CAT Score Calculator 2026: Your Raw Score, Section by Section

Your answers, section by section

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

VARC

24 Qs

38 / 72

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

DILR

22 Qs

24 / 66

Quantitative Ability

QA

22 Qs

29 / 66

91/ 204

Raw CAT score

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(14 × 3 − 4) + (9 × 3 − 3) + (11 × 3 − 4) = 91

Estimate the percentile for this score →

Count every correct answer, MCQ or typed-in (TITA), and only the wrong MCQs: a wrong typed answer costs nothing. This is your raw score out of 204; your scorecard will show a scaled score and percentile instead, which the IIMs work out after the exam.

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Section by section

  • VARC38 / 7214 correct, 4 wrong MCQ · 78% accuracy
  • DILR24 / 669 correct, 3 wrong MCQ · 75% accuracy
  • QA29 / 6611 correct, 4 wrong MCQ · 73% accuracy

The short answer

Your CAT raw score is 3 marks for every correct answer minus 1 for every wrong multiple-choice answer. A wrong typed-in (TITA) answer and a skipped question cost nothing. So 34 correct answers with 11 wrong MCQs give 34 × 3 − 11 = 91. In the 68-question papers of CAT 2024 and 2025, the maximum was 204.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Open your CAT response sheet and count, for each section, the questions you got right.

  2. 2

    Count the wrong answers to multiple-choice questions only. Wrong typed-in answers carry no penalty.

  3. 3

    Read your raw score for VARC, DILR and QA and the total, then estimate the percentile it may lead to.

How the CAT raw score is worked out

Raw score = 3 × correct answers − 1 × wrong MCQ answers

The CAT 2026 FAQs give the marking: 3 marks for every correct answer, MCQ or typed-in, minus 1 for a wrong multiple-choice answer, and nothing for a wrong typed-in answer or a question you skip. The IIMs have not published the number of questions for CAT 2026, so the calculator uses the pattern of CAT 2024 and 2025: VARC 24, DILR 22, QA 22, 204 marks in all, with 40 minutes per section.

Your scorecard will not show this raw figure. The IIMs normalise scores across the three test sessions, report a scaled score for each section and in total, and convert the scaled score into a percentile. A raw score is still the best early guide while you wait for the result.

Frequently asked questions

How is the CAT score calculated?

The CAT 2026 FAQs on iimcat.ac.in give the marking: 3 marks for each correct answer, minus 1 for a wrong multiple-choice answer, and nothing for a question you skip. For typed-in (non-MCQ) questions, a correct answer earns 3 and a wrong one costs nothing. Add the three sections for your total.

Is there negative marking for TITA questions in CAT?

No. Questions where you type the answer (TITA, or non-MCQ) carry no negative marking: a wrong answer scores 0, the same as leaving it. Only wrong multiple-choice answers lose a mark.

How many questions are there in CAT 2026?

The IIMs have not published the count for CAT 2026, and say the number of non-MCQ questions varies. CAT 2024 and CAT 2025 had 68 questions: 24 in VARC, 22 in DILR and 22 in QA, with 40 minutes for each section. The calculator uses that pattern and flags a section if your answers add up to more questions than it had.

Is my raw score the score on my CAT scorecard?

Not exactly. Your scorecard shows a scaled score and a percentile, which the IIMs work out after the exam across all three test sessions. Your raw score from the response sheet is a good early guide, but the scaled score can be a little higher or lower.

What is a good score in CAT?

It depends on the year, because percentiles follow how everyone scored. Results reported publicly after CAT 2025 put about 85 scaled marks at the 99th percentile and about 62 at the 95th; in CAT 2024 the same percentiles needed about 95 and 70. These are estimates, not IIM figures. Use the percentile predictor to see the range for your score.

When will the CAT 2026 result come out?

CAT 2026 is on Sunday, 29 November 2026, conducted by IIM Indore. Its information bulletin says the result is likely in the first week of January 2027. The response sheet usually comes out before the result, which is when this calculator is most useful.

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