IIM Ahmedabad has revised its selection criteria for admission to the PGP 2026-28 batch through CAT 2025, and the changes are big enough to reshape how you should plan your CAT prep and profile-building. The qualifying CAT cutoff has jumped by 15 percentile points across every category, and the Application Rating now gives more weight to gender diversity than before.
This guide breaks down exactly what changed, what stayed the same, and — just as importantly — clears up a genuine source of confusion online: the difference between the 2026-28 batch changes (this article) and the 2027-29 batch changes (a separate, bigger overhaul announced a year later). If you’re preparing for CAT 2025 admissions specifically, this is the version that applies to you.
Quick Snapshot: What Actually Changed
Before the detailed breakdown, here’s the short version.
| What Changed | Old (2025-27 Batch, CAT 2024) | New (2026-28 Batch, CAT 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| CAT cutoff — General/EWS (Overall/Sectional) | 80 / 70 | 95 / 85 |
| CAT cutoff — NC-OBC (Overall/Sectional) | 75 / 65 | 90 / 80 |
| CAT cutoff — SC (Overall/Sectional) | 70 / 60 | 85 / 75 |
| CAT cutoff — ST (Overall/Sectional) | 60 / 50 | 75 / 65 |
| Gender Diversity score (non-male) | 2 points | 3 points |
| Composite Score formula (CS) | 65% CAT + 35% AR | Unchanged |
| Final Composite Score (FCS) weights | PI 50% + AWT 10% + CAT 25% + AR 15% | Unchanged |
| Academic Category structure | AC-1 to AC-6 (six categories) | Unchanged for this batch |
The takeaway: IIM Ahmedabad didn’t rebuild its process from scratch for 2026-28 — it tightened the entry gate and adjusted one scoring component. The deeper structural overhaul (moving from six Academic Categories to 20 undergraduate disciplines) only applies from the 2027-29 batch onward, so don’t let articles about that later change confuse your CAT 2025 prep.
Why Did IIM Ahmedabad Raise the Cutoff for 2026-28?
IIMA’s admissions committee says it made this change to improve the quality of candidates shortlisted for interviews, considering how the applicant pool and CAT scores have changed in recent years. In practical terms, IIMA was seeing tens of thousands of candidates clear the older 80/70 cutoff every year against roughly 400 flagship PGP seats — so a 15-point jump narrows that funnel considerably before the Composite Score ranking even begins.
Step 1: The New CAT 2025 Qualifying Cutoffs (2026-28 Batch)
This is the headline change, and it’s non-negotiable. A candidate must clear the overall percentile, every sectional percentile, and register a positive raw score (greater than zero) in each section — all three conditions together, not any one of them.
| Category | Overall Percentile | VARC / DILR / QA (Each) |
|---|---|---|
| General / EWS | 95 | 85 |
| NC-OBC / Transgender | 90 | 80 |
| SC | 85 | 75 |
| ST | 75 | 65 |
| PwD (Gen/EWS/NC-OBC/SC) | 85 | 75 |
| PwD (ST) | 75 | 65 |
A quick but important clarification: for General-category transgender candidates, the NC-OBC cutoff (90/80) applies instead of the General cutoff.
If you want the deeper category-wise breakdown with year-on-year trends and a “safe percentile” target for each category, this IIM Ahmedabad CAT cutoff guide covers that separately in full detail — this article focuses on the selection process, not just the qualifying number.
Step 2: How the Application Rating (AR) Is Scored
Clearing the CAT cutoff only gets a candidate into the applicant pool. From there, IIMA computes an Application Rating (AR) — a score built from five academic and profile components — which then feeds into the shortlisting formula.
AR = A (Class 10) + B (Class 12) + C (Graduation) + D (Work Experience) + E (Gender Diversity)
A. Class 10 Score (Rating Score A)
| Percentage in Class 10 | ≤55 | 55–60 | 60–70 | 70–80 | 80–90 | Above 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating Score A | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
B. Class 12 Score (Rating Score B) — Stream-Wise
Because pass marks and grading differ by stream, IIMA uses separate bands for Science, Commerce, and Arts/Humanities students.
| Stream | ≤ Band 1 | Band 2 | Band 3 | Band 4 | Band 5 | Top Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science | ≤55: 1 | 55–60: 2 | 60–70: 3 | 70–80: 5 | 80–90: 8 | >90: 10 |
| Commerce | ≤50: 1 | 50–55: 2 | 55–65: 3 | 65–75: 5 | 75–90: 8 | >90: 10 |
| Arts / Humanities | ≤45: 1 | 45–50: 2 | 50–60: 3 | 60–70: 5 | 70–85: 8 | >85: 10 |
C. Graduation Score (Rating Score C) — By Academic Category
For the 2026-28 batch, IIMA still groups undergraduate degrees into six Academic Categories (AC-1 to AC-6), each scored on its own band of percentages/CGPA equivalents.
