CAT Answer Key 2026 Release Date

The CAT 2026 answer-key release date has not been announced. IIM Indore will conduct the exam on 29 November 2026. The information bulletin tentatively places results in the first week of January 2027; it does not fix an answer-key date.

The provisional key and objection window are separate events. In the previous cycle, the official notice scheduled the CAT 2025 provisional key for 4 December, while objections opened four days later.

These are historical dates, not a December 2026 schedule. The CAT exam dates page tracks the current cycle, while the result page covers the later scorecard release.

Answer Key, Response Sheet and Scorecard

To check a personal score, you need both the keyed answers and your own recorded responses. A question-paper PDF alone does not show what you selected. A coaching solution can explain an approach, but it does not replace the official answer used for evaluation.

CAT runs in three sessions. Match your session and section before comparing questions; a list labelled Question 1 to Question 22 from another session is not a safe answer map. The response-sheet guide explains how to separate a recorded answer from the answer marked correct in the key.

An answer key does not establish the final percentile. It lets you check correctness and calculate raw marks. The scorecard is a later result document, not another name for the response sheet.

How to Check Answers and Calculate Raw Marks

Raw marks = 3 x (correct MCQs + correct typed answers) - incorrect MCQs. Incorrect typed answers and unanswered questions add zero. Treating every wrong answer as minus one would undercount the score.

For a worked example, take ten correct MCQs, four incorrect MCQs, two correct typed answers and one incorrect typed answer. The raw score for these responses is (10 x 3) - 4 + (2 x 3) = 32. Any unanswered questions add zero. This is an illustrative response count, not a confirmed CAT 2026 section size.

Check VARC, DILR and QA separately, then add their raw scores. Keep the answer type beside each response while counting. The CAT score-calculation guide explains the same distinction in a full score breakdown.

If a key revision changes one of your MCQs from wrong to correct, its contribution moves from -1 to +3: a four-mark increase. A typed answer moving from wrong to correct changes from zero to +3. These are consequences of the marking scheme, not a promise that a particular challenge will be accepted.

CAT Answer-Key Objections

In CAT 2025, candidates who had completed the test could raise objections through the Objection Management link in the CAT portal, using their application login ID and password. The official notice did not accept objections through other channels or outside its stated window.

For CAT 2026, the objection fee, submission window and detailed form instructions have not been announced. A previous-cycle amount should not be treated as the fee for this examination.

Before preparing a challenge, distinguish a disputed key from a response you now wish you had selected. An objection argues that the official answer or question is incorrect; it does not change the answer recorded during your test.

Keep the complete question, its session and section, the keyed answer and a concise reason for the challenge. For QA, show the derivation and the condition that changes the answer. For DILR, identify the exact constraint or inconsistent case. For VARC, connect the disputed interpretation to the passage rather than relying on a general opinion.

Use the question identifier if it is provided in the released record, and follow the actual form's evidence fields when the facility opens. Preserve the submission acknowledgement and any payment receipt. An email sent to a helpdesk should not be assumed to count as a formal key challenge.

From Provisional Raw Marks to the CAT Result

A raw-score tally made with a provisional key can change if the accepted answers change. Keep the key version with the calculation so that a later difference can be traced to the affected question rather than mistaken for an arithmetic error.

Raw marks, the official scaled score and percentile are different measures. A calculation from your responses establishes the first, not the full session-adjustment and ranking process. There is no verified fixed CAT 2026 formula that turns a personal raw mark into an exact percentile before the exam.

Do not average three sectional percentiles to create an overall percentile. Likewise, a statement such as a particular raw score guarantees 99 percentile cannot be established from the answer key alone. The score-versus-percentile page covers that distinction.

CAT 2026 scores are valid until 31 December 2027. Admission still depends on the relevant institute's selection policy; checking a provisional answer key does not create an interview shortlist or an admission offer.

1. Release and Objection Timeline
2. Which Document Do You Need?
3. Marking and Recalculation

1. Objection Evidence Checklist
2. Raw Score and Result