Understand how CAT scaled scores and percentiles are calculated
CAT 2025, the gateway to India’s top B-schools including the IIMs, will be conducted in three slots on exam day. Each slot aims to maintain uniform difficulty, but minor variations can still occur. To ensure fairness and equal opportunity for every candidate, IIMs follow a Normalization and Scaling Process before releasing the final results.
In this guide, we simplify the CAT Normalization Process 2025 and show how your raw score converts into scaled score and percentile.
🔹 What is CAT Normalization?
Normalization ensures that candidates from different slots are evaluated on the same scale.
Why needed?
✔ Difficulty may vary slightly between slots
✔ Equal scoring standards must be maintained
✔ Ensures transparency and fair ranking
So even if your slot is tougher, normalization protects your performance.
🔹 How CAT Scores Are Calculated — Step by Step
Step 1: Raw Score Calculation
CAT raw scores follow this marking scheme:
| Question Type | Correct Answer | Incorrect Answer |
|---|---|---|
| MCQs | +3 Marks | −1 Mark |
| TITA (Non-MCQs) | +3 Marks | No Negative Marking |
Formula:
This is done section-wise for:
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VARC
-
DILR
-
QA
Then combined for the overall raw score.
Step 2: Normalization = Raw Score → Scaled Score
Since CAT is held in multiple sessions:
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Slot-wise average raw scores are analyzed
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Performance of top rankers in each slot is compared
-
Statistical adjustments align all candidates to a common scoring scale
This corrects the variation in difficulty:
📌 Tougher slot → Scores scaled up
📌 Easier slot → Scores scaled down
Each section receives a scaled score, and their sum gives the overall scaled score.
Step 3: Percentile Calculation
Percentile represents where you stand among all test-takers.
Formula:
Where:
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N = Total candidates
-
Rank = Your rank based on scaled score
Higher scaled score = Higher percentile = Stronger chances in top B-schools
📊 What Appears on Your CAT Scorecard?
✔ Scaled Score (Section-wise & Overall)
✔ Percentile (Section-wise & Overall)
❌ Raw scores are not shown in the final result
Reason:
Admissions depend on scaled performance, not the paper variation.
🟦 Why Normalization Matters
| Without Normalization | With Normalization |
|---|---|
| Unfair advantage to easier slot | Equal fairness for all |
| Percentiles don’t represent true performance | Percentiles reflect relative merit |
| Slot luck affects rank | Rank purely performance-based |
The process ensures credibility and transparency in CAT results.
🔍 Quick Summary
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Raw scores based on +3 / −1 marking scheme
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Scores normalized to eliminate slot difficulty variations
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Scaled scores → Used for percentile calculation
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Only scaled score + percentile matter for IIM selection
✨ Final Thought
Instead of worrying about slot difficulty, focus on accuracy and strategy.
Normalization ensures your efforts are judged fairly and competitively.
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