By the Online Coaching 4u team
Last updated: 4 August 2026.
IIM Indore has opened registration for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026 on the official portal, iimcat.ac.in, with the window live since 3 August 2026 at 10:00 AM IST.
What's actually confirmed
The CAT 2026 notification and Information Bulletin were released on 26 July 2026, and registration itself opened a week later. Per the official "Important Dates" panel on iimcat.ac.in: registration runs from 3 August 2026 (10:00 AM IST) to 15 September 2026 (5:00 PM IST), admit cards go live from 4 November 2026, and the exam itself is scheduled for Sunday, 29 November 2026, across three sessions in an estimated 170+ test cities nationwide, per Careers360's notification coverage. Eligibility is unchanged from previous years: a bachelor's degree with at least 50% aggregate marks (45% for SC/ST/PwD candidates), and final-year students awaiting results remain eligible to apply. The application fee stands at Rs 2,700 for General/EWS/NC-OBC candidates and Rs 1,350 for SC/ST/PwD candidates, per the official Information Bulletin cited across MBAUniverse's and Cracku's coverage of the same bulletin.
What this means for aspirants
The exam pattern itself carries over from CAT 2025 with no structural changes reported: three sections (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability), 68 questions total, each section individually timed. That stability means aspirants can safely train on the last two years' papers without adjusting for a format shift. The immediate action item is registration itself: candidates choose up to five preferred test cities during the application process, so it's worth deciding your city preferences before the portal opens rather than during a rushed final-week submission. With registration open for roughly six weeks and the exam not until late November, there's no reason to wait until the September 15 deadline; earlier registration also means earlier access to the practice/mock test link IIM Indore typically activates closer to the exam.
Important pointers
- [Effective 3 Aug โ 15 Sep 2026] CAT 2026 registration and application window, per the official schedule at iimcat.ac.in.
- [4 Nov 2026] CAT 2026 admit card download begins, per the same official Important Dates panel.
- [29 Nov 2026, Sunday] CAT 2026 test day, conducted in three sessions across roughly 170 cities nationwide.
- [26 Jul 2026] CAT 2026 Information Bulletin and official notification were released by IIM Indore, the conducting institute for this cycle.
- Myth check: The CAT application fee has not changed from recent cycles โ Rs 2,700 for General/EWS/NC-OBC and Rs 1,350 for SC/ST/PwD โ despite some social-media claims of a fee hike this year.
Last updated: 4 August 2026. Sources: iimcat.ac.in, Careers360, MBAUniverse.
