IIM Sambalpur CAT 2026 Cutoff

IIM Sambalpur has not released its CAT 2026 MBA selection policy. The current MBA page links to the CAT 2025 policy for the 2026-28 batch. Its overall thresholds were:

For General-category applicants, the 90 percentile floor fell to 85 for male candidates with at least one year of relevant work experience and for all female candidates. The footnote did not extend that reduction to every General applicant.

There was no fixed sectional-percentile cutoff in this policy. Applicants nevertheless needed a positive scaled score, greater than zero, in VARC, DILR and QA. Zero or a negative scaled score in any section failed this condition, even if the overall percentile was high.

Stage 1 considered eligible CAT 2025 candidates who had selected IIM Sambalpur in their CAT preferences. Its floors were minimum conditions, not promises of an interview or a seat. The CAT cutoff guide explains why qualifying and final-selection thresholds differ.

Registration, Pre-PI Score and Shortlist

Stage 1 applicants were to receive an institute email in January 2026 with the application link. Submitting that form within the deadline was compulsory for further consideration. The form was pre-filled from CAT and could be updated for accuracy except for category. Academic, work and category/disability records had to be uploaded as applicable.

Only candidates who completed the form entered the Pre-PI evaluation. The Pre-PI score was out of 75, not 80. Five gender-diversity points went to female and transgender applicants.

The CAT component used percentiles: 0.31 x overall percentile + 0.03 x VARC percentile + 0.03 x QA percentile + 0.03 x DILR percentile. Its maximum was 40. It did not use candidate scaled marks divided by the highest scaled marks.

For example, 95 overall and 90 in each section yield 37.55 CAT points. Add Class 10 marks of 88% (2.25 points), Class 12 marks of 92% (3 points), graduation marks of 78% (1 point), 18 months of eligible work (10 points) and zero gender points: the Pre-PI total is 53.80 out of 75. This illustrates the formula, not an interview-call cutoff.

The institute chose category-wise interview pools from the Pre-PI scores. Clearing the initial percentile floor and submitting the form therefore did not guarantee a Stage 2 call. The IIM shortlist criteria differ across institutes.

Academic Points and Percentage Calculation

A percentage just below a boundary remained in the lower band: 79.9% in graduation earned one point, while 80% earned two. These are scoring bands, not a statement that every applicant below 75% is academically ineligible.

All subjects shown on the Class 10 and Class 12 marksheets counted, even if the board normally calculated an aggregate from fewer subjects.

For completed CA/ICWA/CS without a bachelor's degree, the average of Intermediate and Final examination percentages stood in for graduation marks. If Intermediate marks were unavailable or not stated, the Final marks were used.

Final-year bachelor's candidates used marks for completed years or semesters entered in CAT. A completed integrated master's or dual degree followed university norms for the bachelor's-equivalent percentage; ongoing programmes used the completed-year or semester marks entered in CAT.

CGPA was converted using the board, university or institute's formula. Only where no formula existed did CGPA / maximum CGPA x 100 apply. Letter-grade-only records required an official equivalent-marks certificate, with its original produced at interview when shortlisted.

Work Experience: Months, Points and Documents

The historical work cutoff was 31 December 2025. Relevant post-graduation experience was counted in completed months. The score rose to a maximum at 30 months and then declined:

Values between the displayed month anchors were interpolated. For example, 15 months was halfway between 12 and 18 months, giving 7.5 points; 33 months was halfway between 30 and 36, giving 17.5 points. More experience was not always worth more points.

Internships during study, course-related apprenticeship/articleship and unpaid work received no credit. Salary received in cash or through UPI apps was also excluded by this policy. That is an admissions-credit condition, not a claim about the legality of the payment method.

A proprietor or partner needed the applicable business records:

• Business-registration certificate from the appropriate authority, such as the applicable MSME or Udyog Aadhaar certificate
• Registered partnership deed signed by all partners, where applicable
• GST registration certificate
• Firm PAN card
• Income-tax returns for the relevant period
• Firm bank-account statement

The evidence had to identify the firm, its registration number and the applicant as promoter/director. Records that did not support the claimed work could be disregarded.

A fresher received zero work points but was not automatically excluded from the selection process for that reason. A General male fresher still faced the standard 90 overall floor rather than the 85 floor available through the specified work-experience exception.

Personal Interview and Final Merit

Shortlisted applicants were offered interview slots in an online or hybrid process and had to finalise an available date and time within the institute's window. Missing the PI disqualified a candidate from that intake.

The normalised PI score contributed 25 points to the final total of 100. The other 75 came from the CAT, academics, work and gender components already used for Pre-PI scoring. The policy did not add a separate WAT or GD score.

An institute-set minimum PI score also applied. Candidates below it were excluded from final merit; the policy did not publish that minimum as a fixed number.

Final offers followed category-wise ranking by the complete merit score. Two candidates with the same overall CAT percentile could finish differently because of their section percentiles, academic records, eligible work, gender-diversity points and PI performance.

The CAT interview guide covers interview preparation. A shortlist is an invitation to that assessment, while an admission offer follows the later final-merit decision.

Reservation, Acceptance Fee and Refund

The MBA 2026-28 policy planned an approximate intake of 320 and applied these reservation shares:

Selected candidates had to submit the acceptance form and INR 50,000 by the offer deadline. Missing either requirement could let the offer lapse. For students who joined, the amount was adjusted against Term 1 fees.

A withdrawal received by the offer-letter deadline allowed a refund after an INR 1,000 processing deduction. After that deadline but before programme registration, refunds depended on acceptances exceeding planned intake and were processed in request order, with the same INR 1,000 deduction. If acceptances were at or below planned intake, that later refund route was unavailable.

From programme registration until before Term 1 classes started, a refund was possible only when registrations exceeded planned intake. The policy specified an INR 50,000 withdrawal deduction, including the caution money, and request-order processing for eligible cases.

Once Term 1 classes began, only caution money was refundable. These are the historical intake's rules; the separate offer-letter deadline, programme-registration date and class-start date should not be treated as one date.

The CAT 2026 intake's future fee and withdrawal windows are not established by this older policy. Category documentation for the current exam is covered in the CAT reservation requirements.

Cutoffs and Shortlistcategory floors, formula and academics Work and Final Offerexperience, interview and acceptance

1. Previous-Year Overall Cutoffs
2. Registration and Pre-PI Formula
3. Academic Points

1. Work Points and Business Proof
2. Final Selection Score
3. Offer Acceptance and Withdrawal