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CAT Eligibility 2022: Check CAT Age Limit, Qualification, Marks, & Reservation

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Content Writer | Updated On - Aug 1, 2022

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2022 is that the candidate must have completed a graduation with a minimum of 50% marks. Also, 5% relaxation in qualifying marks will be given to reserved category candidates.

Candidates in the final year of graduation are also allowed to complete CAT 2022 Registration. Moreover, there is no age limit to appear for the exam.
Also, candidates with the reserved category can take the benefit of reservation policy while filling the online application form. Check CAT 2022 Reservation

Table of Contents

CAT Eligibility 2022 Highlights
CAT Eligibility: Age Limit
CAT Eligibility: Educational Qualification
3.1 CAT Eligibility: Degrees
3.2 CAT Eligibility: Marks Calculation
CAT Eligibility for Final Year Students
CAT Eligibility V/s IIMs Eligibility
CAT Reservation 2022
6.1 Caste Based Reservation Policy
CAT Eligibility 2022 FAQs

CAT Eligibility 2022 Key Highlights

Abbreviation	Common Admission Test
CAT Conducting Body	Indian Institute of Management
CAT Minimum Educational Qualification	Bachelors Degree
CAT Minimum Marks	50% (General and NC/OBC)
Relaxation	5% for reserved categories
CAT Age Limit	None

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2022: Age Limit

There is no upper and lower limit criteria prescribed by the authority.

Criteria	Details
Upper Age Limit	Not Applicable
Lower Age Limit	Not Applicable

CAT Eligibility: Educational

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2022: Educational Qualification

Here is the minimum Educational Qualifications for CAT:

The candidate should have completed his/her Bachelor’s degree program in any stream from a recognized university or have an equivalent qualification that is recognized by the Ministry of HRD, India.
For general and NC-OBC category candidates, the minimum percentage required in the bachelor’s degree is 50%.
Candidates from the reserved categories must attain a minimum aggregate percentage of 45% in the bachelor's program.
For candidates who are awarded grades or CGPA, the conversion of grades or CGPA will be according to the process certified by the university/ institute.
Candidates in the final year of the program or awaiting their results can also apply. In such cases, a candidate will have to submit a certificate issued by the Principal/Registrar of the College/Institution latest by the specified date. The certificate should state that the candidate has completed the requirements of the course.

The academic qualification details of CAT Eligibility are tabulated below:

Qualification	University	Pass Percentage
Engineering Degree – B. Tech/ B.E.	Recognized by MHRD/ UPSC/AICTE	50% (45% for SC, ST, PWD candidates)
Bachelor’s Degree from any University	Recognized by UGC	50% (45% for SC, ST, PWD candidates)
Students who are pursuing the final year of their Bachelor’s degree can also take the examination.	Continuing graduation from University Recognized by MHRD/ UPSC/AICTE or UGC	50% (45% for SC, ST, PWD candidates)
CA/CS/ICWA/Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India (FIAI)	Recognized by MHRD/ UPSC/AICTE	50% (45% for SC, ST, PWD candidates)

CAT Eligible Degrees

There are certain degrees that are considered equivalent to a bachelor's degree. Candidates who possess or are pursuing any of these degrees are also eligible to appear for CAT 2022. The equivalent qualifications valid for appearing in CAT are listed below:

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Technology of 4-years duration completed after 10+2 or Post B.Sc. or Post Diploma.
A degree equivalent to a bachelor's degree in Engineering and Technology of Professional Societies recognized by MHRD/UPSC/AICTE such as AMIE by Institution of Engineers, India or AMICE by Institute of Civil Engineers of India.
Qualification is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree recognized by the Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi.
Candidates with CA/CS/ICWA degree (Gen: 50% & SC/ST/ PWD: 45%) can also apply.
A candidate with any other qualification not listed here can also apply, but they will have to produce an equivalency certificate issued by the Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi.

CAT Eligibility: Marks Calculation

As the respective Institutes or universities from which candidates have passed their graduation follow their own practice to calculate aggregate marks, percentage calculation in CAT will be based on that.

Note 1: A recognized university is one that is constituted by an Act of the Central or State Legislature. It also includes any university or institute which is established by an act of Parliament or is declared as deemed to be a University under Section 3 of the UGC Act of 1956.
Note 2: In the case of Universities that award grades or CGPA, but do not have a procedure for conversion of grades to the percentage, the equivalent percentage will be calculated by the given process:
- Candidate’s CGPA/Maximum CGPA) X 100 = Equivalent Percentage

Must Read News

CAT Eligibility 2022 for Final Year Students

The eligibility criteria for CAT is graduation, although final year students of various bachelor's degree courses can also take the test. However, a candidate will be admitted into a course only if he clears graduation with at least 50% marks. IIMs and other management institutes verify CAT eligibility at various stages of the selection process. After taking CAT 2022, shortlisted candidates must follow the following instructions-

They must show an original certificate from the Principal/Head of the Department/Registrar/Director of the University/Institution certifying that they have obtained 50% marks or equivalent (45% in case of reserved category) based on latest available grades/marks.
They must also submit a set of photocopy of the original certificates at the time of the interview.

