- Yes, an IIM can reject on one weak section: several IIM policies set a minimum percentile in each of VARC, DILR and QA as well as overall.
- IIM Ahmedabad's CAT 2026 policy sets minimums of 95 overall and 85 in each section for General and EWS candidates (domestic shortlisting).
- Other IIMs set different floors by year and category, so tables that list one sectional cutoff for every IIM are estimates.
- Set a personal floor from the lowest sectional percentile in your last five mocks and read each IIM's own policy once results are out.
A CAT sectional cutoff is a minimum percentile in each section, and an IIM can reject a candidate who is below it in one section even when the overall percentile is high. Not every IIM publishes the same kind of floor, and the floors change from year to year, so a single table of sectional cutoffs for all IIMs cannot be right.
This post explains how the filter works, what a few official policies said, how to set a floor of your own from mocks, and what to check once results are out. Policy details are labelled with the batch they apply to and were checked on 6 November 2026.
What a CAT sectional cutoff is and who applies one
Each IIM sets its own eligibility and shortlisting rules, and the CAT bulletin says so directly. A sectional cutoff is one of those rules: a minimum percentile in VARC, DILR and QA, applied on top of a minimum overall percentile.
It works as a gate. Candidates who clear it move to a composite score that mixes CAT with academics, work experience and diversity points. Candidates who do not clear it are dropped before that score is calculated, however strong the rest of the profile is.
Why a high overall percentile can still miss a call
Overall percentile comes from the total score, so strong sections can cover for a weak one. A sectional gate checks each section separately, so they cannot.
- The gate checks VARC on its own: 72 is below 85.
- The QA and DILR scores are not added back for this check.
Answer: No. A strong overall percentile does not clear a gate that VARC fails.
Why the published per-IIM tables disagree
Official policies are specific to a batch, a category and a stage, and they differ widely. The table below uses only policy statements, with the batch labelled.
| IIM and batch | Overall minimum | Each section minimum | Category and stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmedabad, 2027-29 (CAT 2026) | 95 | 85 | General and EWS, domestic shortlisting |
| Nagpur, 2026-28 (CAT 2025) | 95 (EWS: 85) | 70 (EWS: 55) | General; a positive score in every section also required |
| Ranchi, 2026-28 (CAT 2025) | 95.25 | 75 | General, interview shortlisting |
| Kashipur, 2026-28 (CAT 2025) | 95 | 75 | General, last published for interview |
| Jammu, 2026-28 (CAT 2025) | 91 | 72 | General male, interview shortlisting |
| Udaipur, 2026-28 (CAT 2025) | 94 | 75 | General, registration |
Tables that give one sectional cutoff per IIM mix batches, categories and stages, and some list the same IIM at two different numbers. Apart from IIM Ahmedabad, the policies we checked are for the CAT 2025 cycle, so those rows show how floors vary, not what the coming cycle will use. See the IIM CAT cutoff 2026 page for calls, offers and overall cutoffs by category.
Set a personal floor from your last five mocks
Take your last five full mocks and note the sectional percentile in each. Your working floor for a section is the lowest of the five. Your target for it is the median.
| Mock | VARC | DILR | QA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 86 | 78 | 91 |
| 2 | 82 | 84 | 88 |
| 3 | 90 | 70 | 93 |
| 4 | 84 | 80 | 90 |
| 5 | 88 | 76 | 92 |
| Lowest (floor) | 82 | 70 | 88 |
| Median (target) | 86 | 78 | 91 |
These numbers are invented to show the method. Here the DILR floor of 70 sits under every threshold in the table above, so DILR is the bottleneck, even though the overall percentile may look comfortable. Mock percentiles come from a provider's own users, so treat each as a band of a few points and see the mock analysis guide for tracking trends.
Which section is cheapest to lift when one lags
It depends on why the section lags. The rows below are a rule of thumb, not a measured result.
| Section | Common cause of a lag | Usual lever | Pace of change |
|---|---|---|---|
| QA | Specific topic gaps | Close one chapter at a time, then timed sets | Often quickest when the gap is concept-based |
| DILR | Choosing the wrong sets, or slow setup | Practise ranking sets and a fixed abandon rule | Varies widely from mock to mock |
| VARC | Reading speed and inference errors | Daily reading plus a review of every wrong answer | Usually the slowest to move |
Overall versus sectional: how the two interact
The sectional minimum decides who gets into the pool. After that, weights decide the order. IIM Bangalore's 2026-28 process, for example, built a first shortlist from section cut-offs and then ranked on a pre-interview score in which CAT carried 55 and academics 30. FMS Delhi, which is not an IIM, shortlists on a weighted sectional score, VARC 40, DILR 30 and QA 30, so a weak VARC costs more there than a weak QA.
A candidate who clears every gate with room to spare is competing on the composite. One who clears by a point or two is exposed if the cutoff moves in the new cycle.
What to check in an IIM's admission policy after results
- The cycle label: the policy must say CAT 2026, for the 2027-29 batch.
- Whether sectional minimums are stated, and for which category and gender.
- Whether the minimum applies at registration, at interview shortlisting, or both.
- How the composite score weighs CAT, academics, work experience and diversity.
- The dates for the next step, which several IIMs announce only after the result.
The IIM call predictor works from overall percentile and category, so check sectional minimums separately in the policy.
A one-page checklist
- Write down your lowest sectional percentile from the last five mocks, for each section.
- Compare each with the highest minimum among the IIMs you want. For IIM Ahmedabad's CAT 2026 policy that is 85.
- Mark any section below that line as the next two weeks' priority.
- Retake a one-section test in the free CAT Compass mock to track that section.
- After results, read each target IIM's policy for the exact cycle, and ignore tables without a year.