CAT 2025 Answer Key Released: What MBA Aspirants Must Do Before December 10

IIM Kozhikode has released the CAT 2025 provisional answer key, giving over 2.58 lakh MBA aspirants their first clear assessment of performance as this year’s admission cycle enters a decisive phase. Candidates can now view their recorded responses and raise objections through the official CAT website.

The release marks a key checkpoint in the selection process for India’s premier management programmes, ensuring transparency in evaluation ahead of the final results due later this month.

Objection Window Opens December 8

The objection window will be open from 12 pm on December 8 to 11:55 pm on December 10, 2025.
Candidates who find discrepancies in any question or answer may submit challenges online. IIM Kozhikode will review all objections, and valid corrections will be reflected in an updated answer key.

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Strong Attendance, Balanced Difficulty Level

CAT 2025 was conducted on November 24 across 339 test centres in 170 cities, with three shifts held throughout the day.
Out of 2.95 lakh registered candidates, approximately 2.58 lakh took the exam—an 86% attendance rate, one of the highest in recent years.

Early analysis shows:

• VARC: Similar to last year.

• DILR: Slightly more challenging.

• Quantitative Aptitude (QA): On par with the previous edition.

Experts describe the paper as well-balanced, designed to differentiate candidates across a broad skill spectrum and sustain healthy competition.

What Candidates Should Do Next

With the answer key now available, aspirants should:

1. Download and cross-check their responses.

2. Calculate expected scores to gauge percentile range.

3. Raise objections if answer mismatches are spotted.

4. Start shortlisting B-schools based on expected cut-offs.

5. Prepare for WAT–PI rounds, which will begin once results are declared.

CAT scores play a decisive role in admissions to all IIMs, as well as several leading management institutes offering PG, doctoral and fellowship programmes.

As the objection period opens and the results approach, the CAT 2025 admission cycle is set to accelerate significantly toward the end of December.