For the PGP in IIMs, selected candidates will be allowed to join the program provisionally only if they submit a certificate, stating-

They have completed all the requirements (the results may, however, be awaited) for obtaining the bachelor’s degree/ equivalent qualification on the date of issue of the certificate.
Their admission will be confirmed only when they submit the original mark sheet and degree certificate of having passed the bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification referred to in the certificate issued by the Principal/Registrar of their college/institute.
They must obtain at least 50% marks or equivalent. They must submit a photocopy of the mark sheets and degree certificate.
Non-fulfillment of this condition will automatically result in the cancellation of the provisional admission.
IIMs would not allow any candidate to join their program in case the candidate is unable to complete all the requirements for a bachelor degree.

CAT Eligibility vs IIM Eligibility

CAT Eligibility vs IIM Eligibility: What is the Difference?

There are certain differences between eligibility norms of IIMs and CAT eligibility and candidates due to appear for the exam must be aware of those differences.

There is no age limit defined in the eligibility norms of IIMs or CAT.
Though 2 Years Bachelors's degree is not accepted by IIMs though acceptable to appear for CAT as per the old educational system.
Apart from this, there are no particular differences unless defined by IIMs in particular.
Work experience is preferential in IIMs along with the diversity of academic and co-curricular activities which are not mandatory to appear for CAT. Read More CAT IIM Admission Process

Who isn’t eligible for CAT?

The following aspirants are not eligible to sit for CAT:

If the score of the candidate is less than 50% in graduation (45% for SC/ST/PwD candidates), he or she is not eligible to apply for CAT.
The candidates pursue both their bachelor's degree and professional degree but have yet to complete both of them.
The candidate will be considered ineligible to appear for the exam if his/her graduation is not recognized by the UGC/AICTE/MHRD.

Work Experience Requirement for IIM

It is not mandatory for candidates to hold any prior work experience.
Although the CAT Application Form does ask for it, it is not a necessary condition to fulfil.
It must be noted that at the time of final selection, this work experience may be given some weightage by the IIMs. However, the exact weightage is never revealed and it varies from one IIM to another.
The bottom line is that work experience does not come into play till the last stage of final selection, and even then it does not play a deciding factor.
IIMs have been known to have a mixed batch comprising both fresh graduates and students with work experience.

Quick Links for CAT Preparation:

CAT Reservation Criteria

CAT Reservation Criteria 2022

IIMs follow the reservation guideline of the central government for admission to their MBA programs.
Consequently, the reservation norms are also applicable to CAT 2022.
There are two types of reservations of seats at IIMs – Caste based reservation and Reservation for Differently abled individuals.
Following the 124th Amendment Bill in the Constitution of India, IIMs have also introduced the EWS quota this year.
Persons who are not covered under the scheme of reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs and whose family has a gross annual income below Rs 8 lakh are only identified as EWS for the benefit of reservation.

Caste Based Reservation Policy

The candidates falling in the SC, ST, or NC-OBC category fall under the aegis of Caste-based reservation policy. The rules which apply to these categories are as follows:

Candidates who belong to the SC or ST categories must have scored an aggregate of 45% in their Bachelor’s degree program.
Candidates who belong to the NC-OBC category must have scored an aggregate of 50% in their Bachelor’s degree program.

The distribution of seat reservation based on caste is given below:

CATEGORY	PERCENT OF SEATS RESERVED
Scheduled Caste (SC)	15%
Scheduled Tribe (ST)	7.5%
Other Backwards Classes – Non-Creamy Layer (NC-OBC)	27%
EWS	10%

CAT Essential Certificates

Those applying under the Differently Abled category must upload a PwD/DA certificate at the time of applying. They also need to produce the original certificate at the time of interview in the desired format:

NC-OBC Certificate
SC-ST Certificate
DA/PwD Certificate
Format for Final Year Certificate
Format for Candidate Identification Affidavit

CAT Eligibility FAQs

CAT Eligibility 2022 FAQs

Ques. I am in the final year of Bachelor’s degree. What marks should I enter in my application form as per CAT eligibility criteria?

Ans. Candidates in the final year of graduation can fill up the form by providing the required details as asked in the form. But a candidate will be admitted into a course only if he clears graduation with at least 50% marks.

Ques. I am a General category candidate with 49% in the Bachelor’s and 51%, for my Master’s degree. Am I eligible to apply for CAT 2022?

Ans. No. You should have 50% or more in your graduation. Last the authority had removed the minimum marks criteria but for this year to get the updated details candidates will have to wait for the release of official notification.

Ques. I will be completing my Bachelor’s degree in May-June 2022 but have a backlog. Am I eligible to apply for CAT 2022?

Ans. Yes, candidates who complete their degree by May 2022 are eligible to appear for CAT but the candidate will be admitted into a course only if he clears graduation with at least 50% marks.

Ques. Where are the notifications related to CAT 2022 Eligibility Announced?

Ans. All the updated information and Notifications related to CAT 2022 Eligibility are announced on the official website of CAT i.e. iimcat.ac.in.

Ques. What are the Academic Qualifications required for CAT 2022?

Ans. Candidates must possess a Bachelor's degree having a minimum of 50% marks or have an equivalent GPA. Candidates who belong to the reserved category are given a relaxation of 5%, i.e., candidates who belong to the reserved category must have 45% of their bachelor’s degree.

Ques. What if a particular university or Institute does not have a Grade calculating procedure as mentioned in CAT eligibility criteria?

Ans. Candidates whose universities or Institutes do not have any grade calculating procedure will be required to divide the candidate’s marks with the maximum marks and then multiply it by 100.

Ques. What are the ‘Specified Disabilities’ required for PWD candidates to give CAT 2022?

Ans. The categories of disability are:

In the case of blindness and low vision
deafness or if a candidate is hard of hearing
locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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