CAT is an exam that challenges aspirants both before and after the test. Before the exam, it raises concerns about difficulty levels and question patterns. Afterward, it leaves students anxiously calculating their scores and expected percentiles. While this may not seem relevant now, it becomes crucial during preparation.
Why? Because CAT results are based on percentiles, which depend on factors like exam difficulty, the number of test-takers, raw scores, normalization, and scaled scores—making them unpredictable each year.
Understanding percentile calculations is essential. If you can’t interpret your percentile correctly, you may misjudge the paper’s difficulty, attempt too many or too few questions, and ultimately affect your accuracy and final score—potentially leading to disappointment.
In this blog, we’ll break down the concept of CAT scores and percentiles, helping you use this knowledge strategically to boost your chances of achieving a 99+ percentile.
Understanding CAT Percentile: Why It Matters for Your Preparation?
Improve Accuracy
Understanding how percentile changes each year due to various factors allows you to develop a strategy that improves both accuracy and overall scores. Additionally, applying this knowledge to mock tests helps refine your approach, ensuring a more structured and effective preparation strategy.
Builds Trust and Transparency
In an era of exam leaks and concerns about exam fairness, the percentile system reassures aspirants. It ensures that if a particular slot is more difficult, scores and percentiles are adjusted accordingly. This promotes trust in the examination process and supports transparency in exam conducting body practices.
Fair Comparison of CAT Scores
The CAT normalization process enables a fair comparison of candidates across different slots. For instance, in CAT 2024, the Slot 1 was relatively easier than the other two, the final result would adjust scores for tougher slots, leading to a percentile increase. This ensures an unbiased evaluation, maintaining fairness in the ranking process.
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How do normalization and percentile get calculated?
CAT Scaled Score Calculation
Because the number of participants is large and affected factors such as exam difficulty is varied, we cannot explain everything in this blog. But we will do our best to explain them as best as we can.
Step 1: Calculate the Mean and standard deviation of each group and then add the respective values in Slot 1,2 and 3.
Group X = Mean X + Standard Deviation X
Step 2: Finally the mean and standard deviation of the raw scores of all the CAT aspirants appearing in all 3 slots is calculated.
M = Mean of all 3 slots + SD of all 3 slots
Step 3: The top 0.1% of candidates in slot 1 is taken for calculation of mean for the first slot
M1.01
Step 4: The top 0.1% of candidates in slot 1 is taken for calculation of mean for the first slot
M2.02
Step 5: The top 0.1% of candidates in slot 1 is taken for calculation of mean for the first slot
M3.03
Step 6: Now the mean scores of the top 0.1% of the CAT test takers for all the 3 sections is calculated
M0.1
Step 7: Using the following formula the scaled score is calculated for each slot
Scaled Score = M + {(R – M1) x (M0.1 – M) / (M1.01 – M1)}
Step 8: Final overall score = Scaled Score in DILR + Scaled Score in QA + Scaled Score in VARC.
CAT Percentile Calculation
The CAT cutoff is released in the form of overall and sectional percentiles, representing a candidate’s performance relative to others. It indicates how well a candidate has scored compared to the entire pool of test-takers. Below are the steps to calculate the CAT 2024 percentile.
Steps to Calculate CAT Percentile
Step 1: Determine the Total Number of Candidates. Let the total number of test-takers across all slots be N.
Step 2: Assign Ranks to Candidates. After normalization, ranks are assigned based on scaled scores for each section and overall performance. Candidates with the same score receive the same rank. Let the assigned rank be R.
Step 3: Apply the Percentile Formula. Use the following formula to calculate the CAT percentile:
CAT Percentile = N-R/N * 100
This method ensures a fair comparison of candidates across different slots.
Now that you understand score calculation and the percentile system—where no fixed marks guarantee a 99 percentile and a tougher set can work in your favor if attempted well. You can focus on your CAT preparation by developing a strategic attempt plan and refining it by practicing with a sufficient number of mock tests.
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