Calculating the raw score is one of the first things every aspirant does after the exam, especially if the goal is to reach the 99th percentile. Now that the official response sheet and answer key are available, everyone is counting raw scores to check if they are getting 99 percentile.
Understanding the CAT marking scheme is the first step to calculating the raw score. Then, raw scores are converted to scaled scores to maintain fairness across slots. Scaled scores are used to calculate the percentile.
In recent years, analysis of the CAT results shows that a raw score in the range of 80-90 often translates to 99 percentile. In CAT 2025, it is expected that a raw score of 85 can get a 99 percentile.
“Based on the data collected through the IMS calculator, it is expected that a 99 percentile would be at a score of roughly about 85.”, said an educator from IMS CAT prep.
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Guide to Calculating CAT 2025 Raw Score
Before calculating the raw score, it is important to know how the CAT 2025 marking scheme or scoring system works. The marking scheme of CAT 2025 is pretty straightforward.
As per IIM rules,
Every correct answer gets +3 marks, and every wrong answer in MCQs gets deducted by 1 mark. There is no negative marking for the TITA questions.
CAT Raw Score = 3 × (Total Correct) − 1 × (Wrong MCQs)
For the TITA questions, add +3, and there is no negative mark for wrong answers
| Question type | Correct Answer | Wrong Answer | Unattempted questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCQs | +3 | -1 | 0 |
| TITA (Non MCQs) | +3 | 0 | 0 |
After downloading your response sheet and answer key,
- For each section, count the number of correct MCQs, correct TITA questions, and incorrect MCQ questions.
- Apply the marking scheme to all three sections.
- Use the formula “Raw Score = (Correct × 3) - (Incorrect MCQs × 1).”
- Add scores across all sections to get your CAT 2025 raw score
Section-wise CAT raw score calculation example
Here is an example on how to calculate your CAT raw score by using the above formula.
| Section | Correct MCQs | Wrong MCQs | Correct TITA | Sectional raw score calculations | Section raw score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VARC | 14 | 4 | 2 | (14 x 3) - (4 x 1) + (3 x 2) | 44 |
| DILR | 8 | 2 | 1 | (8 x 3) - (2 x 1) + (3 x 1) | 25 |
| QA | 10 | 3 | 2 | (10 x 3) - (3 x 1) + (3 x 2) | 33 |
| Total | - | - | - | 44 + 25 + 33 |
Check Out:
Scores needed to get 99.9 percentile in CAT 2025?
Ques. Why can’t I use my raw scores to determine my percentile?
Ans. You can’t directly use your raw scores to convert percentile. CAT uses scaled scores to convert them to percentiles to maintain fairness across slots.
Also Read: What percentile do you need for top IIMs like IIMA, IIMB, and IIIC?
From Raw Scores to Percentile in CAT 2025
Raw scores in CAT are just a start. Your raw scores will be converted into scaled scores using the process called normalisation.
CAT slots vary in difficulty, so normalisation is adjusted using stats like mean and standard deviation per slot. It ensures fairness among all test takers across all slots.
For the 99 percentile, your normalised CAT score must top 99% of candidates, often requiring an 80+ raw score overall.
| Stage | Process | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Raw score calculation | The initial score was calculated based on the official marking scheme |
| Stage 2 | Slot-wise and section-wise scaling |
|
| Stage 3 | Overall scaled score | The scaled scores from the three individual (Scaled VARC + Scaled DILR + Scaled QA) are added together to get the overall scaled score. Which will appear on your CAT scorecard |
| Stage 4 | Percentile Calculation | The final step uses the overall scaled score to assign a rank (R) among the total number of test takers (N).Candidates are ranked in descending order based on scaled scores. Percentile = {(N - R)/N X 100] |
Also Read:
Step-by-step procedure for scaled score and normalisation in CAT 2025
Ques. My slot was easy. Will normalisation kill my score?
Ans. Normalisation does not kill your marks for simply getting the easy slot. It may cause you a slight downward adjustment, but it adjusts scores to reflect your true performance relative to entire test takers.
How much Raw Score is Needed for 99 Percentile in CAT 2025?
Based on the previous year’s trends, analysis of the difficulty level of the exam, Cracku predicted that an overall raw score of 85 can result in 99 percentile in CAT 2025.
| CAT section | Raw Score | Expected Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| VARC | 41 | 99 |
| DILR | 26 | 99 |
| QA | 32 | 99 |
| Overall | 85 | 99 |
Also Check out:
What is the Minimum vs Actual cutoff for the general category in CAT 2025?
Historical Trends: Raw Scores Needed for 99 Percentile in Past Exams
The past year's trends show how the raw scores changed to get the 99th percentile, mainly due to the difficulty level of the exam.
In CAT 2024, 95-96 scores were needed to get 99 percentile, while scoring only 76-77 in CAT 2023 got the highest percentile because of the great difficulty level.
Here is a table of past-year trends of the 99th percentile vs raw score over the years.
| Year | Approx raw score for the 99th percentile | Difficulty Level |
| CAT 2024 | 95-96 | Moderate |
| CAT 2023 | 76-77 | Tough |
| CAT 2022 | 85-86 | Moderate |
| CAT 2021 | 92-93 | Moderate |
Calculating your CAT raw score for 99 percentile involves understanding the scoring system, normalisation process, and year-wise trends. While approximately 85-87 marks are expected to translate to 99 percentile in CAT, the exact requirement changes based on the number of candidates and the performance of candidates.
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