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GMAT vs CAT: which exam should you take?

Take the CAT for the IIMs and most Indian two-year MBAs. Take the GMAT for business schools abroad and for one-year MBAs in India that ask for it. Here is how the two exams differ, side by side, with facts as of October 2026.

The short answer

The schools decide. Look at the programmes you want and the test they ask for; most people only need one of the two.

Take the CAT if

  • You want an IIM's two-year MBA, or another Indian two-year MBA or PGDM that admits on CAT
  • You can be ready for one sitting a year (CAT 2026: Sunday 29 November 2026)
  • You are applying straight from college or with a few years of work

Take the GMAT if

  • You are applying to business schools outside India
  • You have several years of work experience and want an Indian one-year MBA that asks for it
  • You want to choose your own test date, or keep the option to retake within weeks

GMAT and CAT, side by side

Format, scoring, dates, fees and validity, from the official sites.

Who takes it

GMAT
Applicants to business schools worldwide, and to Indian programmes that ask for it (mostly one-year MBAs for experienced professionals)
CAT
Applicants to the IIMs' two-year MBA programmes and to the many other Indian business schools that use CAT scores

Run by

GMAT
GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council)
CAT
The IIMs, in rotation. CAT 2026 is run by IIM Indore

When

GMAT
All year. You book a date and time
CAT
Once a year. CAT 2026 is on Sunday 29 November 2026, in 3 sessions

Where

GMAT
At a test centre or online from home
CAT
At a test centre only, in about 170 cities

Sections

GMAT
Quantitative Reasoning (21 questions), Verbal Reasoning (23), Data Insights (20)
CAT
VARC (24 questions), DILR (22), QA (22) in the 2024 and 2025 papers. The IIMs do not publish the pattern in advance

Time

GMAT
2 hours 15 minutes: 45 minutes per section, one optional 10-minute break
CAT
2 hours: 40 minutes per section, no break

Section order

GMAT
You choose it
CAT
Fixed: VARC, then DILR, then QA. You cannot go back to a section

Question types

GMAT
Multiple choice. Data Insights adds charts, tables and multi-part questions
CAT
Multiple choice (4 options) and type-in-the-answer (TITA) questions

Adaptive?

GMAT
Yes, question by question
CAT
No. Everyone in a session sits the same paper

Changing answers

GMAT
Bookmark questions and change up to 3 answers per section before time runs out
CAT
Change any answer within the section that is running

Marking

GMAT
No fixed penalty per wrong answer: the adaptive score depends on which questions you get right. Questions left unanswered at the end cost more than guesses
CAT
+3 for a correct answer, −1 for a wrong multiple-choice answer, 0 for a wrong TITA answer or a skipped question

Score

GMAT
205 to 805 in 10-point steps; each section 60 to 90
CAT
A scaled score and a percentile, overall and for each section

Fee

GMAT
From about US$275 at a test centre or US$300 online (US prices; other regions are shown on mba.com)
CAT
₹2,700; ₹1,350 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates

Score validity

GMAT
5 years
CAT
CAT 2026 scores are valid until 31 December 2027

Retakes

GMAT
Up to 5 times in a rolling 12 months and 8 in a lifetime, at least 16 days apart
CAT
Once a year, with no limit on the number of years

Eligibility

GMAT
No degree requirement from GMAC; each school sets its own
CAT
A bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks (45% for SC, ST and PwBD). Final-year students can apply

How the papers feel different

The CAT is one paper a year, the same for everyone in a session, and your percentile ranks you against everyone who sat it. Its sections run in a fixed order on a 40-minute clock each, so pacing inside a section is the skill. The DILR section is made of long puzzle and data sets of four or five questions, and reading comprehension makes up most of VARC. A wrong multiple-choice answer costs a mark; a wrong type-in answer costs nothing.

The GMAT Focus Edition adapts to you question by question, lets you pick the section order, and lets you bookmark questions and change up to three answers per section. It has no geometry. Its Data Insights section reads charts, tables and multi-source cases, and Verbal is reading comprehension and critical reasoning.

Preparing for one, or both

Arithmetic, algebra and reading carry over between the two. The rest does not: CAT preparation is DILR sets, geometry and speed under a fixed clock; GMAT preparation is Data Insights, critical reasoning and pacing an adaptive test in which leaving questions unanswered costs more than guessing. If you are applying in India and abroad, plan the CAT around its date and fit the GMAT around it, since the GMAT runs all year.

Weighing the other Indian exams too? See MBA entrance exams: CAT, GMAT, XAT, SNAP, NMAT, CMAT and GRE.

GMAT vs CAT: common questions

For the two-year MBA, Indian applicants to the IIMs use CAT scores. Several IIMs use GMAT scores for their one-year programmes for experienced professionals (IIM Ahmedabad's PGPX is one), and some take the GMAT from foreign or NRI applicants. Check each programme's admissions page.

They are hard in different ways. The CAT is one fixed paper a year, ranked against everyone who sat it, with tight 40-minute sections, a DILR section of long puzzle sets and negative marking on multiple-choice questions. The GMAT is adaptive, can be retaken within weeks, and spends a whole section on Data Insights. Sitting one practice test of each tells you more than any general answer.

Partly. Arithmetic, algebra and reading comprehension overlap. The rest does not: the CAT tests geometry and DILR sets, while the GMAT Focus Edition has no geometry and tests Data Insights and Critical Reasoning. Most people pick one exam for the schools they want.

A GMAT score is valid for five years. A CAT score counts for one admissions cycle: CAT 2026 scores are valid until 31 December 2027.

The GMAT up to five times in any rolling 12 months and eight times in total, at least 16 days apart. The CAT once a year, with no limit on the number of years.

Sunday 29 November 2026, in 3 sessions, conducted by IIM Indore. Results are expected by the first week of January 2027.

Pick one and start practising.

The GMAT app opens with a free seven-day trial. The CAT app gives every account its free full mocks and the previous-year papers.

Choose your exam