IIM Entrance Exam: Eligibility, Syllabus and Admission

The IIM entrance exam for the two-year MBA is the Common Admission Test (CAT). CAT 2026 is on 29 November 2026. But that is only half the answer. Students who finish Class 12 sit a different exam, called IPMAT or JIPMAT, for a five-year programme. Working professionals use GMAT or GRE scores for one-year MBAs.

Most pages on this topic cover CAT and stop there. This guide covers every route, so you can find yours in one read. You get the CAT 2026 dates, the IIM entrance exam eligibility, the pattern, the IIM entrance exam syllabus and the IIM entrance exam fees. You also get the IIM entrance exam for BBA, the IIM entrance exam for UG and the IIM entrance exam other than CAT. Then you see what a good score looks like. The last sections answer common questions on difficulty, fees and salary.

What Is the IIM Entrance Exam? A Quick Answer by Programme

The entrance exam for IIM depends on the programme, not the institute. Each IIM runs several programmes, and each programme has its own door. Every IIM entrance exam other than CAT sits in one of the cards below, so find yours first.

🎓CATTwo-year MBA (PGP)Graduates take CAT. Every IIM uses CAT scores for this flagship programme.📘IPMAT / JIPMATFive-year IPMThis is the IIM entrance exam for BBA-level students. They take IPMAT, IIM Rohtak's IPM AT or the NTA's JIPMAT, depending on the IIM.🧪IIMB UGBSc (Hons) at IIM BangaloreThis is the IIM entrance exam for UG students who want a four-year degree. IIM Bangalore runs its own UG admission test.💼GMAT / GREOne-year MBAThe entrance exam for IIM Ahmedabad's PGPX and IIM Bangalore's EPGP is a GMAT or GRE score, for professionals with work experience.

So the honest answer to "what is the entrance exam for IIM" is CAT for most people and a different test for the rest. The sections below follow that order. CAT comes first because most readers need it.

CAT Exam 2026 Registration Last Date and Key Dates

The CAT exam 2026 registration last date was 22 September 2026 at 5 PM. IIM Indore extended it by one week from 15 September, and the IIMs said they would not extend it again. Registration is now closed, so no new application can be filed this year. If you missed it, your next chance is CAT 2027.

After the CAT exam 2026 registration last date, registered candidates get a short correction window on 5 and 6 October 2026. It allows changes to the photograph, signature and test city only. You could list up to five test cities in the form, so check the city you got before the admit card arrives.

Watch the official CAT website for any notice. Our CAT dates 2026 page and the CAT 2026 registration page carry the full schedule.

IIM Entrance Exam Eligibility for CAT 2026

IIM entrance exam eligibility starts with a bachelor's degree. You need at least 50% marks, or 45% if you are SC, ST or PwBD. These are the figures in the CAT 2026 bulletin. They apply to your degree, not to your CAT score.

Three details trip up applicants every year:

• Final-year students can apply. You can register and sit CAT while your last year is still running. Your admission stays provisional until you submit a pass certificate by the date each IIM sets.
• Professional qualifications count. CA, CS, ICWA (CMA) and FIAI holders can apply without another bachelor's degree.
• Eligibility and selection are two gates. Meeting the IIM entrance exam eligibility rules gets you into the exam hall. Your percentile then decides which IIM shortlists you.

Keep your papers ready, even though the CAT exam 2026 registration last date has passed. The form asked for a passport-size photograph, a scanned signature, and Class 10, Class 12 and graduation marksheets. Candidates also uploaded a category certificate, a PwD certificate or a work-experience certificate where it applied. The same list will help you for CAT 2027.

School leavers cannot sit CAT without a degree. They have a separate path, covered under the IIM entrance exam for BBA and the IIM entrance exam for UG below.

CAT Exam Pattern: Sections, Time and Marking

The IIM entrance exam pattern for CAT is simple to state. You get 120 minutes, split into three fixed sections of 40 minutes each. The order is Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), then Quantitative Ability (QA). You cannot switch sections or carry spare time forward.

