The CAT 2025 scorecard is a report that determines your admission journey to your desired B-schools. Understanding your CAT 2025 scorecard helps determine which IIMs and MBA colleges you are eligible for.

  • The CAT 2025 scorecard presents a detailed summary of a candidate’s performance in the exam.
  • It includes section-wise scaled scores and percentiles along with the overall scaled scores and percentiles.
  • Percentiles are used by IIMs and other B-schools during the shortlisting process and during the admission process.
Scaled Score Calculation Official PDF

Since the CAT is conducted in multiple slots, raw scores are adjusted and converted to scaled scores through normalisation to maintain fairness. The CAT scorecard displays scaled scores instead of raw scores.

“The CAT normalisation process enables a fair comparison of candidates across different slots. For instance, in CAT 2025, Slot 1 was relatively easier than the other two; the final result would adjust scores for tougher slots, leading to a percentile increase. This ensures an unbiased evaluation, maintaining fairness in the ranking process.”, says an expert from iQuanta.

In this article, we break down every component of the CAT scorecard, from raw scores to percentiles, helping you decode what each number means for your admission prospects.

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CAT 2025 Scorecard Explained

CAT 2025 Result Explainer: How to Read Your Scorecard Correctly

The CAT Scorecard is your official performance report, released by conducting IIM (IIM Kozhikode for CAT 2025). It is downloadable from the official CAT website.

The CAT scorecard focuses on scaled scores and percentiles rather than raw marks. This ensures fairness across the 3 slots.

  • Key elements include your overall scaled score, sectional scaled scores for VARC, DILR, and QA sections, and corresponding percentiles.
  • There is no total raw score listed on the scorecard; instead, normalised scaled scores are mentioned
Component Description Example Value
Overall Scaled Score Total normalised score across all sections 96-105
Overall Percentile Reflects the percentage of test takers you scored better than. 99.00
VARC Scaled Score Your normalised score for the VARC Section after statistical adjustment 40-45
DILR Scaled Score Your normalised score for the DILR section. 35-40
QA Scaled Score Your normalised score for the QA section 30-35
Sectional Percentile Indicate your performance in each section relative to others VARC:98DILR:99QA:97

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How many raw marks are needed to reach 99 percentile in CAT 2025?

Ques. Does the CAT scorecard show the raw marks?

Ans. No, it only shows scaled scores and percentiles. Raw marks are not displayed due to the normalisation process.

Ques. Is the CAT scorecard valid forever?

Ans. No, the CAT 2025 scorecard is valid for 1 academic year and is valid for the 2026-28 admission cycle only.

Scaled Scores in CAT 2025 Scorecard

Your raw scores are directly drawn from your performance using the CAT marking scheme. The scaled score is normalised after the CAT applies a statistical adjustment to make it fair for difficulty variation across slots.

  • Your scaled score may be higher or lower than your raw score, depending on your slot’s difficulty level.
  • If your slot was relatively harder, your scaled score receives an upward adjustment. If your slot was easier, your scaled score may be adjusted downward slightly.
Score Type Characteristics Visibility
Raw Score Direct calculation based on correct/incorrect answers Not shown in the scorecard
Scaled score Statistically normalised score adjusting for slot difficulty Displayed on the official CAT scorecard

Note: Only scaled scores, not raw marks, are used for ranking and percentiles.

Source: Scaled Score Calculation Official PDF

Also Read: What it takes to secure AIR 1 in CAT 2025 - marks and strategy.

Ques. Why are raw scores converted to scaled scores?

Ans. To ensure fairness, as slots may have slight differences in difficulty, scaled scores create a level playing field.

Ques. How does scaling affect my final percentile?

Ans. Scaling adjusts your raw performance relative to your slot difficulty level, which directly impacts your percentile. If your slot was relatively easy, your score may see a downward scale; if your slot was difficult, your score will see an upward scale. Affecting your percentile either way.

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Check the category-wise CAT cutoff 2025 for IIMs

The CAT Normalisation Process

Since CAT 2025 is held in 3 slots with difficulty variations, IIMs normalise scores to create a common scale. This statistical process uses means and standard deviation.

Check the Official Scoring and Equating Process PDF

A complex statistical formula is applied to your raw score, which considers the average performance and the performance of top candidates in your specific slot compared to the overall average.

Here is the step-by-step process of ‌normalization

Step Description Purpose in CAT 2025
Collect raw scores Gather marks from all slots for all sections Builds the result data set of CAT test-takers
Calculate slot stats Find the mean and deviation per slot per section Identifies difficulty variations
Compute overall stats Average the mean and deviation across all slots Creates unified benchmark
Convert to a scaled score by using the formula Adjust each raw score using the equation To convert the raw scores into scaled scores
Rank the scaled scores and generate percentiles Rank the scaled scores of all test takers and generate the percentiles. Final ranking for the CAT shortlist

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Ques. Is normalisation applied separately for each section?

Ans. Yes, normalisation is done section-wise and then combined for the overall scaled score.

What Are Percentiles in CAT? Your Ranking Revealed.

  • Your CAT percentile is the percentage of candidates who scored equal to or less than you in the CAT. A 99 percentile means you outperformed 99% of the CAT test takers.
  • Calculated from scaled scores, percentiles are released separately for overall and each section. IIMs use these for shortlisting: Old IIMs need 98-99+ overall percentile with 90+ sectional percentile.
  • The Percentile is calculated separately for each of the 3 sections and for overall scores, based on your scaled scores.

Percentile Calculation Formula (Official)

The official CAT percentile is calculated using the formula

CAT Percentile = ((N - R)/ N) * 100

N = Number of Candidates who appeared for CAT 2025

R = Rank of the candidate based on their scaled scores

Overall percentile Likely IIM Calls Minimum Sectional Percentile needed
99.5+ Old IIMs(A/B/C) 95+ in all sections
98-99.5 Top new IIMs 90+ in all sections
95-97.9 Mid-tier IIMs 85+ in all sections
90-94 Other top B-schools 80+ in all sections
Below 90 Regional B-schools Varies across colleges

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CAT College Predictor

How to Download and Interpret Your CAT 2025 Scorecard

  • To download your CAT 2025 scorecard, log in to https://iimcat.ac.in/ with your user ID and password after the announcement of the results.
  • To interpret it, check the overall percentile first, then scan the sectional scores.
  • For CAT 2025, 95+ overall percentile opens the doors for many IIMs with 90+sectional percentiles.
What to Check? How to interpret it? Why does it matter?
Personal Details Verify your name, roll number, category, and exam slot Ensures accuracy; errors can delay your admissions
Overall scaled score Look at the total adjusted score Shows your overall performance across sections
Overall percentile This is the percentage of candidates you outperformed Your main ranking for college shortlists
Sectional scaled score Individual scores for VARC, DILR, and QA Highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each area.
Sectional Percentile Percentiles for each section Individual percentiles to check if you meet the sectional cutoff criteria for colleges.

Also Read:

CAT 2025 expected marks needed for 99 percentile.

The CAT 2025 scorecard is a comprehensive document that reflects your performance through scaled scores, overall percentiles, and sectional percentiles. Understanding each component helps you interpret your results accurately and plan your admission strategy effectively.

CAT 2025 Scorecard FAQs

Ques. Does the CAT scorecard show raw marks?

Ans. No, only scaled scores and percentiles are displayed.

Ques. Why does my scaled score differ from my raw score?

Ans. Your Scaled score differs from your raw score because CAT normalises scores to adjust slot difficulty.

Ques. Which score matters for IIM shortlisting?

Ans. Only scaled scores and percentiles are used for IIM shortlisting.