CAT Percentile vs Marks + IIM Cutoffs: How Scoring Really Works
"How many marks for 99 percentile?" is the most-asked CAT question — and the answer surprises people. CAT scoring isn't about a fixed pass mark; it's about how you rank against everyone else. Here's how it really works.
Raw marks vs percentile vs scaled score
- Raw marks: +3 per correct, −1 per wrong MCQ, out of 198.
- Scaled score: raw marks are normalised across the two exam slots so no one is advantaged by an easier slot.
- Percentile: your rank expressed as the percentage of candidates you scored above. A 99 percentile means you beat 99% of roughly 3 lakh+ test-takers.
This is why percentile cutoffs barely move year to year even though raw marks for a given percentile change with difficulty.
Indicative marks needed (overall)
| Percentile | Approx. raw marks |
|---|---|
| 90 percentile | ~58–62 |
| 95 percentile | ~72–78 |
| 99 percentile | ~98–108 |
| 99.9 percentile | ~130+ |
These are indicative and vary every year with the difficulty level. Treat them as targets, not guarantees.
What this means: accuracy over volume
Because ~100 marks (roughly 35 correct questions out of 66) can mean a 99 percentile, you don't need to solve everything — you need to solve the right questions accurately. Negative marking makes reckless attempts expensive.
Indicative IIM & B-school cutoffs
Put this into practice
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