| Academic Category | What It Covers | Scoring Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| AC-1 | Medicine & Surgery (MBBS/MD/BAMS/BDS/BHMS) | ≤55:1 · 55–60:2 · 60–62:3 · 62–65:5 · 65–70:8 · >70:10 |
| AC-2 | Professional degrees (CA, CMA/ICWA, CS, FIAI) | ≤50:1 · 50–53:2 · 53–55:3 · 55–57:5 · 57–63:8 · >63:10 |
| AC-3 | Commerce, Economics, Finance, Management | ≤55:1 · 55–60:2 · 60–65:3 · 65–70:5 · 70–80:8 · >80:10 |
| AC-4 & AC-6 | Engineering, Technology, Architecture + “Other” disciplines | ≤60:1 · 60–65:2 · 65–70:3 · 70–75:5 · 75–85:8 · >85:10 |
| AC-5 | Arts, Humanities, Design, Law, Rural Studies | ≤50:1 · 50–55:2 · 55–60:3 · 60–65:5 · 65–75:8 · >75:10 |
D. Work Experience Score (Rating Score D)
Work experience is counted as on 31 July of the application year.
- Less than 12 months: 0
- 12 to 36 months: D = 0.20 × (months − 11)
- More than 36 months: 5 (capped)
E. Gender Diversity Score (Rating Score E) — What Actually Changed Here
This is the second real change for 2026-28. Non-male candidates now receive 3 points for the gender diversity component, up from 2 points in the previous admission cycle. Male candidates continue to receive 0 points on this component. Since AR feeds directly into both the shortlisting Composite Score and the Final Composite Score, this one-point shift meaningfully improves the relative standing of non-male applicants who are close to the shortlisting line.
Step 3: Two Additional Eligibility Screens Before Shortlisting
Meeting the CAT cutoff and AR requirements alone is not enough. A candidate must also meet two additional conditions before entering the final ranking pool:
- P Threshold — the average of Class 10 and Class 12 percentages. For General/EWS candidates, this stands at 80 for Science, 77 for Commerce, and 75 for Arts/Humanities streams, with relaxed thresholds for reserved categories as per IIMA’s official policy.
- Graduation Cutoff — a candidate’s graduation score must fall at or above the 80th percentile within their own Academic Category and reservation group — not a fixed all-India percentage. This pool-relative structure is one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of IIMA’s process.
Step 4: Shortlisting for AWT-PI — The Composite Score Formula
Once a candidate clears the cutoff, AR, P threshold, and graduation cutoff, IIMA ranks the pool using a Composite Score (CS):
CS = 0.35 × Normalised AR + 0.65 × Normalised CAT Overall Score
Shortlisting then happens in two stages:
- Stage 1 (ACRC route): Within each Academic Category–Reservation Category (ACRC) group that has at least 100 applicants, IIMA shortlists the top 5%, subject to upper caps (for example, 100 General-category seats for AC-1/2/3/5, and 150 for AC-4).
- Stage 2 (Category merit list): Remaining seats are filled using the same Composite Score, ranked across the broader category rather than the narrower ACRC group.
This two-stage mechanism itself did not change for 2026-28 — only the inputs feeding into it (the tougher cutoff and the revised gender score) did.
Step 5: Final Selection — How Offers Are Actually Made
Candidates who clear AWT-PI shortlisting are evaluated on a completely different formula for the final offer, called the Final Composite Score (FCS):
FCS = 0.50 × PI + 0.10 × AWT + 0.25 × CAT + 0.15 × AR
One thing students should pay attention to is how much CAT actually matters at each stage. IIM Ahmedabad gives CAT a 65% weightage during shortlisting, but that drops to 25% when it makes the final admission decision. So, getting the interview call is only part of the process. A candidate with a strong CAT score can still fall behind if their PI or AWT performance is weaker than that of another candidate.
2026-28 vs 2027-29: Don’t Mix Up These Two Cycles
Since IIMA announced both changes within roughly a year, many articles and websites end up mixing the two up. Here’s the clean separation:
| Aspect | PGP 2026-28 (via CAT 2025) | PGP 2027-29 (via CAT 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Category structure | AC-1 to AC-6 (six broad categories) | Replaced with 20 specific UG disciplines |
| Rating scale for Class 10/12/Graduation | Separate stream-wise and AC-wise tables | Single common rating scale across all three |
| Shortlisting mechanism | Two-stage ACRC-based process | Discipline-wise normalisation process |
| CAT cutoff | Raised sharply (95/85 for Gen/EWS) | Cutoff structure largely retained |
| Gender Diversity score | Raised from 2 to 3 | No further change reported |
If you’re applying with a CAT 2025 score for the 2026-28 batch, everything in this article’s main sections applies to you directly. If you’re targeting CAT 2026 for the 2027-29 batch, treat the discipline-based system as a separate topic to research on its own.
