CAT Score Vs Percentile 2024: Check How Many Marks You Need for 99 Percentile?

CAT score is the total marks a candidate has scored in all the three sections of CAT exam. CAT Score is printed on CAT Scorecard of each candidate and is different from CAT Raw Score. Since CAT exam is conducted in three slots or sessions, there are minor variations in the difficulty level of the question paper. To maintain fairness to all candidates across slots, IIMs apply a CAT Score Normalisation Process. This normalisation takes into account factors like difficulty level of questions, minor changes in question types and other factors across three sessions. Details are explained in next section.

How to calculate CAT Score is an often-asked question by MBA Aspirants. CAT Scores are calculated by IIMs for each candidate after taking following steps:  

Step 1: CAT Raw Score: CAT 2024 Raw score is the first thing to calculate as per the CAT Exam Marking scheme (+3 Marks for each correct answer and -1 mark for each wrong answer for MCQs; No negative marking for non MCQs). For example, if you attempt 10 questions in DILR section and 8 are correct. Out of the 2 wrong answers, if one is for MCQ and other is for Non-MCQ, your Raw CAT score can be calculated as:
1. 10x3: 30 (Recheck)
2. 1x4 (Deduct 3 marks for wrong answer for MCQ and -1 for negative marking)
3.Deduct 3 marks for Non MCQ (No negative marking for wrong answer)
4. Total raw score that you obtain is: 30-4-3=23 marks

Same process of calculation of Raw score across 3 sections and overall applies for CAT 2024 exam.

Step-2: Normalization of Scores: CAT 2024 will be conducted in 3 sessions with 3 different question papers. In order to ensure fairness and equity in comparison of performances of candidates across different test sessions, the scores of all candidates are subjected to a process of ‘Normalisation’. CAT Score Normalisation process adjusts for location, difficulty level and differences of score distributions across the three different question papers. This gives fair chance to all test takers. 

Step-3: Calculation of CAT Scaled Score: What is scaled score in CAT? After CAT score Normalisation process, the scores are further equated for all the 3 sections to obtain Scaled Score. Following steps are followed to calculate the scaled score of a candidate.

Source: IIM CAT Scoring and Equating Process

Check CAT Score Calculator on MBAUniverse.com.

Percentile in CAT exam is calculated by taking into account the total number of candidates who appeared for CAT in all the 3 slots. Each candidate is assigned a rank based on scaled score and if more than one candidate obtains same scaled scores, same percentile is assigned to them. Following Process is followed to arrive at CAT percentile score:

• Calculate the total number of candidates (N) who appeared for CAT (i.e. including morning, afternoon and evening sessions).
• Assign a rank (r), based on the scaled scores obtained in the QA section, to all candidates who appeared for CAT. In the case of two or more candidates obtaining identical scaled scores in the QA section, assign identical ranks to all those candidates. Suppose exactly two candidates obtain the highest scaled score in the QA section, then both of those candidates are assigned a rank of 1. Moreover, the candidate(s) obtaining the second highest scaled score in the QA section are assigned a rank of 3 and so on.
• Now Calculate the percentile score (P) of a candidate with rank (r) in the QA section as: 
• P = [(N – r )/n] x 100   
• Round off the calculated percentile score (P) of a candidate up to two decimal points. For example, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.995 are rounded off to 100, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.985 but less than 99.995 are rounded off to 99.99 and so on.

Source: IIM Calcutta 

What are the CAT score needed to get 99% or 95% or 90% in CAT 2024? CAT score and percentile of a candidate is depended on two main factors: 

• Exam difficulty level 
• Number of Candidates who take the exam. 

 Let’s examine both these factors. 

• CAT 2023 was a tough paper. In fact CAT experts like author Arun Sharma said, it one of the toughest papers in the history of CAT. Hence, it is unlikely that CAT 2024 will be tougher than CAT 2023. 
• CAT 2024 registration numbers are same as CAT 2023. A total of 3.29 lakh student have registered for CAT 2024, compared to 3.30 lakh candidates in CAT 2024. 

So, assuming that CAT 2024 paper is similar to CAT 2023 in difficulty level, the expected CAT Score Vs Percentile prediction shall be as follows: 

CAT Score Vs Percentile 2024: Overall Expected 

CAT 2024 Score Vs Percentile Expectations for VARC, DILR, QA

These expectations can be summarized as follows: 

• CAT 2024 Score for 99% is 79-82 
• CAT 2024 Score for 95% is about 54-57
• CAT 2024 Score for 90% is about 44-47

Please note that this analysis will be updated based on actual CAT exam paper on November 24, 2024.

Use CAT Percentile Predictor on MBAUniverse.com and calculate your CAT Exam Score and Percentile in 5 mins | Live Now

Let’s look at CAT Score vs Percentile trends for previous years. In the tables below, you can check CAT 2023 Score Vs Percentile for overall paper for all three slots, as well as CAT Score Vs Percentile 2023 for each of the three sections. This will help you get a better understanding for CAT 2024 Score Vs Percentile calculation explained above. 

CAT 2023 Score Vs Percentile: Overall 

CAT 2023 Score Vs Percentile: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

CAT 2023 Score Vs Percentile: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

CAT 2023 Score Vs Percentile: Quantitative Aptitude

CAT Score Vs Percentile for CAT 2022 and CAT 2021 
CAT Score vs Percentile previous years analysis for CAT 2022 and CAT 22 is also published below. Check how CAT score is required for CAT 99 percentile. 

CAT Cut Offs are released by IIMs based on exam difficulty level and CAT Percentile trends. Based on CAT 2023 data, and expected CAT 2024 paper, here are key predictions. 

For complete details, read CAT 2024 Cut Offs. .

To summarize, CAT Score vs Percentile is a process to check score required for a given percentile. Last year in CAT 2023, a score of 81-82 marks achieved a 99% percentile. CAT 2024 score Vs Percentile predictions for 99% is about 80 marks. Remember that CAT Marks vs Percentile are same as CAT Score vs Percentile. We will update this article on November 24 based on CAT 2024 exam difficulty level. 

Q: What percentile is 40 marks in cats?
A: According to CAT Marks vs Percentile analysis of previous CAT papers, 40 marks are about 85% in CAT exam.    

Q: What percentile is 37 marks in cats?
A: According to CAT Marks vs Percentile analysis of previous CAT papers, 37 marks are about 82-83% in CAT exam.    

Q: What is the 95 percentile in CAT scorecard?
A: According to CAT Marks vs Percentile analysis of previous CAT papers, to get 95% percentile, you need to score about 57-60 marks in CAT exam. 

Q: How much is 36 marks in CAT percentile?
A: According to CAT Marks vs Percentile analysis of previous CAT papers, 36 marks are about 81-82% in CAT exam.