IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2026–28: Complete Composite Score Calculator
Getting a high CAT percentile is important for IIM Ahmedabad, but it is not the only factor considered during the admission process.
For the 2026–28 PGP batch, IIM Ahmedabad uses a combination of CAT performance, academic profile, work experience, gender diversity and performance in the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI).
This makes the IIM Ahmedabad selection process different from simply saying:
“I got 99 percentile, so I will get an IIM Ahmedabad call.”
Your academic scores, graduation discipline, work experience and other factors can significantly affect your application rating and composite score.
In this article, we explain the complete IIM Ahmedabad selection criteria for the 2026–28 batch and provide a calculator to help you understand your Application Rating (AR) and Shortlisting Composite Score.
Important: The calculator can calculate your raw Application Rating using the official rating tables. However, an exact final admission score cannot be predicted from profile details alone because IIM Ahmedabad uses applicant-pool-dependent normalisation for CAT, AR, PI and AWT scores.
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Process 2026–28
The selection process is broadly divided into two stages:
Stage 1: Shortlisting for AWT and PI
Candidates with a valid CAT-2025 score who satisfy the eligibility requirements are considered for shortlisting.
IIM Ahmedabad first applies the minimum CAT percentile requirements and then uses its Application Rating and Composite Score along with additional academic criteria.
Stage 2: Final Selection
Candidates shortlisted for AWT and PI are evaluated using a Final Composite Score.
The final score includes:
Personal Interview
Analytical Writing Test
CAT
Application Rating
IIM Ahmedabad Eligibility Criteria
For the 2026–28 PGP batch, a candidate must have a bachelor's degree with at least:
50% marks or equivalent CGPA for General category candidates
45% marks for SC/ST/PwD candidates
The bachelor's degree should involve a minimum of three years of education after completing 10+2.
Final-year bachelor's degree students can also apply subject to IIM Ahmedabad's specified conditions.
IIM Ahmedabad CAT Cutoff 2026–28
The minimum CAT-2025 percentile requirements are:
Category | Overall Percentile | Sectional Percentile |
General/EWS | 95 | 85 |
NC-OBC | 90 | 80 |
SC | 85 | 75 |
ST | 75 | 65 |
General/EWS PwD | 85 | 75 |
NC-OBC PwD | 80 | 70 |
SC PwD | 75 | 65 |
ST PwD | 65 | 55 |
Candidates must also have a positive raw score in all three CAT sections.
The three sections are:
VARC
DILR
QA
Important: Minimum Cutoff ≠ Guaranteed IIM Ahmedabad Call
These are minimum qualifying cutoffs, not guaranteed call cutoffs.
IIM Ahmedabad uses additional shortlisting criteria involving academic performance, Application Rating and CAT performance. Therefore, simply crossing the minimum percentile does not guarantee an AWT/PI call.
What is Application Rating (AR) at IIM Ahmedabad?
The Application Rating score is calculated using five components:
AR = A + B + C + D + E
Where:
A = Class 10 rating
B = Class 12 rating
C = Graduation rating
D = Work experience rating
E = Gender diversity rating
The maximum raw AR depends on these components.
IIM Ahmedabad Class 10 Rating
Your Class 10 percentage determines Rating A.
Class 10 Percentage | Rating A |
≤ 55 | 1 |
>55 to ≤60 | 2 |
>60 to ≤70 | 3 |
>70 to ≤80 | 5 |
>80 to ≤90 | 8 |
>90 | 10 |
For example, a candidate with 88% in Class 10 receives a Rating A of 8.
IIM Ahmedabad Class 12 Rating
The Class 12 rating depends on your stream.
Science
Class 12 Percentage | Rating B |
≤55 | 1 |
>55 to ≤60 | 2 |
>60 to ≤70 | 3 |
>70 to ≤80 | 5 |
>80 to ≤90 | 8 |
>90 | 10 |
Commerce
Class 12 Percentage | Rating B |
≤50 | 1 |
>50 to ≤55 | 2 |
>55 to ≤65 | 3 |
>65 to ≤75 | 5 |
>75 to ≤90 | 8 |
>90 | 10 |
Arts/Humanities
Class 12 Percentage | Rating B |
≤45 | 1 |
>45 to ≤50 | 2 |
>50 to ≤60 | 3 |
>60 to ≤70 | 5 |
>70 to ≤85 | 8 |
>85 | 10 |
This means that the same Class 12 percentage can result in a different rating depending on the stream.
