CAT 2026 Notification: Exam Date, Registration & IIM Indore Update

The CAT 2026 notification is the starting gun for every MBA aspirant this year — and it is expected any day now. Going by the last-Sunday-of-July convention, the CAT 2026 notification is widely expected on July 26, 2026, with IIM Indore reported as the conducting institute. Registration is expected to open around August 1, 2026 on iimcat.ac.in, and the exam is expected on November 29, 2026. Until the official PDF is published, treat every date here as expected / as per official notice — but do not wait for the PDF to start preparing.

This is the moment that separates the shortlist from the crowd. You have roughly four months between the notification and test day. Below is exactly what the CAT 2026 notification will settle, what stays the same, and how a serious aspirant should use this runway.

CAT 2026: The expected timeline at a glance

The following schedule is drawn from the standard CAT calendar and prevailing reports. All of it will be confirmed only by the official notification on iimcat.ac.in.

• Conducting institute: IIM Indore (as reported; official confirmation via notification)
• Notification release: Expected July 26, 2026 (last Sunday of July)
• Registration opens: Expected August 1, 2026
• Registration closes: Expected mid-to-late September 2026
• Admit card: Expected early-to-mid November 2026
• Exam date: Expected Sunday, November 29, 2026 (three slots)

Mark these tentatively in your calendar now. The instant the notification lands, cross-check every date against the official PDF and reset your countdown accordingly.

What the CAT 2026 notification will confirm

A CAT notification is not just a date sheet — it is the rulebook for the entire cycle. Expect the official PDF to lock in:

• Exact registration window and fees (the fee structure and category-wise concessions are published here, not before).
• Eligibility criteria — a bachelor’s degree with the required minimum aggregate (typically 50%, with relaxation for reserved categories), and provision for final-year students to apply.
• Exam pattern and duration — the three-section structure (VARC, DILR, QA) with sectional time limits.
• List of test cities and the slot-allotment mechanism.
• Reservation policy as per Government of India norms.

Because IIM Indore is expected to conduct CAT 2026, watch for any nuance the institute may introduce in section weightage or city coverage. Historically the core three-section format has held steady — so your preparation strategy does not need to wait on the notification.

Eligibility: can you apply?

The broad rule is simple. You need a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST/PwD candidates, subject to the official notice). Students in the final year of their degree are eligible to apply and can be admitted provisionally. There is no upper age limit for CAT. Confirm the precise percentage and documentation requirements against the official notification once released.

Don’t just register — build a four-month plan

The aspirants who convert are the ones who treat August as a build phase, September–October as a scaling phase, and November as a peaking phase. Here is the sharp version:

• August (foundation): lock down QA fundamentals, arithmetic and number properties; rebuild your reading habit for VARC; learn to see DILR set structures rather than brute-forcing them.
• September–October (scaling): shift to full-length, timed mock tests every week. Your mock analysis matters more than the mock itself — track accuracy, attempt selection and time-per-set.
• November (peaking): taper the volume, sharpen section-entry strategy, and simulate the exact 8-minute-per-DILR-set discipline. Confidence at this stage is engineered, not hoped for.

Structured, mentor-led preparation compresses this curve. Our live classes and the interactive live classroom are built around this exact August-to-November arc for CAT 2026.

Beyond CAT: XAT 2027 and SNAP 2026

A smart MBA aspirant never bets on a single exam. Two important dates to note:

• XAT 2027 (conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur): the official notification is already out. Registration opened in mid-July 2026 and the exam is scheduled for January 3, 2027. Verify on xatonline.in.
• SNAP 2026 (Symbiosis International University): the notification and registration schedule are published on snaptest.org — check the official site for this cycle’s exact window.

Preparing for CAT builds 80% of what you need for XAT and SNAP. Adding these to your target list widens your shot at a top B-school without proportionally more work.

The bottom line

The CAT 2026 notification is expected on July 26, 2026, from IIM Indore, with registration expected from August 1 and the exam expected on November 29. But the calendar is not your strategy — your August build phase is. Bookmark iimcat.ac.in, confirm every date the moment the PDF is live, and start your preparation now. Four disciplined months are more than enough to earn a call from a top IIM — if you begin today.

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