UGC, AICTE, or MHRD.

CAT Exam Eligibility – Work Experience Requirement

The most common questions asked about this is ‘Is work experience important to apply for CAT Exam?' and the answer to this question is ‘NO'. CAT Aspirants are often sceptical of if they should have some work experience or not. Below are the points that candidates must consider:

• Candidates applying for the CAT Entrance Exam are not required to possess any prior work experience.
• CAT Application Form has a section of work experience which is not mandatory to be filled.
• Work Experience has some weightage in the later stage of the CAT Admission Process in IIMs. However, not having a work experience is not going to affect CAT Scores or your chances of IIM Admission.