The CAT 2026 bulletin does not state the question count or the marking scheme. So plan with the CAT 2025 format. That paper had 68 questions for 204 marks. A correct MCQ earned 3 marks and a wrong one cost 1 mark. Typed-in answers (TITA) carried no penalty.

The CAT exam pattern 2026 page tracks the question count and marking scheme as soon as the IIMs confirm them. The pattern fixes how you spend time, while the CAT exam syllabus fixes what you study.

CAT Exam Day: Sessions, Admit Card and What to Carry

CAT 2026 runs in three sessions on 29 November, so you will not know your slot until the admit card arrives on 4 November. In recent years the slots were roughly 8:30 AM, 12:30 PM and 4:30 PM, each lasting two hours. Treat these as tentative until your admit card shows its own time. CAT 2025 ran at 339 test centres in 170 cities, and CAT 2026 covers about 170 cities again.

Download the admit card on the first day it opens, and check your name, city and slot. IIMs do not post a hard copy. Carry a printout of the admit card and an original photo ID, as in earlier years. Reach the centre well before your reporting time. A different IIM conducts CAT each year, so IIM Kozhikode ran CAT 2025 on 30 November 2025 and IIM Indore runs CAT 2026. In CAT 2025 the provisional answer key and response sheets came out four days after the exam, followed by a short window to raise objections. Expect a similar sequence in early December 2026.

IIM Entrance Exam Syllabus and CAT Exam Syllabus

There is no official IIM entrance exam syllabus. The CAT bulletin names the three sections and nothing more. So the CAT exam syllabus that coaching sites publish is a pattern built from past papers. Treat it as the list of topics that keep coming back, not as a promise.

Use the CAT exam syllabus above as a checklist, and learn it in layers. Cover the core topics first, then the rarer ones. Start with arithmetic and reading habits, because they feed two sections at once. The CAT exam syllabus 2026 page lists the topics section by section. IPMAT follows a different IIM entrance exam syllabus, which comes up in the BBA section below.

IIM Entrance Exam Fees: What You Pay to Apply

The IIM entrance exam fees are small next to the programme fees. The CAT 2026 application fee is ₹2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates. SC, ST and PwBD candidates pay ₹1,350. The fee is non-refundable.

For any IIM entrance exam other than CAT, IIM Rohtak and the NTA publish their own fees in their yearly notices. The IPMAT 2027 fee is not out yet, so expect a figure close to the last cycle. Budget for these IIM entrance exam fees early, and for mock tests and travel to your test city.

IIM Entrance Exam Other Than CAT: Routes for Every Profile

Many readers ask if they can join IIM without CAT. Yes, there is an IIM entrance exam other than CAT, but it depends on the programme. Most of these routes skip CAT because they serve a different student, such as a school leaver or a manager with years of work experience.

Can I Join IIM Without CAT?

Yes, you can join IIM without CAT, but not for the regular two-year MBA if you apply from India. IIM Ahmedabad treats CAT as compulsory for Indian candidates, and IIM Bangalore does not accept GMAT for its two-year programmes. Here are the doors that open without CAT:

• After Class 12. The five-year IPM uses IPMAT, IPM AT or JIPMAT. IIM Bangalore's BSc (Hons) has its own test.
• One-year MBA at IIM Ahmedabad (PGPX). The entrance exam for IIM Ahmedabad's PGPX is GMAT or GRE, plus four years of full-time work experience.
• One-year MBA at IIM Bangalore (EPGP). The entrance exam for IIM Bangalore's EPGP is also GMAT or GRE, with five years of experience. Both institutes accept test-centre scores only, not home-based ones.
• IIM Bangalore PGPEM. This programme for working professionals accepts CAT, GMAT, GRE or the IIMB test.
• Foreign nationals. They can use a test-centre GMAT at IIM Ahmedabad under its Supernumerary Quota.
• Doctoral programmes. Each IIM lists the entrance scores it accepts, and CAT is among them.

