CAT Raw Score Vs Scaled Score Vs Percentile

CAT Raw Score Vs Scaled Score Vs Percentile: CAT 2025 aspirants must know that their percentile in the exam is derived from the scaled score which is calculated based on the raw scores. This entire process is known as the normalisation of CAT scores. The actual scores which are also known as the CAT raw scores, undergo a normalisation process to ensure fairness, and the derived score is known as the scaled score. Once the scaled score is determined, the overall and sectional percentile of the candidate is then decided. Candidates should understand all the aspects of the CAT raw score vs scaled score, as it would help them get a rough idea about their tentative marks and qualifying chances in the entrance test. As the CAT test is conducted in different slots with varying difficulty levels, the normalisation process is done in order to ensure transparency and fairness to the test takers.

This is a comprehensive blog where we are going in-depth for these questions:

1. “What is a CAT Raw Score?”
2. “CAT Raw Score Calculation”
3. “What is CAT Scaled Score?”
4. “What is CAT Percentile?”
5. “CAT Raw Score vs Scaled Score”
6. “Detailed comparison on CAT Raw Score vs Scaled Score vs Percentile”
7. “CAT Raw Score Calculation (Detailed Marking Scheme)”

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What is a CAT raw score?

CAT raw score is the real score obtained by a candidate. This score is the exact score derived from the correct and incorrect answers of the CAT question paper and is used for the normalisation process. Here are the steps to calculate the CAT raw score shared below for the clarity of the candidates.

CAT Raw Score Calculation 

CAT exam authority eradicates all the discrimination to ensures fairness in the exam. There are some CAT Raw Score calculation and the detailed information is mentioned in the table below.

For each correct answer – You have to add 3 marks for each correct answer

For each incorrect answer (applicable only for MCQ) – Deduct one mark for an answer that is incorrect. This is not applicable for non MCQ questions. 

Calculate the CAT raw score – Now you can finally calculate your CAT raw score by adding the marks of the total correct answers and subtracting the total marks from the incorrect answer.

Formula for CAT Raw Score Calculation: 3 X Number of Correct Answers – 1 X (Number of Incorrect Answers in MCQs)

What is CAT Scaled Score ?

After calculating the raw scores, normalisation of CAT raw score is done. This normalisation is done to equalise the scores of the candidates in order to ensure transparency as the students appear in different slots. In CAT 2024, the slot 1 paper was comparatively easier than the other 2 slots. So in such a case one needs to be fair to all the candidates and therefore normalisation of CAT raw score is needed. There is a proper statistical procedure that is used to normalise the CAT raw score and derive the CAT scaled score. The scaled scores obtained through this process will be further converted into the CAT percentile for shortlisting.

Also Read : CAT Score Normalisation

CAT Percentile

CAT cutoff is released in the form of CAT overall and sectional percentile. The percentile represents the relative score of the candidate in comparison to the other candidates. The percentile is a relative score of the candidates. Here are the steps on how to calculate the CAT percentile 2024.

Steps to Calculate CAT Percentile

• Calculate the total number of candidates who appeared in CAT 2024
• Let this number be N and this should include all the test takers from all the slots.
• Assign rank to each candidate 
• After the normalisation process, considering the scaled score, assign ranks to each candidate for each section and for overall scores as well. Cases where two candidates are getting the same score give them identical ranks. Let the rank be R.
• Now using the following formula calculate your IIM CAT percentile 

CAT Percentile =  N-R/N * 100

CAT Raw Score vs Scaled Score

We have shared below the key differences between CAT raw scores and CAT scaled scores for reference purposes. Aspirants are highly advised to check the official website to learn about the exact CAT score/percentile calculation process to avoid any kind of confusion.

CAT Raw Scores	CAT Scaled Scores
This is the original score obtained by the candidate by summing up the marks of correct answers and deducting the negative marks obtained from the incorrect answers	This is a standardised score calculated using the raw scale to equate the scores to ensure transparency
This does not consider the difference in the difficulty levels of the question paper of each slot	This considers the difference in the difficulty level of the question paper of each slot in CAT.
CAT score card does not have the raw scores	The score card has the scaled score
CAT percentile cannot be calculated using this score	This score is used to calculate the percentile of the students

CAT Raw Score Calculation (Detailed Marking Scheme)

Component	Description	Marks Allotted
Correct Answer (MCQ & Non-MCQ)	Marks added for every right response	+3 marks
Incorrect Answer (MCQ Only)	Negative marking applicable only for MCQs	–1 mark
Incorrect Answer (Non-MCQ)	No negative marking	0 marks
Final Raw Score Formula	Formula to calculate total CAT raw score	3 × (Correct Answers) – 1 × (Incorrect MCQs)

Detailed comparison on CAT Raw Score vs Scaled Score vs Percentile

Factor	CAT Raw Score	CAT Scaled Score	CAT Percentile
Definition	Actual marks calculated using the marking scheme (3 for correct, –1 for wrong MCQ)	Normalised score adjusted for slot-wise difficulty	Relative rank indicating how many candidates you outperformed
Depends On	Number of correct and incorrect answers	Raw score + difficulty variation across slots	Scaled score + total number of candidates
Purpose	Initial score before normalisation	Ensures fairness across different exam slots	Used by IIMs and colleges for shortlisting
Shown on the scorecard?	No	Yes	Yes

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CAT Raw Score Vs Scaled Score Vs Percentile – FAQs