IIM Kozhikode CAT 2026 Cutoff and Eligibility

IIM Kozhikode has not published its CAT 2026 policy for the PGP 2027-29 intake. Its current PGP admissions page links to the CAT 2025 policy for the 2026-28 batch. The criteria below belong to that previous admission cycle.

In addition to these percentiles, applicants needed a positive scaled score, greater than zero, in every CAT section. A zero sectional score did not satisfy this condition even if the applicable percentile floor was met.

The standard graduation route required at least 60% aggregate in a degree involving at least three years of education after Class 12. A separate route covered completed CA, CMA/ICWA or CS with at least 50% aggregate, whether or not the applicant also held a graduation degree.

The programme threshold was not the same as the general CAT examination eligibility. The policy did not list a lower graduation threshold by category in its degree clause; category-specific school and CAT thresholds are shown separately in the table.

Class 10 and 12 percentages included all subjects on the marksheet. Candidates without graduation or school marks because of COVID-19, but holding a pass certificate, could proceed to Stage 2 subject to the Stage 1 self-declaration. Graduation records could be independently checked with the institution.

Registration Is Not an Interview Call

Applicants who selected IIM Kozhikode PGP in CAT and met the initial conditions received an email inviting online registration. Completing that registration was necessary for consideration, but it was not a WAT-PI call.

Stage 2 ranked registered eligible candidates within categories using the Aggregate Index Score (AIS). CAT performance, school marks, diversity and work experience contributed to that score. A candidate could therefore meet every initial floor and still fall outside the interview shortlist.

The historical policy placed the shortlist around the second week of January 2026 and initial offers around the first week of May 2026. Those were windows for the 2026-28 intake, not a CAT 2026 interview calendar. Interview call letters and venue details were to be downloaded from the institute's registration portal.

Kozhikode makes its own shortlist. A call from another IIM does not establish a call here, and a successful CAT result is not a common admission offer across all IIMs. The IIM shortlist guide compares the separate selection stages.

AIS: School Marks and Diversity Points

The CAT index used scaled scores from VARC, DILR and QA with equal weightage and contributed 50% to AIS. It was not simply the overall percentile multiplied by 0.5.

Class 10 points were candidate percentage / highest percentage for the relevant board x 15. Class 12 points were candidate percentage / highest percentage in the relevant stream of that board x 20. The reference database covered CAT applicants from the past three years, including the current year of that policy.

For example, if a Class 10 percentage was 90 and the applicable board maximum was 100, the contribution would be 13.5. If the board maximum were 96, it would be 14.0625. The example shows why the board reference value matters; it does not assert those maxima for an actual board.

Gender and academic-diversity points could not be added together. Female and transgender applicants could receive ten gender points. A bachelor's degree pursued or held outside engineering/technology qualified for five academic-diversity points. An applicant with both engineering and non-engineering bachelor's degrees also needed 60% in the non-engineering degree for that academic route.

A female non-engineering applicant did not receive 15 points by stacking both benefits. The policy allowed only one of the applicable diversity scores.

For COVID-related absence of Class 10 marks, its 15% weight was redistributed proportionately between CAT and Class 12. For absence of Class 12 marks, its 20% weight was redistributed between CAT and Class 10. These were documented exceptions, not an option to discard low marks.

Work Experience: Points and Required Proof

Eligible work was measured in completed months as on 31 December 2025 for the 2026-28 intake. Only full-time paid work after graduation or the qualifying CA/CMA/CS counted. Part-time work, projects, internships, articleship, pre-graduation work and fellowships were excluded.

The month-by-month annexure can be expressed compactly as follows. The rising band is rounded to two decimals, matching the published points.

The maximum was five points at 35-36 months. More service did not always improve the score: 42 months earned 3.8, while 61 months or more earned zero. A fresher's zero work score did not itself mean ineligibility through an otherwise qualifying academic route.

Self-employment or partnership required income-tax returns plus any two of these records:

• Registered partnership deed
• MCA/RoC firm registration certificate
• GST registration
• Audited firm accounts for at least two continuous financial years
• DIPP Certificate of Recognition

At least one of the two records had to show the firm's name and the applicant as promoter/director. The other had to identify the firm or its registration number. The later date in the two records determined the start of self-employment, and both dates used for that calculation had to be after the award of graduation.

A claimed business start date alone was insufficient. The documented date could produce fewer eligible months than the duration the applicant informally described. Original work records were also required at PI.

Final Selection and Resume Score

The resume evaluation contained two five-point factors: completed CA/CMA(ICWA)/CS and completed CFA Level 1, 2 or 3. Completing a listed professional qualification earned five; completing a listed CFA level earned five. Completing several CFA levels did not create five points for each level.

A candidate meeting both factors could obtain ten resume points. Enrolment or an unfinished qualification did not meet the completed-qualification condition. The linked 2026-28 resume table did not include a NIRF-ranking factor, so an older ranking-based rule should not be carried into it.

Shortlisted candidates wrote a WAT essay and then attended PI. The essay topic was given at the venue immediately before the writing session. The historical WAT-PI centres were Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai and New Delhi, with the process occupying a morning or afternoon half-day.

PI assessed academic efforts and disposition, general and social awareness, attitude, personality, communication and work-experience quality. Final category-wise and common merit lists followed the published CAT, PI, WAT and resume weights. The WAT guide and interview guide cover those assessments separately.

Original Documents, Offer Acceptance and Withdrawal

Original academic, reservation, work-experience and professional certificates had to be produced at PI. Failure to produce a relevant original could disqualify the candidate from attending the interview. A photocopy-only file did not satisfy that condition.

For the 2026-28 intake, acceptance required INR 1,00,000 along with accepting the offer by its deadline. The candidate then had to attend the designated programme registration and pay the required fees. Missing admission formalities could forfeit the seat to the next waitlisted candidate.

Waiting-list offers depended on earlier candidates declining places. The institute did not permit an admission offer to be deferred to a subsequent year.

Withdrawal before the published cutoff date and time qualified for a refund after the applicable processing deduction. Requests before registration had to go through the admissions portal. The policy described a typical processing period of two to three months, not an immediate transfer.

After the withdrawal deadline, refund eligibility depended on the withdrawal not reducing the admitted batch below its approved size. A next-cycle acceptance fee, withdrawal deadline or deduction should not be assumed from this historical policy.

Admissions communication came only through the institute's admissions office; it did not authorise outside individuals or organisations to manage PGP admission. This guide concerns the flagship PGP, not PGP-Finance, PGP-LSM or an executive programme with a separate policy.

Eligibility and Shortlistcategory floors, registration and AIS Experience and Final Offerwork points, resume and documents

1. Previous-Year Eligibility Floors
2. Registration to Final Offer
3. Shortlist Weights and Diversity

1. Work-Experience Score Reference
2. WAT, PI and Resume Points
3. Documents and Offer Conditions