IIM Sirmaur CAT Cutoff: CAP Minimums

The CAT 2025-based MBA 2026-28 process used these CAP application thresholds:

The 20 January 2026 CAP notice included gender-neutral candidates with male candidates, and transgender candidates with female candidates. Meeting the table allowed an application; the actual interview shortlist could require higher scores.

Ordinary MBA academic eligibility also required 60% in each of Class 10, Class 12 and graduation, with the policy's reserved-category footnote lowering the threshold to 55%. A qualifying CAT percentile did not waive these academic conditions.

The female SAP policy has a separate table showing 60% in each qualification, without the ordinary policy's 55% footnote. The two documents should not be treated as interchangeable eligibility rules. Their score weights and work bands also differ below.

These figures concern historical MBA admission, not confirmed CAT 2026 cutoffs or the separate Tourism Management and Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management programmes. The CAT cutoff guide separates application floors from final selection.

Ordinary MBA Selection and Academic Marks

The ordinary MBA and female SAP routes both used a 100-point composite, with different PI and gender allocations:

For the CAT component, Sirmaur compared each sectional score with the highest CAT 2025 score in that section. Within this calculation, VARC carried 35%, DILR 30% and QA 35%. The resulting CAT component had a weight of 35 in final selection; these sectional proportions were not the number of questions or marks in the exam.

Academics contributed up to 15 points: Class 10 three, Class 12 four and graduation eight. The school bands were:

The zero-point academic bands must be read with eligibility. For example, 58% in graduation could lie in the ordinary reserved-category eligible range but earn zero degree points. A General applicant could not use that zero-point row to bypass the 60% minimum.

At 90% in Class 10, 96% in Class 12 and 82% in graduation, the academic score would be 2 + 4 + 6 = 12 out of 15. Marks conversion followed the university or institution's own certified method for percentages and CGPA.

Ordinary MBA awarded five gender-diversity points to female/transgender candidates and zero to male candidates. SAP instead allocated 25 to PI without a separate five-point gender component.

Work Experience and Trailblazer Points

Work experience contributed up to twenty points, using these published month ranges:

Exactly twelve months is a route-specific boundary. It earned ten points in ordinary MBA selection but zero in the SAP table. Both routes reached twenty points above 23 and up to 35 months, then reduced the award for longer experience.

The published pages do not give a work-duration cutoff date or complete employment-proof rules in this scoring table. A cutoff date from JAP or another IIM would not establish Sirmaur's eligible months.

The separate five-point Trailblazer award covered these qualifications:

• B.E., B.Tech, BS (Engineering), B.Sc (Engineering), M.E. or M.Tech
• MBBS, BAMS, BHMS, BDS or BVSc
• B.Des, B.Arch, B.Plan or B.Pharm
• Chartered Accountancy, Cost Accounting or Company Secretary

This was not a blanket non-engineering diversity bonus. Engineering qualifications were explicitly included, along with specified medical, design, architecture, planning, pharmacy and professional routes. A degree outside the list could not be assigned those five points simply because it was non-engineering.

The IIM selection criteria differ on academic diversity. Sirmaur's named Trailblazer qualification list should not be replaced with another institute's discipline categories.

CAP Application and Final-Year Documents

CAP 2026 covered Bodh Gaya, Jammu and Sirmaur. The first stage was a mandatory expression of interest. Candidates separately shortlisted for Stage 2 then paid the application fee and selected an available PI slot. Sirmaur's policy specified an offline interview for that cycle.

One common PI could serve multiple shortlisted programmes, but final merit lists and offers remained separate. Submitting interest did not guarantee a PI, and attending the shared interview did not guarantee admission to all three institutes.

Final-year candidates could join provisionally only after supplying a course-completion certificate on or before registration. It had to come from the Principal, Head of Department, Registrar or Director and confirm that the candidate had appeared in all required examinations, including practicals.

Pending marksheets and the provisional degree certificate were due by 30 October 2026 for the historical intake. The institute also required the applicable experience certificates and original academic documents. Admission depended on passing the qualifying degree and meeting the relevant minimum marks.

The completion certificate and final degree proof served different purposes. A certificate that examinations were completed allowed provisional joining; it did not excuse a later result below the required percentage.

Reservation and Female SAP Seats

The policies listed 27% NC-OBC, 15% SC, 7.5% ST, up to 10% EWS and 5% PwD reservation. Category claims used the applicable Central Government list at the registration closing date, with valid competent-authority certificates required at campus registration.

Sirmaur identified 40 seats for female candidates under SAP. This was forty seats, not a 40% reservation. SAP applications and interviews were integrated into CAP, so female applicants used the CAP portal rather than assuming a separate later interview would follow.

The SAP route was specifically for female candidates. The common CAP notice's female/transgender percentile grouping should not be read as a statement that every person in that grouping qualified for the female-only SAP route.

An SAP applicant still had to meet the route's conditions and compete in its merit process. The CAT reservation guide concerns examination-level category rules; a separate institute route can add programme-specific conditions.

Ordinary MBA Withdrawal and Refund

Sirmaur's ordinary MBA refund policy considered both when the candidate withdrew and whether enrolment was above or below the approved intake. It was not a universal refund-after-INR-1,000 rule.

If enrolment was below the approved intake after the later of scheduled registration or release of the last merit list, the policy provided no refund. Where enrolment was above the approved intake, it set out these deductions:

A registered student had to complete withdrawal formalities with the admissions office during office hours. The same applied to a student who checked into the hostel but skipped registration. Leaving the campus without completing the process did not qualify for a refund.

The policy scheduled withdrawal processing only after the admission process ended, stated as after 30 July 2026. That was a processing boundary for the historical batch, not a promised bank-credit date.

These are ordinary MBA withdrawal rules; SAP and specialised programmes have separately listed policies. The CAT admission process involves institute- and programme-specific offer conditions.

Cutoffs and Scoresacademic conditions, merit and work Application and Offersdocuments, SAP seats and refunds

1. CAP and Academic Requirements
2. Selection and Academic Reference
3. Work and Trailblazer Reference

1. CAP and Final-Year Sequence
2. Reservation and Female SAP Reference
3. Ordinary MBA Refund Reference