What This Means for CAT 2025 Aspirants
Three practical shifts follow from these changes:
- Sectional balance is now a hard filter, not a soft target. A 99-percentile overall score with a 78-percentile DILR section still fails the General-category screen. Build your prep plan around consistency across VARC, DILR, and QA rather than maximising one strong section.
- The qualifying cutoff is a floor, not a competitive target. Clearing 95/85 only opens the door to Composite Score ranking; realistic call cutoffs for General category have historically sat well above 99 percentile.
- Profile-building still pays off, but only after the CAT floor is cleared. A strong Class 10/12/graduation record and relevant work experience genuinely move the needle in AR — but they cannot substitute for a sub-cutoff CAT score.
The most reliable way to close the gap between “qualified” and “shortlisted” is disciplined, section-wise practice. Solving CAT previous year question papers builds familiarity with how VARC, DILR, and QA are actually framed at CAT’s difficulty level, and taking timed CAT mock tests regularly is what turns a good overall score into a sectionally balanced one that clears IIMA’s 85-percentile bar in every section, not just your strongest.
For a side-by-side look at how this compares with other top B-schools, the IIM Bangalore selection criteria 2027 guide is a useful companion read, and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad guide covers fees, placements, and rankings beyond just the selection process.
Summary: IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria Changed for 2026-28
| Metric | 2026-28 Batch (Current) |
|---|---|
| CAT cutoff — General/EWS (Overall/Sectional) | 95 / 85 |
| CAT cutoff — NC-OBC (Overall/Sectional) | 90 / 80 |
| CAT cutoff — SC (Overall/Sectional) | 85 / 75 |
| CAT cutoff — ST (Overall/Sectional) | 75 / 65 |
| Shortlisting formula (Composite Score) | 65% CAT + 35% AR |
| Final selection formula (FCS) | PI 50% + AWT 10% + CAT 25% + AR 15% |
| Gender Diversity score (non-male) | 3 points (up from 2) |
| Academic Category structure | AC-1 to AC-6 (unchanged this cycle) |
| Graduation cutoff | 80th percentile within Academic Category/ACRC |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What changed in IIM Ahmedabad’s selection criteria for the 2026-28 batch?
The qualifying CAT cutoff rose by 15 percentile points across all categories, and the Gender Diversity score for non-male candidates increased from 2 to 3 points. The Composite Score formula, Final Composite Score weights, and the six Academic Category structure remained unchanged.
Q2. Is the 2026-28 selection criteria the same as the 2027-29 criteria?
No. The 2026-28 batch (via CAT 2025) kept the AC-1 to AC-6 structure and only revised the cutoff and gender score. The 2027-29 batch (via CAT 2026) replaced that structure entirely with 20 undergraduate disciplines and a single common rating scale.
Q3. What is the CAT cutoff for the IIM Ahmedabad 2026-28 batch?
General/EWS candidates need 95 percentile overall and 85 in each section. NC-OBC needs 90/80, SC needs 85/75, and ST needs 75/65 — with a positive raw score required in every section regardless of category.
Q4. How is the Application Rating (AR) calculated at IIM Ahmedabad?
AR combines five scores: Class 10 percentage (A), Class 12 percentage by stream (B), graduation percentage by Academic Category (C), work experience (D), and a gender diversity score (E). The normalised AR contributes 35% to the shortlisting Composite Score.
Q5. Does clearing the CAT cutoff guarantee an interview call at IIM Ahmedabad?
No. Clearing the cutoff only makes a candidate eligible for Composite Score ranking. Candidates must also clear the category-wise P threshold and a graduation cutoff at the 80th percentile within their Academic Category before being considered for the AWT-PI shortlist.
Q6. Why did IIM Ahmedabad raise its CAT cutoff for the 2026-28 batch?
IIMA’s admissions committee has cited the need to strengthen the quality of the interview-stage candidate pool, given how large the applicant pool has grown relative to the roughly 400 available flagship PGP seats.
Q7. What is the Final Composite Score formula for IIM Ahmedabad admissions?
FCS = 0.50 × Personal Interview + 0.10 × Analytical Writing Test + 0.25 × CAT score + 0.15 × Application Rating. This is distinct from the shortlisting formula, where CAT carries a much heavier 65% weight.
Conclusion
IIM Ahmedabad’s selection criteria for the 2026-28 batch didn’t get a structural overhaul — it got a tighter entry gate and one meaningful scoring adjustment. The CAT cutoff jump means sectional consistency is no longer optional, and the raised Gender Diversity score gives non-male applicants a slightly stronger footing in the Application Rating. Everything else — the Composite Score formula, the two-stage shortlisting mechanism, the Final Composite Score weights, and the six Academic Category structure — stayed exactly as it was.
If you’re preparing with a CAT 2025 score for this specific batch, treat the 95/85 cutoff as your minimum floor, not your target, and build your prep around balanced sectional performance backed by consistent mock practice.
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