CAT 2026 Registration Closes September 15: Fees, Application Steps and Test Cities Explained

CAT 2026 registration is open on the official portal, iimcat.ac.in, and closes on September 15, 2026, at 5:00 PM IST. IIM Indore, which is conducting this year's Common Admission Test, opened the application window on August 3 and has not announced any relaxation to the closing time. The exam itself is scheduled for November 29, 2026, in three sessions across roughly 170 test cities.

Candidates who have not yet registered should treat the September 15 cutoff as final: CAT does not offer a late-fee window the way some other entrance exams do, so an incomplete or unpaid form after 5:00 PM will simply not be accepted. That said, IIM Indore has extended the deadline in recent years — CAT 2025's registration window, for instance, was pushed back by a week after the original cutoff — so candidates should keep checking the official website for updates even if they are cutting it close, without relying on an extension actually happening.

Quick Facts: CAT 2026 Registration

Who Can Apply: CAT 2026 Eligibility

Candidates need a bachelor's degree with at least 50% aggregate marks (45% for SC/ST/PwBD candidates) from a recognized university to be eligible for CAT 2026. Final-year students may also apply, provided they can furnish proof of course completion if shortlisted later. There is no upper age limit for the exam.

How to Fill the CAT 2026 Application Form

1. Register on iimcat.ac.in using the "New Candidate Registration" option, entering name, date of birth, email, mobile number and country, followed by OTP verification.
2. Collect login credentials — a system-generated User ID and password are sent to the registered email and phone.
3. Log in under "Registered Candidate Login" and open the application dashboard.
4. Fill in personal details, including an emergency contact number that must differ from the primary mobile number.
5. Enter academic records for Class 10, Class 12 or Diploma, and Bachelor's degree, plus any postgraduate qualification.
6. Add work experience, counted in full-time days completed after graduation, up to July 31, 2026. Internships, articleships and part-time roles do not count.
7. Select IIM programs of interest and the corresponding interview city for each.
8. Choose five test cities, ranked by preference; allotment depends on seat availability at each centre.
9. Upload documents — photograph, signature, and category or disability certificates where applicable.
10. Preview and confirm all entries, then accept the payment declaration.
11. Pay the fee via the BillDesk gateway using UPI, net banking, or a debit/credit card. Paying by UPI does not attract extra charges; some net-banking routes do.
12. Submit and download the confirmation page, keeping the transaction reference number for records.

The application form itself is split into six tabs — Personal Details, Academics, Work Experience, Programmes, Test City and Declaration — and each tab must be saved with "Save & Next" before moving on.

CAT 2026 Registration Fee

The fee is charged once per candidate, irrespective of how many IIM programs or participating institutes are selected on the form, and it is non-refundable. Cash payment is not accepted; the only route is the online BillDesk gateway.

Documents Required for CAT 2026

• Valid personal email address and mobile number
• Class 10 mark sheet (for name, date of birth and marks verification)
• Class 12 or Diploma mark sheet
• Bachelor's degree marks statement, or marks up to the latest completed semester for final-year candidates
• Work experience dates and employer details, where applicable
• Scanned passport-size photograph, white background, taken within the last six months
• Scanned signature
• Category certificate (SC/ST/NC-OBC/EWS) in PDF, if claiming reservation
• PwBD certificate in PDF, if applicable

A note on photo/signature specifications: published guidance on the exact pixel dimensions for the photograph and signature varies slightly across sources. Candidates should confirm the precise size, DPI and file-size limits against the current CAT 2026 information bulletin on iimcat.ac.in before uploading, rather than relying on a single secondary source. 

Choosing CAT 2026 Test Cities

Candidates rank five test cities in order of preference; IIM Indore allots a centre within one of them based on seat availability, generally on a first-come, first-served basis. Registering early improves the odds of getting a first-preference city.

Karnataka (8 cities): Belagavi, Bengaluru, Hubli-Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Udupi

West Bengal (7 cities): Asansol-Durgapur, Bankura, Burdwan, Howrah, Kalyani-Hooghly, Kolkata, Siliguri

Rajasthan (7 cities): Ajmer, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Sikar, Udaipur

Certificate Rules for Reserved Categories

• EWS: Certificate must be valid for FY 2026–27 (income assessed for 2025–26), confirming gross annual family income below ₹8 lakh and compliance with the specified property limits.
• NC-OBC: Certificate must be issued on or after April 1, 2026, in English or Hindi, stating the caste name, resolution number, and explicitly excluding the candidate from the Creamy Layer.
• Transitional cases: Candidates who applied for a new NC-OBC or EWS certificate on or after April 1, 2026 but have not yet received it can still apply — by uploading their old certificate along with an undertaking (format available on the portal) and proof of the new application.
• PwBD: Candidates must specify disability type, percentage, and UDID number, and separately indicate if they need a scribe or wheelchair support. A scribe must be arranged by the candidate, along with the required affidavit.
• Scanned copies of original/digital certificates don't need self-attestation; scanned photocopies do.

How to Calculate CGPA for the CAT 2026 Form

Where results are issued in grades or CGPA, candidates should first check whether their board, university or institution has an official conversion formula to percentage. If none exists, the standard method is to divide the CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA and multiply by 100. Students on a five-year integrated program (e.g., B.Tech + MBA) should record marks for the undergraduate portion under Bachelor's details and the postgraduate portion under Master's details, per their university's own breakdown.

Candidates who completed Class 10, Class 12, Diploma or a Bachelor's degree in 2020 or 2021 and were promoted without formal marks (a pandemic-era provision at many boards) can select "Promotion/Pass without Marks" instead of entering a percentage.

What Happens After You Submit

Once the fee is paid, no changes are allowed to core personal details — name, date of birth, mobile number and email — since these must match the Class 10 certificate exactly. IIM Indore typically opens a limited correction window in the first week of October (based on past-year patterns; exact 2026 dates haven't been announced yet) that lets candidates update only their photograph, signature and test city preference, and there's no fee for this correction. If an error falls outside these editable fields, the only fix is submitting a fresh form and paying the fee again before the deadline — so reviewing the "Preview" screen carefully before paying is worth the extra few minutes.

What Comes Next

CAT 2026 will be held on November 29, 2026, in a computer-based format across three timed sessions. Admit cards are typically released roughly three to four weeks before the exam date, and results have historically followed by late December. Candidates should retain a printed copy of the photograph used at registration, since it must match the one affixed to the physical admit card on exam day. A valid CAT score is accepted by 22 IIMs and more than a thousand other participating B-schools for MBA and allied postgraduate admissions.

Registration Volumes and Historical Context

CAT registrations have grown substantially over two decades — from roughly 1.7 lakh candidates in 2005 to a peak of about 3.29 lakh in 2024 — though numbers have fluctuated in the last five years. Around 2.95 lakh candidates registered for CAT 2025, of whom about 2.58 lakh appeared for the test. This year's registration is expected to land in a similar range.

Facing Issues? Use the Grievance Portal or Helpdesk

Candidates stuck on registration, uploads or payment can raise a ticket through the Grievance Portal inside the CAT 2026 login, attaching up to three supporting documents; resolution typically takes at least two working days. For quicker queries, the telephone helpdesk (1-800-210-0175) operates Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM IST, and candidates should keep their User ID ready before calling.