The IIM entrance exam eligibility for these routes looks different from CAT. It leans on work experience instead of marks alone. The GMAT also has its own syllabus, separate from the IIM entrance exam syllabus for CAT. A one-year MBA is not an easier door. It trades the exam hurdle for a work-experience hurdle. Pick the IIM entrance exam other than CAT that matches your career stage.

IIM Entrance Exam for BBA: IPMAT and JIPMAT After Class 12

The IIM entrance exam for BBA is not called BBA at all. To join IIM after 12th, you apply to the five-year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM). It is the main way to join IIM without CAT straight after school. Three exams feed it: IPMAT, IIM Rohtak's IPM AT and the NTA's JIPMAT. IPM is not a plain BBA. It awards a bachelor's degree partway through and an MBA at the end.

IIM Indore launched IPM in 2011, the first IIM to do so. Its Aptitude Test is what most people mean by IPMAT, and it is the best-known IIM entrance exam other than CAT. Read the IIM Indore IPM page for the programme structure. Anyone preparing for this IIM entrance exam for BBA should know that not every IIM sets its own paper.

Which IIMs Offer IPM and Which Exam Do They Use?

Seven IIMs admit into an IPM cohort for 2026-31, so this IIM entrance exam for BBA has seven doors. The table follows each institute's admission policy for that batch.

The NTA's JIPMAT page names only IIM Bodh Gaya and IIM Jammu for 2026. Newer IIMs sometimes add or change their route, and other IIMs may also accept IPMAT scores. Confirm the exam on the page of the IIM you like.

What Is the IPMAT Exam Pattern?

IIM Indore's IPMAT 2026 ran on 4 May 2026 with three 40-minute sections. They were Quantitative Ability (MCQ), Quantitative Ability (short answer) and Verbal Ability (MCQ). IIM Indore weighs the Aptitude Test 65% and the Personal Interview 35% for the final score. The IIM entrance exam syllabus for IPM is school-level quantitative and verbal skill, not business knowledge. It does not follow the CAT exam syllabus.

IIM Rohtak runs its own IPM AT on a different pattern. It has Quantitative Ability, Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability, with 40 questions each over 120 minutes. Its 2026 paper was listed for 10 May, and the date was marked tentative on its page. JIPMAT is a separate NTA paper, so read the NTA bulletin for its pattern.

What Is the IIM Entrance Exam Eligibility for IPM?

The IIM entrance exam eligibility for IPM depends on age and Class 12 status, and sometimes on marks. For the 2026-31 batch, IIM Indore asked for a birth date on or after 1 August 2006, or 1 August 2001 for SC, ST and PwD. It stated no minimum percentage. IIM Rohtak asked for 60% in Classes 10 and 12, or 55% for SC, ST and DAP. Its candidates had to be at most 20 years old on 30 June 2026, or 25 if SC or ST.

Students who are about to complete Class 12 can usually apply, with provisional admission. These limits move each year. Read the new notice before you plan, as the IIM entrance exam eligibility for the 2027-32 batch may differ.

How Can I Join IIM After 12th?

To join IIM after 12th, take the five-year IPM route, or IIM Bangalore's BSc (Hons) if you want a four-year degree. Start preparing in Class 11, because quant and verbal both count. IPMAT 2027 registration is expected around February 2027, with the test likely in May 2027. Dates are tentative until IIM Indore announces them.

Students who want to join IIM after 12th should also compare the IIM entrance exam fees and age rules of each option. A missed rule cannot be fixed later.

IIM Entrance Exam for UG: IIM Bangalore's BSc (Hons) Programmes

IIM Bangalore now runs an IIM entrance exam for UG students that sits outside IPM. It offers four-year, full-time residential BSc (Hons) programmes in Data Sciences and in Economics. Applications for the 2027 batch run from 17 August to 15 October 2026, until 5 PM. There are 80 seats in total, 40 in each programme.

