IIM Ahmedabad revises PGP shortlisting criteria for CAT 2026

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has revised its admission criteria for the two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) for the 2027-29 academic session. The changes will apply to candidates appearing for CAT 2026 and seeking admission to the programme.

One of the key changes is the introduction of a new classification of undergraduate degrees into 18 broad disciplines. The institute will use the candidate’s undergraduate discipline while calculating the composite score for shortlisting candidates for the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI).

The disciplines include engineering and technology, computer science and information technology, medical and health sciences, commerce, accounting and finance, economics, agriculture and allied sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, law, management, mathematics, pure sciences, professional courses, fashion and design, journalism and media, architecture and planning, and hospitality and food sciences, along with an 'others' category listed in the admission framework.

Graduation marks to carry rating scores

Under the revised criteria, candidates will receive rating scores based on their graduation marks. Candidates scoring up to 55% will receive one point, while those scoring above 55% and up to 60% will receive two points.

The rating will increase to three points for marks above 60% and up to 70%, five points for marks above 70% and up to 80%, eight points for marks above 80% and up to 90%, and 10 points for scores above 90%.

IIMA will also consider Class 10 and Class 12 performance, undergraduate marks, full-time work experience and gender diversity while calculating the Application Rating.

The institute has retained three gender-diversity points for non-male candidates. Male candidates will receive no points under this component.

CAT 2026 to account for 65% of raw composite score

The revised process gives the CAT 2026 total percentile a 65% weight in the raw composite score. The remaining 35% will come from the candidate’s normalised Application Rating.

IIMA will first calculate the raw Application Rating and then normalise it using the average Application Rating of the top 50 candidates in the applicant pool. The raw composite score will then be calculated using the 35:65 combination of the normalised Application Rating and CAT 2026 percentile.

The institute has also introduced discipline-wise normalisation. The raw composite score will be normalised within the candidate’s undergraduate discipline, with the calculation based on the average of the top 1% of raw composite scores in that discipline. IIMA has specified a minimum of five and a maximum of 100 scores for this calculation.

CAT qualifying cut-offs remain unchanged

The minimum qualifying CAT 2026 cut-offs have been retained under the revised policy.

For General and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) candidates, the overall qualifying cut-off is 95 percentile, with an 85 percentile requirement in each section. The overall cut-off is 90 percentile for NC-OBC candidates, 85 percentile for SC candidates and 75 percentile for ST candidates. The corresponding sectional cut-offs are 80, 75 and 65 percentile respectively.

These are only minimum qualifying requirements. IIMA has clarified that meeting the CAT cut-off does not guarantee a shortlist for the next stage of the admission process.

Eligibility criteria remain unchanged

The basic eligibility requirement continues to be a bachelor's degree or an equivalent qualification with at least 50% marks or an equivalent CGPA. The minimum requirement is 45% for candidates belonging to the SC, ST and PwD categories.

The bachelor's degree must involve at least three years of education after completion of Class 12 or an equivalent examination. Candidates appearing for their final-year bachelor's examination or awaiting results may also apply, subject to IIMA's specified conditions.

For the 2027-29 batch, candidates must be at least 19 years old as of June 30, 2027.

PI to carry highest weight in final selection

Candidates who qualify for the AWT and PI stage will be evaluated using a final composite score.

The Personal Interview will carry 50% weightage, while the normalised composite score will account for 40% and the Analytical Writing Test for the remaining 10%.

The revised admission policy applies to candidates seeking admission to IIMA's PGP for the 2027-29 academic session. The shortlist for the AWT and PI is expected to be released on the IIMA website in the second week of January 2027, after the CAT 2026 results.