CAT 2026 Exam Date, Notification & Registration: The Complete Timeline

If you are targeting an IIM or a top MBA programme in 2027, the single most important date on your calendar is the CAT exam. CAT 2026 is scheduled for Sunday, 29 November 2026. It is a computer-based test lasting 2 hours (120 minutes), and knowing the full timeline around it lets you plan your preparation with far less anxiety. This guide walks through every milestone in the cycle, from notification to result, and shows you how to convert those dates into a concrete study and application plan.

The one date that anchors everything

CAT 2026 will be held on 29 November 2026 as a single-day, computer-based test. The exam runs for 120 minutes total and is split into three sections in a fixed order: VARC, then DILR, then QA. Each section is exactly 40 minutes and is hard-locked, meaning you cannot move between sections or return to a previous one. Everything else in your timeline should be organised backwards from this date.

CAT is conducted by the IIMs each year, with one of the older IIMs taking charge of that year's cycle. Because the conducting institute rotates, always rely on the official CAT website for notifications rather than second-hand summaries. A rotating organiser also means the look of the official site, the exact wording of the notification and minor procedural details can change slightly from year to year, so treat every announcement as fresh rather than assuming last year's process repeats verbatim.

The full CAT 2026 timeline at a glance

The dates below reflect the confirmed exam date and the typical windows for the surrounding events. Confirm every provisional item against the official notification the moment it is published.

Notification and registration: what to expect

The formal CAT notification is typically released a few months before the exam, followed by an online registration window that usually stays open for several weeks. During registration you create an account, fill in academic and personal details, upload documents, select preferred test cities, choose the IIM programmes you wish to apply to, and pay the fee. Registration closes well before the exam, so treat the announced deadline as firm.

Because exact dates for the notification and registration window are announced by the conducting IIM each year, verify them on the official site the moment they are published. Do not wait for the last day to register; server load and document issues tend to cause avoidable stress.

What you need ready before you register

Registration goes faster and cleaner when your materials are prepared in advance. Assemble the following before the window even opens:

• A valid email address and mobile number you check daily, used for all official communication.
• A recent passport-size photograph and scanned signature meeting the specified dimensions and file size.
• Class 10, Class 12 and graduation mark sheets for entering percentages accurately.
• Category or disability certificates, if you are applying under a reserved category.
• A working payment method for the registration fee, with a backup option in case the first fails.
• A shortlist of preferred test cities in order of priority, since seats in popular centres fill early.

Step-by-step through the registration form

Most aspirants have never filled a national-level form before, so it helps to know the sequence in advance:

1. Sign up: Register with your name exactly as it appears on official documents, then verify your email and phone.
2. Personal and academic details: Enter your qualifications and percentages carefully; a single mistyped figure can complicate later verification.
3. Document upload: Upload the photograph and signature in the required format; a mismatched or blurred image is a common rejection cause.
4. Programme and city selection: Choose your test cities and the IIM programmes you want to apply to.
5. Fee payment: Pay the fee and save the confirmation; keep a screenshot and the transaction reference.

Register in the first week the window opens, not the last. Early registration gives you the widest choice of test cities and a buffer to fix any document rejection.

Are you eligible to apply?

The eligibility criteria are straightforward:

• A bachelor's degree with at least 50% aggregate (45% for SC, ST and PwD candidates).
• Final-year students may apply and appear, subject to completing their degree.
• There is no upper age limit.
• There is no cap on the number of attempts.

This means CAT is open to fresh graduates, final-year students and working professionals alike. If you are in your final year, keep in mind that admission is provisional until you produce proof of graduation, so stay on top of your degree requirements alongside your CAT preparation.

The admit card and test-day essentials

The admit card is usually released around October, a few weeks before the exam. Download it as soon as it is available and check every field against your documents: your name, photograph, category, allotted slot, reporting time and the exact centre address. Errors on the admit card are far easier to resolve weeks in advance than on the morning of the exam.

Once you have the admit card, plan the practical side of test day:

• Do a trial run to the centre if it is unfamiliar, so travel time on the day holds no surprises.
• Note the reporting time, which is typically well before the exam start, and plan to arrive with a buffer.
• Carry a printed admit card and a valid photo identity document as specified in the instructions.
• Read the day's dress and prohibited-items guidelines in advance to avoid last-minute problems at security.

Treating the admit card as a checklist rather than a formality removes a whole category of avoidable exam-day stress.

A sensible preparation timeline

Working backwards from 29 November 2026, a practical structure looks like this:

1. Foundation phase: Build concepts across all three sections and fix your fundamentals in Quant and Verbal.
2. Application phase: Move from learning concepts to solving varied problem sets and improving accuracy under mild time pressure.
3. Mock phase: In the final stretch, shift the centre of gravity to full-length mocks. This is where you learn section-wise time management within the 40-minute hard locks.

The mock phase matters more than most aspirants realise. CAT rewards not just knowledge but decision-making under a ticking clock. The habit of taking full-length mocks and analysing them on MBA CATalyst helps you see which questions to attempt, which to leave, and how your accuracy holds up across sections.

A worked example: reverse-planning from the exam date

Suppose you begin serious preparation in July 2026. That leaves roughly five months. A workable split is to spend the first two months on foundations, the next two on application and topic-wise drilling, and the final month heavily on mocks. If instead you start in September, you compress foundations into a few weeks and start mocks earlier, accepting that you will patch weak concepts through mock analysis rather than upfront study. The point is not a single correct plan but the discipline of counting backwards from 29 November and giving the final four to six weeks to full-length testing no matter when you start.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Waiting for the last day to register, then losing your preferred test city or hitting payment failures.
• Mistyping academic percentages, which can trigger verification problems at later admission stages.
• Ignoring the admit card details, such as reporting time and centre address, until the night before.
• Treating the result as the finish line, when shortlisting, written tests and interviews still lie ahead.
• Relying on rumours and forums for dates instead of the official notification.

Turning dates into an admissions plan

Remember that the exam is only one step. After results, shortlisted candidates go through further selection rounds conducted by individual institutes, which may include written ability tests and interviews. Keep your academic documents and category certificates organised early so that later stages are smooth. Many strong scorers underperform in the final rounds simply because they treated the November exam as the end of the journey rather than the middle of it.

The candidates who feel calm on 29 November are almost always the ones who reverse-engineered their calendar months in advance.

The takeaway: mark the exam date, watch for the official notification, register early, confirm your eligibility, and let a disciplined mock schedule carry you into the final weeks. A clear timeline is the quiet advantage that separates prepared aspirants from anxious ones, and it costs you nothing but a little foresight to build.