The IIM Bangalore announcement is the source for dates and seats. Marks rules, the test pattern and the fee come from IIM Bangalore, not from CAT or IPMAT. So check its IIM entrance exam eligibility and IIM entrance exam fees there. This IIM entrance exam for UG is a different programme from the five-year IPM, so do not mix their rules. It is also a way to join IIM without CAT, with its own calendar.

What Is a Good Score in the IIM Entrance Exam?

A good score in the IIM entrance exam depends on the IIM, because each one sets its own cutoff. For General candidates, IIM Ahmedabad asks for 95 overall and 85 in each section just to qualify. IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Jammu and IIM Sirmaur set 90 overall under their 2026 process. IIM Guwahati set 85 overall and 75 in each section for its first batch.

A qualifying cutoff is only the minimum. IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta usually call at 99 percentile or more. These are indicative figures. The table below converts percentiles into marks, using CAT 2025 estimates from coaching platforms. Marks change every year with paper difficulty, so treat these as ranges, not promises.

Sectional cutoffs matter as much as the total. A strong QA score cannot rescue a very weak VARC score, so cover the whole CAT exam syllabus before you polish one section. These section-wise estimates for CAT 2025 show what the same percentiles needed.

The same marks can give different percentiles each year. CAT runs in three sessions, and the IIMs normalise scores across them first. The percentile is then (N minus r) divided by N, times 100. Here N is the number of candidates and r is your rank. If 3 lakh candidates sit and you rank 6,000th, your percentile is 98.

Is 72 a Good Score in CAT?

Yes, if you mean 72 marks. On CAT 2025 numbers it is about the 97th percentile, which clears IIM Ahmedabad's 95 qualifying cutoff. It still falls short of the 99 percentile that top IIMs usually call at. If you mean a 72 percentile, it sits below every cutoff listed above. Check your sectional scores too, since a good total can still miss a sectional cutoff.

How Tough Is the IIM Entrance Exam?

The IIM entrance exam is tough because of the crowd and the cutoffs, not because of the syllabus. Here are the common comparisons, answered one by one.

Is CAT Exam Tough for IIM?

Yes, because the competition is large and the top cutoffs are very high. About 2.95 lakh candidates registered for CAT 2025, and about 2.58 lakh sat the paper. Only 12 scored a perfect 100 percentile. The questions themselves use school-level concepts, so speed and selection matter more than depth.

Is IIM Harder Than IIT?

They are different exams, so one is not simply harder. JEE Advanced tests Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics concepts, and 1,87,389 candidates registered in 2026. CAT tests reading, data and quantitative skills under time pressure. Some IITians also take CAT later, so the two groups overlap.

Is IIM Tougher Than CA?

Neither is tougher in every way. CAT ranks you by percentile, while CA has fixed pass marks across several stages. In May 2026, 14.07% of candidates cleared both groups of CA Final. Our toughest exams in India guide ranks CAT sixth, behind CA in third place. That ranking is not official, so use it as a guide only.

Is IIM Bangalore Better Than IIT?

They serve different goals. IIM Bangalore ranked 2nd in NIRF 2025 for management, and IITs lead for engineering. A common route is a BTech first and an MBA after. Choose by the career you want in ten years.

What Happens After the IIM Entrance Exam?

Clearing the IIM entrance exam is not the finish line. Each IIM builds its own shortlist from your CAT percentile, academics and profile. Then it calls you for a written test and an interview. Some IIMs, such as IIM Mumbai, IIM Rohtak, IIM Amritsar, IIM Visakhapatnam and IIM Nagpur, ask for a separate application after CAT.

IIM Ahmedabad shows the pattern clearly. Its shortlist score gives CAT percentile 65% and the Application Rating 35%. Shortlisted candidates take the Analytical Writing Test and the Personal Interview. The final score is 50% interview, 10% writing test and 40% shortlist score. Its tentative calendar has shortlists in the second week of January and offers in the second week of April 2027. Read the IIM Ahmedabad admission page for the full process.