IIM Ahmedabad Graduation Rating
Graduation rating is particularly important because IIM Ahmedabad divides bachelor's degrees into different academic categories.
The major categories are:
AC-1: Medicine and Surgery
AC-2: Selected professional degrees such as CA, CMA, CS, FIAI
AC-3: Commerce, Economics, Finance and Management-related degrees
AC-4: Engineering, Technology, Architecture and specified Science/Agriculture-related disciplines
AC-5: Arts, Humanities, Design, Education, Law, Fashion and Rural Studies
AC-6: Other disciplines
The final classification of a programme rests with the IIM Ahmedabad Admissions Committee.
Graduation Rating: AC-1
Graduation Percentage | Rating C |
≤55 | 1 |
>55 to ≤60 | 2 |
>60 to ≤62 | 3 |
>62 to ≤65 | 5 |
>65 to ≤70 | 8 |
>70 | 10 |
Graduation Rating: AC-2
Graduation Percentage | Rating C |
≤50 | 1 |
>50 to ≤53 | 2 |
>53 to ≤55 | 3 |
>55 to ≤57 | 5 |
>57 to ≤63 | 8 |
>63 | 10 |
Graduation Rating: AC-3
Graduation Percentage | Rating C |
≤55 | 1 |
>55 to ≤60 | 2 |
>60 to ≤65 | 3 |
>65 to ≤70 | 5 |
>70 to ≤80 | 8 |
>80 | 10 |
Graduation Rating: AC-4 & AC-6
Graduation Percentage | Rating C |
≤60 | 1 |
>60 to ≤65 | 2 |
>65 to ≤70 | 3 |
>70 to ≤75 | 5 |
>75 to ≤85 | 8 |
>85 | 10 |
Graduation Rating: AC-5
Graduation Percentage | Rating C |
≤50 | 1 |
>50 to ≤55 | 2 |
>55 to ≤60 | 3 |
>60 to ≤65 | 5 |
>65 to ≤75 | 8 |
>75 | 10 |
IIM Ahmedabad Work Experience Rating
Work experience is calculated in months as specified by IIM Ahmedabad.
Work Experience | Rating D |
Less than 12 months | 0 |
12–36 months | 0.20 × (Months − 11) |
More than 36 months | 5 |
For example:
12 months → 0.20
18 months → 1.40
24 months → 2.60
30 months → 3.80
36 months → 5
More than 36 months → 5
The work experience considered for the AR calculation is based on the work experience reported in the CAT application and the specified date used by IIM Ahmedabad.
Gender Diversity Score
The gender diversity component is:
Male candidate = 0
All other candidates = 3
This is Rating E in the Application Rating calculation.
IIM Ahmedabad Application Rating Formula
Your raw Application Rating is:
AR = A + B + C + D + E
For example, suppose a candidate has:
Class 10 rating = 8
Class 12 rating = 8
Graduation rating = 5
Work experience rating = 2.6
Gender diversity rating = 0
Then:
AR = 8 + 8 + 5 + 2.6 + 0
AR = 23.6
This is the candidate's raw Application Rating.
What is Normalised AR?
IIM Ahmedabad does not directly use the raw AR in the Composite Score.
The institute defines:
Normalised AR = Candidate's AR ÷ Average of the top 50 AR scores
The applicant pool consists of candidates who appear for CAT-2025 and apply to IIM Ahmedabad.
This is important because the average of the top 50 AR scores is dependent on the applicant pool.
Therefore, you cannot know your exact normalised AR from your academic profile alone unless the relevant average is available.
IIM Ahmedabad Shortlisting Composite Score
For shortlisting candidates for AWT and PI, IIM Ahmedabad uses:
CS = 0.35 × Normalised AR + 0.65 × Normalised CAT Score
Therefore:
Component | Weight |
Normalised AR | 35% |
Normalised CAT Score | 65% |
This is why CAT remains the largest component of the shortlisting Composite Score, but your academic profile still has a meaningful 35% contribution through the normalised AR.
