CAT Answer Key 2025; Download Link, Objection Fee and Score

CAT 2025 answer key was released on December 4, 2025, only four days after the exam, by IIM Kozhikode. Candidates who sat the CAT exam on November 30, 2025 can download the slot wise key, work out a probable score, and raise an objection, though the fee for doing so was raised partway through the window this year. This page covers the release dates, the download steps, the objection process, and how MCQ and TITA questions are scored differently.

CAT Answer Key 2025 Highlights

CAT 2025 drew close to 2.58 lakh candidates across 339 centres in 170 cities, making it one of the largest entrance exams covered on this page. The table below lists the main dates and figures for this cycle.

CAT 2025 Marking Scheme: Why MCQ and TITA Are Scored Differently

CAT is not one uniform marking scheme across every question. Multiple Choice Questions and TITA questions, where a candidate types in a number instead of picking an option, are treated differently when an answer is wrong.

A wrong MCQ answer costs a candidate 1 mark. A wrong TITA answer costs nothing at all, since there is no option to guess from in the first place. This difference matters when deciding whether to attempt a borderline question.

CAT 2025 Answer Key Release Timeline

The provisional key came out faster than usual this year, only four days after the exam instead of the typical five to six. A short objection window followed, before the final key closed out the process.

Login access for the provisional key and response sheet stayed open from December 4 at 5:00 PM through December 10 at 11:55 PM, giving candidates almost a week to check their own answers before the objection window itself closed.

How to Download CAT 2025 Answer Key and Response Sheet

Both documents sit behind the same login, so a candidate can pull up the key and their own response sheet in one sitting rather than needing two separate visits to the portal.

• Visit iimcat.ac.in and open the candidate login page.
• Log in using the CAT User ID and password.
• Select the CAT 2025 Answer Key link on the dashboard.
• Download the answer key PDF along with the personal response sheet.
• Compare the two documents question by question before deciding whether to raise an objection.

CAT 2025 Objection Process and the Mid Window Fee Hike

IIM Kozhikode raised the objection fee partway through this year's window, a change candidates would not have expected based on past cycles. The fee went from Rs 1,200 per question to Rs 1,500 per question while the window was still open.

• Log in to iimcat.ac.in and open the Objection Management tab.
• Select the question ID being challenged.
• Add detailed reasoning and upload a supporting document.
• Pay the objection fee and submit the form.

An objection cannot be edited once submitted, and no objection is accepted after the final answer key is out, so it is worth checking a claim carefully before paying the fee.

CAT 2025 Score Calculation and Slot Wise Normalisation

CAT ran across three slots on the same day, and not every slot was equally difficult. Because of this, a raw score from the answer key is not the final number used for the percentile.

• Count the correct MCQ and TITA answers together, then multiply by 3.
• Count only the incorrect MCQ answers, then multiply by 1.
• Subtract the second number from the first to get the raw score out of 204.

IIMs then normalise this raw score across Slot 1, Slot 2, and Slot 3 before converting it into a percentile, so two candidates with the same raw score from different slots can end up with different percentiles.

CAT 2025 Important Points

A few extra facts are worth keeping in mind alongside the process covered above, since they affect how a candidate should treat the answer key and the eventual result.

• The final answer key, not the provisional one, is what the result is calculated from.
• Objections raised through any channel other than the official portal, or outside the notified window, are not accepted.
• Most IIMs apply both an overall cutoff and a sectional cutoff, so a strong total score does not guarantee clearing every section on its own.
• There is no limit on the number of attempts at CAT across different years, though a candidate can only take the exam once per year.
• A candidate cannot switch between sections once the timer for that section runs out, even if time remains unused within another section.
• An onscreen calculator is provided during the exam, but personal calculators or any other electronic device are not allowed at the test centre.

CAT 2025 Conducting Institute: IIM Kozhikode and the Rotating Host

CAT does not have one fixed conducting IIM every year. The responsibility moves between different IIMs on a rotating basis each cycle, which is worth knowing before assuming next year's process will look identical to this one.

Regardless of which IIM administers a given year, the overall CAT format, the marking scheme, and the selection process built around GD, WAT, and PI rounds stay broadly consistent across the rotation.

Previous Year CAT Answer Key Trend

Looking at recent cycles shows that the answer key has generally landed within the first two weeks of December, though the exact date shifts a little each year.

The 2025 cycle turned around noticeably faster than either of the two years shown here, continuing a gradual trend toward releasing the key sooner after the exam.

What Comes After CAT 2025 Answer Key

Once the final key feeds into the result, the process moves into shortlisting rather than a direct admission offer, and this stage looks quite different from most other entrance exams covered on this page.

• The result, including percentile scores, is expected in the first week of January 2026.
• Candidates who clear an IIM's cutoff receive a further call for Written Ability Test, Group Discussion, or Personal Interview rounds, depending on the institute.
• Final selection is based on a composite score built from the CAT percentile, academic record, work experience, and performance in these later rounds, not on the CAT score alone.

CAT 2025 is now past its answer key and objection stage, with only the final result and the subsequent shortlisting rounds left to play out. Keeping track of the fee hike, the MCQ and TITA distinction, and the slot wise normalisation covered above should help a candidate read their own provisional score with the right amount of caution before the official percentile arrives.

CAT Answer Key 2025 FAQs

Ques: Does the CAT 2025 answer key show my final percentile?

Ques: Why did the CAT 2025 objection fee change during the window?

Ques: Is a wrong TITA answer penalised the same way as a wrong MCQ answer?

Ques: Does every IIM use the same CAT cutoff?

Ques: If someone else's objection is accepted, does it change my score too?