CAT Response Sheet 2026: Expected December 2026, How to Download and Score Calculation

What is CAT Response Sheet?

The CAT response sheet is a personalised document that captures every answer you selected or typed during the CAT exam. Because CAT is a computer-based test (CBT), there is no physical OMR sheet — your digital responses are recorded by the testing system and later made available to you as a downloadable PDF on iimcat.ac.in via your candidate login.

The response sheet is question-by-question, section-wise, and slot-specific. It shows what you marked — not which answers are correct. To evaluate your performance, you must compare your response sheet with the official answer key published at the same time. Together, the two documents let you calculate your estimated raw score before the official result is declared.

CAT Response Sheet vs Answer Key — Key Difference

Always use the final answer key with your response sheet — not the provisional one — for the most accurate score estimate.

Ques. Is the CAT response sheet the same as an OMR sheet?

Ques. Is the CAT response sheet the same for all slots?

CAT 2026 Response Sheet Important Dates

The table below lists all key events in the CAT 2026 exam and response sheet cycle. Upcoming events appear first in chronological order, followed by events that have already passed. All expected dates for the response sheet window are based on the official CAT 2026 schedule published by IIM Indore and the historical pattern from CAT 2025.

CAT Response Sheet — Previous Year Release Dates

The table below shows actual response sheet release dates from recent cycles. CAT 2026 is projected to follow a similar 4–10 day post-exam pattern, placing the release around December 3–5, 2026.

Source: CAT 2026 schedule: iimcat.ac.in (official notification, July 26, 2026). CAT 2025 response sheet dates: iimcat.ac.in (December 2025).

How to Download CAT 2026 Response Sheet

The CAT 2026 response sheet will be accessible through your candidate login on iimcat.ac.in after the exam. No separate direct download link is provided — your personalised sheet is tied to your CAT login credentials and cannot be accessed without them. Follow the steps below as soon as the response sheet is made live:

1. Go to the official CAT website: iimcat.ac.in
2. Click on the Candidate Login or CAT 2026 Login button on the homepage.
3. Enter your CAT 2026 User ID (Registration Number) and Password.
4. In your candidate dashboard, look for the Response Sheet or Answer Key & Response Sheet link.
5. Click the link to open your personalised response sheet in a new tab.
6. Review your section-wise responses — VARC (24 Qs), DILR (20 Qs), and QA (22 Qs) — question by question.
7. Click Download PDF to save a copy locally; the portal may close access after the challenge window.
8. Cross-check each marked answer against the official slot-wise answer key published on the same portal.

Keep your CAT 2026 User ID and password safe after registration — without them, you cannot access your response sheet.

CAT 2026 Slot-Wise Response Sheet — Direct Links

The links below will be activated by IIM Indore after the exam on November 29, 2026. Each slot’s response sheet is accessible only through candidate login — there are no public PDF links.

Note: Download and save your response sheet PDF immediately upon release. IIM Indore typically removes portal access once the challenge window closes — if you miss the download window, you may not be able to retrieve your response sheet later.

How to Calculate Score Using CAT Response Sheet

Once you have your response sheet and the official answer key, you can estimate your raw score. The raw score you calculate is not your final CAT score — IIM Indore applies a normalization (equating) process across all three sessions before computing the scaled score and percentile used for IIM shortlisting.

CAT 2026 Marking Scheme

CAT 2026 Expected Exam Pattern

Note: The exam pattern above is based on CAT 2025 (IIM Calcutta). IIM Indore may revise the pattern for CAT 2026 — confirm the official pattern at iimcat.ac.in once the notification is published.

CAT Raw Score Calculation Formula

Apply the formula below to each section separately, then add the three section scores for your total estimated raw score:

Raw Score = (No. of Correct MCQ Answers × 3) – (No. of Wrong MCQ Answers × 1) + (No. of Correct TITA Answers × 3)

Score Calculation Example

This raw score of 108 is an estimate only. Your actual CAT 2026 scaled score — used for IIM shortlisting — will be computed after normalization across all three slots and will differ from this raw figure.

Ques. Why is my estimated raw score different from my official CAT scaled score?

CAT Score vs Percentile

The table below shows the approximate relationship between CAT scaled scores and overall percentile, based on historical data from previous years. These ranges are indicative — actual values for CAT 2026 will depend on the exam’s difficulty level and the total number of students who appear.

Important: CAT percentile alone does not determine IIM admission. Each IIM applies its own shortlisting formula that includes Academic Performance Index (API), gender diversity factor, work experience, and performance in WAT & PI — all of which carry significant weight alongside the CAT percentile. A strong CAT score opens the door; your overall profile determines the seat.

How to Challenge CAT 2026 Response Sheet & Answer Key

If you believe your response sheet shows an answer you did not mark, or if you disagree with an answer published in the official answer key, you can raise an objection during the notified challenge window. IIM Indore’s expert committee reviews all valid objections — if a challenge is accepted, the final answer key is revised and scores are recalculated for all students affected by that question.

Steps to Raise an Objection on CAT Answer Key or Response Sheet

1. Visit iimcat.ac.in and log in with your CAT 2026 User ID and password.
2. Navigate to the Answer Key or Response Sheet & Answer Key section in your candidate dashboard.
3. Review the answer key question by question alongside your personalised response sheet.
4. For any question where the recorded response differs from what you marked, or where you believe the published answer is incorrect, click Raise Objection or Challenge.
5. Enter your reasoning and any supporting reference (textbook, standard source) you want the review committee to consider.
6. Submit your challenge before the official deadline — historically 11:55 PM on the closing date.
7. Monitor iimcat.ac.in for the release of the final answer key, which incorporates all accepted corrections.

If your response sheet records an answer you did not enter — a data-capture error rather than a scoring dispute — escalate it as a grievance, not merely an answer key challenge, and do so as early as possible within the window.

CAT 2026 Challenge Window — Expected Timeline

Source: CAT 2025 challenge window dates: iimcat.ac.in (December 2025). CAT 2026 expected dates derived from official schedule at iimcat.ac.in (July 26, 2026) and CAT 2025 cycle pattern.

Challenge fee: CAT has historically not charged a fee for raising objections to the answer key, unlike several other national entrance exams. Confirm this at iimcat.ac.in once the official challenge notification is released for CAT 2026 — IIM Indore may revise the process.

Ques. What happens after I submit a challenge for CAT answer key?