CAT 2026 Safe Score for OBC-NCL: Minimum Percentile for IIM Calls

A safe CAT 2026 score for OBC-NCL students is 85 percentile and above for calls from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta, and 70 percentile and above for calls from mid-tier IIMs, based on 2024 and 2025 shortlisting trends.

OBC-NCL (Other Backward Classes – Non-Creamy Layer) students writing CAT 2026 benefit from a 27% seat reservation at all IIMs. This lowers the minimum percentile required for a shortlist call compared to the General category, but competition within the OBC-NCL pool remains intense. Knowing the expected safe percentile helps you set a realistic target before the CAT 2026 exam, likely to be held in November 2026.

• IIMs use a two-stage shortlisting process: an overall percentile cutoff and then sectional percentile cutoffs across VARC, DILR, and QA.
• OBC-NCL students generally need 85–92 percentile overall for a call from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, or Calcutta.
• For IIM Lucknow, Kozhikode, and Indore, a 75–85 percentile is considered safe for OBC-NCL students based on past trends.
• Newer IIMs (IIM Rohtak, Raipur, Ranchi, Udaipur) may shortlist OBC-NCL students at 65–75 percentile.
• Sectional cutoffs for OBC-NCL are typically 5–10 percentile points lower than General category thresholds.

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What Is a Safe CAT 2026 Score for OBC-NCL?

In CAT, your performance is reported as a percentile rather than raw marks. A safe score means a percentile that historically clears both the overall cutoff and the sectional cutoffs across your target IIMs. Because 27% of IIM seats are reserved for OBC-NCL students, the minimum percentile set for this category is lower than for the General category — but the gap narrows significantly at the top IIMs.

Based on CAT 2024 and 2025 shortlisting data, the following percentile bands represent a safe score for OBC-NCL students targeting IIM calls in 2026:

These figures are expected estimates based on 2024 and 2025 trends. Actual cutoffs are set by each IIM after CAT 2026 results are declared.

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CAT 2026 Expected Cutoffs for OBC-NCL – IIM-Wise

Each IIM sets its own minimum overall percentile for shortlisting. The table below lists the expected overall percentile cutoffs for OBC-NCL students at all IIMs, based on published 2024 and 2025 shortlisting criteria.

All figures above are expected estimates based on 2024 and 2025 trends. Each IIM publishes its own shortlisting criteria on its official website after CAT results are declared.

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CAT 2026 Sectional Cutoffs for OBC-NCL

A high overall percentile alone does not guarantee a shortlist. Every IIM also sets minimum sectional percentile thresholds across the three CAT sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). You must clear all three sectional cutoffs along with the overall cutoff in the same attempt.

A balanced score across all three sections is critical. Students who score high in VARC but neglect DILR or QA often miss shortlists despite a strong overall percentile. All sectional figures above are expected based on 2024 and 2025 trends.

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CAT Score vs Percentile: Target Range for OBC-NCL

CAT converts raw scores to percentiles based on the relative performance of all students in a given year, so there is no fixed conversion table. The estimates below are based on CAT 2024 data, which had approximately 66–67 questions and around 198–201 maximum marks:

These are approximations based on 2024 trends. The actual percentile for a given raw score in CAT 2026 will shift depending on paper difficulty and the overall performance distribution of that year’s student pool.

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Factors Beyond Percentile That Affect IIM Calls for OBC-NCL

Clearing the percentile cutoff is the first filter, not the final one. IIMs use a composite scoring model for shortlisting that includes additional parameters alongside the CAT score:

• Academic record (Class 10, 12, and graduation marks) — most IIMs normalise past academic scores by board or university and award points accordingly. A strong academic background raises your composite score even at a moderate CAT percentile.
• Work experience — IIMs like IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta assign points for relevant full-time work experience, typically measured in months.
• Gender diversity — several IIMs offer additional points to women students to improve gender balance in the batch.
• Graduation discipline — non-engineering students may receive diversity points at certain IIMs.
• Writing Ability Test and Personal Interview — students shortlisted after the composite score stage must clear WAT and PI rounds, which carry substantial weight in the final merit list.

For OBC-NCL students, scoring 3–5 percentile points above the minimum safe threshold provides a buffer in the composite score and strengthens your WAT-PI shortlisting chances.