CAT 2026 Admit Card Released on iimcat.ac.in; Test on 29 November

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have opened the CAT 2026 admit card download on iimcat.ac.in. According to the CAT 2026 media release of 4 November 2026, admit cards for all eligible candidates have been generated and can be downloaded only from the CAT website, with the CAT application login ID and password, between 6 November and 29 November 2026.

The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026 is on Sunday, 29 November 2026, in three sessions. It is a computer-based test. A mock test with sample questions, meant to show the exam format and the test screen, has been on the CAT website since 6 November 2026.

Admit card from 6 November, not 4 November

The CAT 2026 Information Bulletin of July had said admit cards could be downloaded from 4 November. The media release of 4 November moved the start of the download to 6 November, and the important-dates list on the CAT website now shows 6 November as well. The last day to download the admit card is the test day itself.

Test city, centre and security

At registration, every candidate picked five test cities in order of preference. After registration closed, each candidate was given one of these five cities, subject to availability, or a nearby city in the rare case that none of the five was possible. The bulletin says CAT is held in about 170 test cities and that the name of the test centre is printed on the admit card, so the admit card is where you first see your centre. The IIMs keep the right to change or cancel a centre or city and to change the test time and date.

For this year's test, the IIMs say they have added face matching and will use mobile jammers at select locations. The media release also says the IIMs may change the test date and time if the situation demands it.

What to do now

Download the admit card early instead of on the last days, check the test centre, date and session printed on it, and plan the journey to the centre. Use only the official site, iimcat.ac.in; the CAT website warns that there is no other website for CAT and asks candidates to report suspicious sites to the CAT help desk at cat2026_helpdesk@iimidr.ac.in. The CAT help desk number in the bulletin is 1800 210 0175.

After the test

The bulletin says CAT results are likely to be declared by the first week of January 2027 and that the CAT 2026 score is valid until 31 December 2027. Each IIM sets its own shortlisting criteria and selection process, which may also use past academic marks and work experience, and non-IIM institutions that have registered with the CAT Centre can use the scores for their own admissions. For the exam pattern, the fee and IIM selection stages, see our CAT 2026 exam page.

Source: CAT 2026 media release of 4 November 2026 and the CAT 2026 Information Bulletin, issued by the IIMs on iimcat.ac.in.