CAT 2026 Registration Closing! Filled Out The Form Yet?
Published 1 September 2026 · 7 min read · Common Admission Test
CAT 2026 registration closes on Tuesday, 15 September 2026 at 5 PM. The form is online only, at iimcat.ac.in. There is no late window, no offline route and no reopening. If your payment has not gone through by 5 PM that day, you are out of this cycle.
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CAT 2026 registration closes on Tuesday, 15 September 2026 at 5 PM. The form is online only, at iimcat.ac.in. There is no late window, no offline route and no reopening. If your payment has not gone through by 5 PM that day, you are out of this cycle.
CAT 2026 registration at a glance
Detail | CAT 2026 |
|---|---|
Registration window | 3 August 2026, 10 AM to 15 September 2026, 5 PM |
Where to apply | iimcat.ac.in, the only official site |
Fee | Rs 2,700 for general, EWS and NC-OBC. Rs 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD |
Editable after the window shuts | Photograph, signature and test city preferences only |
Test cities | Pick 5 from about 170. One is allotted after registration closes |
Admit card | 4 November to 29 November 2026 |
Exam day | Sunday, 29 November 2026. Three sessions of 120 minutes |
Result | Expected in the first week of January 2027 |
Conducted by | IIM Indore |
Source: CAT 2026 Information Bulletin and press release, IIM Indore, iimcat.ac.in.
When exactly does CAT 2026 registration close?
At 5 PM on 15 September 2026. Not midnight. That single detail catches people out every year, because most online deadlines in India run to the end of the day and this one does not.
Your form counts as submitted only when the payment succeeds and your status reads registered. A payment you start at 4.55 PM and watch fail is not a submission. Cards get declined, bank pages time out and the site is at its slowest on the last two days, when a few lakh people are all doing the same thing.
Give yourself a buffer. Finish and pay by 13 September, then use the last two days only to check what you filled.
Will the date be extended?
Nothing has been announced. IIM Indore has published one date and the bulletin carries no late window. Registration for the previous CAT cycle did get pushed to 20 September, so an extension is not impossible. You will also still see 20 September sitting on a few coaching sites because nobody updated the page.
Treat that as noise. Betting Rs 2,700 and a full year on a rumour is a poor trade when the fix costs you one evening.
What you can change after 15 September and what locks forever
Once you submit, almost everything is frozen. The correction window that opens after the deadline touches three fields only.
Field | Can you change it after you submit? |
|---|---|
Photograph | Yes, in the correction window |
Signature | Yes, in the correction window |
Test city preferences | Yes, in the correction window |
Name, date of birth, gender | No |
Email and mobile number | No |
No | |
Academic details and percentage | No |
Programme choices across the IIMs | No |
The correction window is only for candidates who registered and paid successfully before the deadline. IIM Indore announces the dates on iimcat.ac.in. A date of 27 September is circulating on coaching sites, but it is not in the official bulletin, so check the site rather than trusting it.
What to get ready before you submit
Almost every rejected form fails on a certificate, not on eligibility. Sort these out first.
- Photograph and signature, scanned. The exact pixel and file size limits live in the registration guide on iimcat.ac.in, not in the bulletin, so read them there before you resize anything.
- NC-OBC certificate issued on or after 1 April 2026. An older one will not do.
- EWS certificate valid for 2026-27 and specifically assessed for financial year 2025-26.
- Applied for the certificate but not received it yet? Upload one PDF holding the filled undertaking from the CAT site, your older certificate and the acknowledgement of your new application. An incomplete set can cost you the application.
- PwBD candidates should get a UDID card and upload it. Benchmark disability means 40 percent or more of a specified disability under the RPwD Act 2016.
- Degree numbers. You need a bachelor’s with 50 percent, or 45 percent if you are SC, ST or PwBD. Final year students can apply. If your university has no certified conversion method, use CGPA divided by maximum CGPA, times 100.
CA, CS and CMA count as professional degrees for eligibility.
Test city choice is the field most people rush
You pick five cities in order of preference. Allotment happens after registration closes. If your choices fill up you can be sent to a nearby city instead. Once a centre is allotted it does not change.
