IIM Ahmedabad Hikes CAT Cut-Off for 2026-28 Batch, Making Admission More Rigorous

IIM Ahmedabad has increased its CAT cut-off for the 2026-28 batch, a crucial update for thousands of management aspirants. This article details the revised IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria, new CAT 2025 cut-offs, and the implications for your MBA admission.

In a significant and challenging development for thousands of management aspirants, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad has announced a major change to its admission criteria. The institute has significantly increased its CAT cut-off for the upcoming 2026-28 batch, making the MBA admission process more competitive than ever. This move indicates a renewed emphasis on securing high CAT 2025 scores as the primary gateway to one of India's most prestigious B-schools. For students with a strong academic profile and high CAT scores, this presents a clear path forward, but for others, it means a more intense preparation strategy is needed. For regular updates and insights on the IIM admission process, you can follow Only Education News.

Understanding the New CAT 2025 Cut-Offs

The most notable change is the hike in the minimum CAT percentile required for shortlisting candidates for the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds. While in previous years, the qualifying CAT cut-off was 80 percentile overall for the General category, it has now been raised to an unprecedented 95 percentile. This sharp increase applies across all categories.

Here is a breakdown of the new minimum qualifying CAT cut-offs for IIM Ahmedabad's shortlisting process:

This change means that clearing the overall CAT percentile is no longer enough; aspirants must also meet the high sectional cut-offs to be considered for the next stage.

Updated Selection Process and Key Weightages

While the CAT 2025 score now acts as a harder filter for initial shortlisting, the final selection process continues to give significant weight to other components. The selection will be based on a two-stage process. The first stage, shortlisting for AWT and PI, assigns a 65% weightage to the CAT score and 35% to the Application Rating (AR), which evaluates academic records and work experience.

For the final selection, the weightage is as follows:

• Personal Interview (PI): 50%
• Analytical Writing Test (AWT): 10%
• CAT Score: 25%
• Application Rating (AR): 15%

This revised IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria highlights the importance of a holistic profile. While a high CAT percentile is now a non-negotiable prerequisite, a strong performance in the PI and a solid academic background remain crucial for final selection. The increase in the CAT 2025 cut-off is expected to reduce the number of candidates shortlisted for the AWT and PI rounds, intensifying competition at every stage.

For more information on the MBA admission process and various management courses, you can visit https://www.onlyeducation.in/exams-list/management.