IIM CAT Exam Result 2025 Live Updates: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode will likely announce the results by this week. On December 17, the Institute released the final answer key for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025. Candidates who appeared for the examination held on November 30 will soon be able to access the check and download their scorecards on the CAT website at iimcat.ac.in. Last year, the CAT result was declared on December 19.
The CAT 2025 final answer key was released following the release of the provisional keys and individual response sheets, which were made available on December 4. Along with the provisional keys, IIM Kozhikode had opened an online objection window from December 8 to December 10, allowing candidates from all three exam slots to challenge specific questions by submitting objections supported with explanations and documents.
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Once results are out, based on CAT scores and other eligibility criteria, the Indian Institutes of Management begin the shortlisting process for the next rounds of selection. Each IIM applies its own cut-offs, weightages, and shortlisting criteria, which may include academic background, work experience, gender or academic diversity, and past academic performance, apart from the CAT percentile.
Candidates who meet the shortlisting criteria are invited to participate in the selection rounds. These usually include a Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and/or Personal Interview (PI). In recent years, several IIMs have replaced GD with WAT and PI, though the exact process varies from institute to institute.
Once results are out, based on CAT scores and other eligibility criteria, the Indian Institutes of Management begin the shortlisting process for the next rounds of selection. Each IIM applies its own cut-offs, weightages, and shortlisting criteria, which may include academic background, work experience, gender or academic diversity, and past academic performance, apart from the CAT percentile.
The process has remained the same for several years now, and so has the document. The details of the process given in the document are slightly technical-sounding and are based on intimidating-looking formulas and expressions and can flummox a casual reader and the average CAT aspirant. But to help you make proper sense of all that the document says, we have simplified the content and made it intuitive and relatable. So read on to get a good understanding of what all the CAT does to equate and normalise your scores.
Firstly, the precise and concise statement that is shared in the document reads as follows: “The Normalisation process shall adjust for location and scale differences of score distributions across different forms.” Now, many so called experts have interpreted the terms ‘location’ and ‘scale’ in this cryptic-sounding statement to literally mean the different cities and the actual number of test-takers in different slots. However, such an interpretation is far removed from the intended meaning.
To grasp the correct meaning of these terms, one first needs to imagine a simple visual chart representing the scores of all the candidates in any section from any slot. Here, all possible marks (say, 0 to 100) are plotted along the horizontal axis and the number of students who scored each possible mark level are plotted along the vertical axis. This plot (for large enough populations) usually looks like what is called a bell curve – due to its similarity to a bell shape – or, mathematically, a normal curve.
The standard argument that a tough paper affects everyone equally does not fully apply to CAT, given that the exam is administered across multiple slots with different question papers taken by other groups of candidates.
With the CAT 2025 raw scores now available, it is clear that there was a slight but noticeable difference in the difficulty level of the paper both across slots and sections. But this variation in difficulty across slots and sections, though modest, is still meaningful and cannot be ignored from a candidate-impact perspective. The important point to remember is that such a difference is not unusual, and the CAT and other major entrance exams have a few standardised, scientific and well-accepted approaches which they employ post-exam to equate and normalise the scores.
A thick blanket of smog has engulfed parts of Northern India, leading to school closures, a hybrid mode of education, and winter vacations. In places like Delhi-NCR, districts of Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir, schools are closed for various reasons. Here is a list of states where schools are closed:
The authority is likely to announce the results by this week. Candidates who appeared for the examination held on November 30 will soon be able to access the check and download their scorecards on the CAT website at iimcat.ac.in. Last year, the CAT result was declared on December 19.
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode on December 17 released the final answer key for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025.
A total of 187 objections were received across three sections and three shifts in CAT 2025. Only one objection was accepted in the Quantitative Ability (QA) section held in the first session on the CAT 2025 exam day.
The standard argument that a tough paper affects everyone equally does not fully apply to CAT, given that the exam is administered across multiple slots with different question papers taken by other groups of candidates.
With the CAT 2025 raw scores now available, it is clear that there was a slight but noticeable difference in the difficulty level of the paper both across slots and sections. But this variation in difficulty across slots and sections, though modest, is still meaningful and cannot be ignored from a candidate-impact perspective. The important point to remember is that such a difference is not unusual, and the CAT and other major entrance exams have a few standardised, scientific and well-accepted approaches which they employ post-exam to equate and normalise the scores.
The most logical and impactful step towards such an attempt at equating and normalising the test scores is to try and minimise the very need for such an effort in the first place. In short, for any given section, the very design and development of the question paper for each slot is done in a manner so as to replicate the look, feel and difficulty level across slots as closely as possible.