So pick for the journey you can make on a Sunday morning in late November, not for the shortest distance on a map. A city with a 6 AM train you would have to catch is worse than one an hour further out with a hotel you can book.
The fee and what a failed payment looks like
Rs 2,700 for general, EWS and NC-OBC candidates. Rs 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD. You pay once and it covers every IIM programme you apply to. It is not refundable, whatever happens later.
After paying, log out and log back in. Your dashboard should show the registration as complete. Download the confirmation PDF and keep a screenshot. If money left your account but the status has not moved, wait a few hours before paying again, then call the help desk on 1800 210 0175 or write to cat2026_helpdesk@iimidr.ac.in.
Should you register if your mocks are nowhere near ready?
Yes. Register anyway.
The fee buys an option, not an obligation. Nothing forces you to sit the paper on 29 November. A CAT score stays valid until 31 December 2027. What you cannot buy in October is a registration you skipped in September.
I have watched this play out with plenty of people. Somebody decides in August that this is not their year, then has a good six weeks, walks into a 90 percentile mock in mid October and there is nothing to do with it. Rs 2,700 is less than a month of coaching. Pay it and decide in November.
If you do register, the real question is what to do with the weeks between now and the exam. There is a week-by-week plan you can follow.
The last stretch, in order
When | Do this | Why |
|---|---|---|
This week | Collect certificates and scan your photo and signature | Certificates are the slowest thing to fix and the most common reason a form is rejected |
Next week | Fill the form in one sitting, then check name, date of birth and category against your documents | These fields lock the moment you submit |
By 13 September | Pay and confirm the status reads registered | Gateways fail and the site slows down in the final 48 hours |
15 September, 5 PM | Registration closes | No late window and no offline route |
Late September | Watch iimcat.ac.in for the correction window | Only the photo, signature and test city can still be changed |
Frequently Asked Questions
Will CAT 2026 registration be extended beyond 15 September?
No extension has been announced. The official date is 15 September 2026 at 5 PM. Some sites still display 20 September, which is left over from the previous cycle, so go by iimcat.ac.in.
Can I change my category after registering for CAT 2026?
No. Category is locked at submission. The certificate has to be uploaded during registration. The correction window covers the photograph, the signature and test city preferences only.
What happens if I miss the CAT 2026 deadline?
There is no reopening and no offline form. You would have to wait for CAT 2027, which is written in November 2027. For the same admission year you can still look at XAT, NMAT, SNAP and the other MBA entrance exams, whose registration windows run later in the year.
Can final year students apply for CAT 2026?
Yes. Final year students can apply. So can students who are waiting for their results. If you are shortlisted you join provisionally and produce a certificate from your Principal or Registrar.
Is the CAT 2026 registration fee refundable if I do not appear?
No. The fee is non-refundable in every case, including if you register and then skip the exam.
How do I know my CAT 2026 registration is complete?
Log in again after payment. The dashboard should show your registration as complete and give you a confirmation PDF. Download it and save the registration number. A payment alone, without that status, is not a completed application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will CAT 2026 registration be extended beyond 15 September?
No extension has been announced. The official date is 15 September 2026 at 5 PM. Some sites still display 20 September, which is left over from the previous cycle, so go by iimcat.ac.in.
Can I change my category after registering for CAT 2026?
No. Category is locked at submission. The certificate has to be uploaded during registration. The correction window covers the photograph, the signature and test city preferences only.
What happens if I miss the CAT 2026 deadline?
There is no reopening and no offline form. You would have to wait for CAT 2027, which is written in November 2027. For the same admission year you can still look at XAT, NMAT, SNAP and the other MBA entrance exams, whose registration windows run later in the year.
Can final year students apply for CAT 2026?
Yes. Final year students can apply. So can students who are waiting for their results. If you are shortlisted you join provisionally and produce a certificate from your Principal or Registrar.
Is the CAT 2026 registration fee refundable if I do not appear?
No. The fee is non-refundable in every case, including if you register and then skip the exam.
How do I know my CAT 2026 registration is complete?
Log in again after payment. The dashboard should show your registration as complete and give you a confirmation PDF. Download it and save the registration number. A payment alone, without that status, is not a completed application.