IIMs to hold CAT 2017 on November 26

Registrations for the entrance test of premier B-schools will open on August 9

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will hold the Common Admission Test (CAT) this year on Sunday, November 26, 2017, in two sessions, the premier B-schools said on Saturday.

Registrations for the entrance test into the premier B-schools, along with over 110 non-IIM management institutes, who use CAT scores, will open on August 9 and close in September 2017. According to Neeraj Dwivedi of IIM Lucknow, is the convenor for CAT 2017, the test will be conducted in centres spread across roughly 140 cities.  

Last year, CAT 2016 was held on December 4 across 138 test cities.

IIMs will offer candidates the option to select four test cities in order of their preference, with test cities and centres being assigned to candidates only after the last date for CAT 2017 registration. 

"Hence candidates need not rush to block slots and cities in the initial days of registration. We will try our best to assign candidates to their first preferred city. In case it is not possible, they will be assigned a city following their given order of preference. In the rare case that a candidate is not allotted any of the preferred cities, he/she will be allotted to an alternate city. However, candidates will not be able to select the session because it will be assigned randomly," said Dwivedi.

As usual, the entrance test will carry a duration of 180 minutes and will be divided into three sections, including Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA). "Some questions in each section may not be of multiple choice type. Instead, direct answers will have to be typed on the screen. The tutorials will clearly explain this. Also, we will allow the use of a basic onscreen calculator for computation," Dwivedi said in a statement.

Candidates will be allotted 60 minutes for answering questions in each section, which cannot be the switch from one section to another while answering questions in a particular section. IIMs will also upload a tutorial to understand the format of the test on the CAT website from October 18, 2017, onwards. The website also contains a section on frequently asked questions (FAQs), which address candidates’ queries regarding the test. 

Once the registrations open on August 9, candidates will be required to pay the registration fee through online payment modes only, which include credit cards, debit cards and net banking. "After submission of Application, candidates will be permitted to download their Admit Card from October 18, 2017, onwards, till the date of test," IIM Lucknow further stated.

Last year, total registrations for CAT 2016 had closed at over 233,000, up by six per cent over 2015, which had seen registrations close at 218,664. However, 83.6 per cent of total registrations or 195,000 candidates finally took CAT 2016, which was marginally up from 82 per cent for CAT 2015.