What the IIM Entrance Exam Leads To: Fees, Salary and Placements

Most readers ask three money questions once the IIM entrance exam is behind them. How much will it cost, why is it so costly, and what do graduates earn?

Which IIM Is Low Fees?

IIM Rohtak, IIM Bodh Gaya and IIM Guwahati are the lowest at about ₹18 lakh for 2026-28. IIM Bodh Gaya lists ₹17.96 lakh. IIM Ahmedabad is the highest at ₹27.50 lakh for PGP 2025-27. These programme fees exclude mess charges and deposits, and they are not the IIM entrance exam fees you pay to apply. See the IIM Ahmedabad fees page for the breakdown.

Why Is IIM So Costly?

The headline fee pays for two years of residential teaching and campus life. Mess charges, deposits and living costs come on top. Students weigh it against first-year pay rather than against the fee alone. At the top three, the average pay in the table below is higher than the lowest IIM's full fee.

Which IIM Has 100% Placement?

IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta all reported 100% placement for the 2024-26 batch. That means every student who sat for placement received an offer. IIM Ahmedabad placed all 392 students who sought placement. IIM Calcutta placed 458 students with 542 offers from 202 firms.

What Is IIM Salary?

The average pay at the top three IIMs sits between ₹31 lakh and ₹36 lakh a year. Newer IIMs report lower averages.

IIMs report pay on different bases, so the figures are not like-for-like. IIM Ahmedabad also reports ₹36.98 lakh on a maximum-earning basis. Compare the same basis and the same batch. The IIM Ahmedabad placements page has the recruiter list and sector split.

How to Prepare for the IIM Entrance Exam

Prepare for the exam you will actually sit. A CAT plan and the plan for an IIM entrance exam other than CAT, such as IPMAT, share almost nothing beyond basic maths. If you registered for CAT 2026, you have about seven weeks left from early October. Here is one way to use them.

• Weeks one and two: cover the full CAT exam syllabus once. List the topics, tick the ones you know and mark the rest. Take one full mock at the end of week two.
• Weeks three to six: mock and review. Take a full mock every three to four days. Spend as long reviewing each mock as you spent taking it.
• Practise in 40-minute blocks. Each section has its own clock, so train with a timer on one section at a time.
• Read daily for VARC. Pick editorials and long articles, and summarise each in two lines.
• Work on selection in DILR. Spend two minutes scanning a set before you commit to it.
• Last week: light revision. Revise formulas and error logs, sleep well, and download the admit card early.

If you are in Class 11 or 12 and aiming at IPM, the plan is lighter and longer. Build the school-level IIM entrance exam syllabus for IPM first, which means quant, then reading and vocabulary. Practise the short-answer quant section too, since it has no options to guess from. Add full-length papers in the last two months before the test. Treat IPMAT as a separate IIM entrance exam for BBA-level students, not as CAT with easier questions.

Our guide on how to get into IIM adds the admission side. Use the CAT exam hub to track updates through the year.

📅CAT exam 2026 registration last date and datesThe full schedule from registration to result.See dates📚CAT exam syllabusThe IIM entrance exam syllabus for VARC, DILR and QA, section by section.Read syllabus🏛️IIM Ahmedabad admissionHow one IIM turns CAT scores into offers.See process💰IIM Ahmedabad feesProgramme fee, deposits and other costs, which are separate from the IIM entrance exam fees.Check fees

IIM Entrance Exam FAQs

Choose Your IIM Entrance Exam Early

The right IIM entrance exam depends on where you stand today. A graduate prepares for CAT. A Class 12 student prepares for IPMAT, JIPMAT or the IIM entrance exam for UG at IIM Bangalore. A manager prepares for GMAT or GRE. Anyone who wants to join IIM without CAT should pick one of those routes now. Check the dates on the official page. Note the CAT exam 2026 registration last date as a lesson for next year. Then build your plan backwards from exam day.