MBA Aspirants Alert: 5 Days Left for CAT 2026 Registration
Published 11 September 2026 · 4 min read · Common Admission Test
CAT 2026 registration closes at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, 15 September 2026.
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Exactly five days are left for the CAT 2026 form to close. The form is online only at iimcat.ac.in. The fee is Rs 2,700 for general, EWS and NC-OBC candidates and Rs 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates.
This is the one deadline in the CAT year that nothing recovers from. There is no late window, no offline route and no second attempt in the same cycle. A student who misses 5:00 PM on the 15th does not sit the exam on 29 November, which means the entire 2027-29 IIM admission cycle is gone until next year. Everything below is confirmed on the official CAT site.
CAT 2026 at a Glance
Item | Detail |
|---|---|
Registration closes | Tuesday, 15 September 2026, 5:00 PM IST |
Registration opened | Monday, 3 August 2026, 10:00 AM IST |
Official site | iimcat.ac.in, the only official site |
Fee, general, EWS and NC-OBC | Rs 2,700, not refundable |
Fee, SC, ST and PwBD | Rs 1,350, not refundable |
Admit card download | From Wednesday, 4 November 2026 |
Test day | Sunday, 29 November 2026 |
Conducted by | IIM Indore |
Source: iimcat.ac.in, read on 11 September 2026.
It closes at 5:00 PM, not at midnight
Almost every online deadline in India runs to the end of the day. This one does not. At 5:00 PM on 15 September the form shuts. A payment that is still processing at 5:01 PM is not a registration.
Your form counts only when the payment succeeds and your status reads registered. Cards get declined. Bank pages time out. The site is slowest on the last two days, when several lakh candidates are all doing the same thing at once. None of that is accepted as a reason afterwards.
What to do on each of the last five days
If you have not started, this is the order that removes the risk. If you have already paid, use these days only to check what you filled.
Day | What to finish |
|---|---|
Wednesday 10 September | Create the account. Confirm the email and mobile number both work, because neither can be changed later. Collect your photograph, signature and category certificate. |
Thursday 11 September | Fill personal details, academics and work experience. Check every percentage against your marksheet before you move on. |
Friday 12 September | Upload the certificate, pick your five test cities, choose your programmes and pay the fee. |
Saturday 13 September | Confirm the status reads registered. Download and save the confirmation page. |
Sunday 14 September | Buffer day. This exists for a failed payment or a rejected upload, which is exactly when people panic. |
Monday 15 September | Emergencies only. The form shuts at 5:00 PM the next day. |
The single most common reason a form is rejected is a certificate problem, not an eligibility problem. If you are claiming a category, the certificate must be uploaded at registration. Skip it and the form is rejected. Category cannot be changed afterwards.
Will the deadline be extended
Nothing has been announced. IIM Indore has published one closing date and the information bulletin carries no late window.
Registration in the previous CAT cycle did get pushed, so an extension is not impossible. You will also still find old dates sitting on coaching sites that nobody updated. Treat all of it 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 cannot change after you submit
Once the window shuts, the correction window that follows touches three fields only. Photograph, signature and test city preferences.
Name, date of birth, gender, email, mobile number, category including PwBD status, academic details and programme choices are all locked at submit. That is why the checking day matters more than the filling day.
What happens after 15 September
Admit cards download from 4 November 2026. The test is on Sunday, 29 November 2026, in three sessions of 120 minutes, with three sections of 40 minutes each and no switching between them.
That leaves roughly 80 days between now and the exam. Once the form is submitted, the deadline stops being the problem and the score becomes the problem. Use the free CAT daily challenge on Percentyl to keep one full set of practice going every day until 29 November.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the last date for CAT 2026 registration?
Tuesday, 15 September 2026, at 5:00 PM IST. Registration opened on 3 August 2026. The form is available only at iimcat.ac.in.
What is the CAT 2026 registration fee?
Rs 2,700 for general, EWS and NC-OBC candidates. Rs 1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates. The fee is paid once for all IIMs and is not refundable.
Can I register for CAT 2026 after 15 September?
No. There is no late window and no offline route. A candidate who has not completed payment by 5:00 PM on 15 September cannot sit CAT 2026.
Will CAT 2026 registration be extended?
No extension has been announced and the information bulletin does not provide for one. Any other date you see is from a coaching site, not from IIM Indore.
What can I edit after CAT 2026 registration closes?
Only your photograph, signature and test city preferences. That applies only if you registered and paid successfully before the deadline. Everything else is locked.
When is the CAT 2026 exam?
Sunday, 29 November 2026, conducted by IIM Indore. Admit cards download from 4 November 2026.