Read More | CAT score vs percentile: How scoring, scaling and normalisation work
Professor PN Ram Kumar of IIM Kozhikode is the Convener for CAT 2025.
The CAT 2025 result website is iimcat.ac.in. The convenor of CAT 2025 had earlier urged the MBA aspirants to use only the official website — iimcat.ac.in — for all CAT-related activities. This is the sole authorised portal for the exam and has been consistently publicised across official channels, including leading national newspapers, the CAT convenor said.
Both are well-respected qualifications, both open doors to rewarding careers, and both are valued by employers. The difference isn’t just in the title, it’s in the approach, the experience, and the opportunities that follow.
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The application fees for CAT have risen by 31 per cent since 2021. On the opening day of the Winter Session of Parliament, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi raised a question to the Ministry of Education regarding the steep hike in CAT application fees. Owaisi informed the Lok Sabha that, as compared to CAT 2024, there has been an approximate increase of 5 per cent in the application fee of CAT 2025. This year’s exam was conducted on November 30, in three slots and was hosted by IIM Kozhikode.
Step 1: Go to the official website – iimcat.ac.in
Step 2: Click on the login button
Step 3: Enter credentials
Step 4: Click on submit to access the CAT scorecard
Step 5: Download and save the scorecard for future reference
No. The IIM CAT 2025 result will not be re-evaluated.
No, the CAT 2025 result date is not announced yet.
In order to ensure fairness and equity in comparison of performances of candidates across different test sessions in CAT 2025, the scores of candidates will be subjected to a process of normalisation. The normalisation process will adjust for location and scale differences of score distributions across different forms.
After normalisation across different forms, the scores will be further normalised across different sections. The scaled scores obtained by this process will be converted into percentiles for the purpose of shortlisting. For reporting purposes, scaled scores for each section (Section I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Section III: Quantitative Ability (QA)) and total along with the percentiles will be published. For normalisation across sections, the percentile equivalence will be used.
Across all three slots, CAT 2025 maintained a moderately difficult profile, slightly tougher than CAT 2024. While VARC remained broadly consistent and marginally easier in parts, DILR emerged as the most challenging section of the test this year. QA also oscillated toward the tougher side, particularly in Slot 3, which recorded the highest level of difficulty for the section.
Final assessment across sections (all slots combined):
VARC: Similar to CAT 2024 but marginally easier overall
DILR: Clearly more difficult than CAT 2024
QA: Similar to CAT 2024 but slightly more challenging
Last year, CAT was held on November 24. The provisional answer was published on December 3, and the candidates were given time till December 5 to raise objections. As many as 405 objections against the CAT 2024 provisional answer key were received across three sections and three shifts. Of the 2.93 lakh candidates who appeared for the exam last year, 1.07 lakh were female candidates, 1.86 lakh were male candidates and five were transgender candidates. The result was announced on December 19.
Initial student reactions from test centres suggest that the CAT 2025 Slot 1 paper that was “manageable but slightly more difficult” than last year’s Slot 1. This year’s test comprises 66 questions across Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA).
Candidates who meet the shortlisting criteria are invited to participate in the selection rounds. These usually include a Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and/or Personal Interview (PI). In recent years, several IIMs have replaced GD with WAT and PI, though the exact process varies from institute to institute.
According to data shared by IIM Kozhikode, approximately 2.58 lakh candidates appeared for the exam out of 2.95 lakh registered, eligible candidates. The overall attendance was around 86 per cent.
For candidates belonging to the General and EWS categories, the minimum overall cut-off has been set at 90 percentile, with 80 percentile required in each section. For NC-OBC candidates, the overall cut-off is 80 percentile, while SC, ST, and PwD candidates will require 60, 45 and 45 percentile, respectively to be considered qualified.
At the shortlisting stage, IIM Indore has continued its heavy emphasis on Class 12 performance, which carries a 25 per cent weightage, compared to 10 per cent for Class 10.
CAT sectional scores together account for 55 per cent weightage in the composite score used for shortlisting. Work experience carries a small weightage of three per cent, while the diversity factor adds another seven marks.
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The CAT 2025 conducting institute is IIM Kozhikode.
CAT 2025 was held on November 30. The provisional answer keys were released on December 4.
The official website of CAT is iimcat.ac.in.
CAT 2025 Results, Scorecards, Cut-offs LIVE UPDATES: After the completion of WAT, GD, and PI rounds, institutes prepare final merit lists. The final selection is based on a composite score that typically includes CAT performance, performance in interviews and written tests, academic record, work experience, and diversity factors.