Additional Criteria for IIM Ahmedabad Shortlisting
The Composite Score alone is not the entire shortlisting process.
IIM Ahmedabad also applies additional criteria.
For certain academic categories, candidates must satisfy conditions related to:
CAT sectional percentile
CAT overall percentile
Average of Class 10 and Class 12 percentages
Graduation percentage
For example, the required Class 10 + Class 12 average varies by stream and category.
The official criteria specify:
Class 12 Stream | General/EWS | NC-OBC | SC | ST |
Science | 80 | 75 | 70 | 65 |
Commerce | 77 | 72 | 67 | 62 |
Arts/Humanities | 75 | 70 | 64 | 59 |
Additional PwD thresholds also apply.
For some groups, the graduation cutoff is determined using the 80th percentile of the relevant applicant pool, rather than a single fixed percentage published in advance.
IIM Ahmedabad Final Selection Criteria
After the AWT and PI stage, IIM Ahmedabad calculates a Final Composite Score (FCS).
The official formula is:
FCS = 0.50 × Normalised PI + 0.10 × Normalised AWT + 0.25 × Normalised CAT + 0.15 × Normalised AR
The weightage is:
Component | Weight |
Personal Interview | 50% |
AWT | 10% |
CAT | 25% |
Application Rating | 15% |
The normalised PI and AWT scores are calculated using the candidate's score relative to the average of the top 1% scores in the respective field.
IIM Ahmedabad Composite Score Calculator
Use the calculator below to estimate your raw Application Rating and shortlisting Composite Score.
The calculator uses the official 2026–28 rating tables.
However, remember that the exact IIM Ahmedabad normalisation values are applicant-pool dependent.
Calculator inputs
You need:
Class 10 percentage
Class 12 stream
Class 12 percentage
Graduation academic category
Graduation percentage
Work experience in months
Gender
Normalised CAT score
Average of the top 50 AR scores
The calculator can then estimate your:
Rating A
Rating B
Rating C
Rating D
Rating E
Raw AR
Normalised AR
CAT contribution
AR contribution
Shortlisting Composite Score
For the final composite score, you would additionally need:
Normalised PI score
Normalised AWT score
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria: What Matters Most?
The important takeaway is that IIM Ahmedabad evaluates candidates using multiple parameters.
For the AWT/PI shortlist
The major components include:
CAT performance
Academic profile
Graduation discipline
Work experience
Gender diversity
Academic-category-specific criteria
The shortlisting Composite Score gives 65% weight to normalised CAT performance and 35% to normalised AR.
For final selection
The PI becomes the biggest component.
The Final Composite Score gives:
50% PI
10% AWT
25% CAT
15% AR
So, after receiving the AWT/PI call, your interview performance becomes extremely important.
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria: Key Takeaways
If you are preparing for CAT and targeting IIM Ahmedabad, remember these points:
Meeting the minimum CAT cutoff does not guarantee an IIM Ahmedabad call.
Class 10 and Class 12 marks contribute to the Application Rating.
Graduation marks and academic discipline matter.
Work experience contributes to the AR score.
Gender diversity contributes to the AR score.
CAT has the highest weight in the initial Composite Score.
PI has the highest weight in the final Composite Score.
Several shortlisting criteria depend on the applicant pool.
Normalised scores mean that a simple percentile-to-final-score calculation is not possible.
IIM Ahmedabad reserves the right to change its selection criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum CAT cutoff for IIM Ahmedabad?
For General/EWS candidates, the minimum CAT-2025 cutoff for the 2026–28 PGP batch is 95 overall percentile and 85 percentile in each section.
However, this is only the minimum qualifying cutoff and does not guarantee an AWT/PI call.
Does IIM Ahmedabad consider Class 10 marks?
Yes. Class 10 marks are used to calculate Rating A as part of the Application Rating.
Does IIM Ahmedabad consider Class 12 stream?
Yes. The Class 12 rating varies between Science, Commerce and Arts/Humanities.
Does work experience matter for IIM Ahmedabad?
Yes. Work experience is included as Rating D in the Application Rating.
Is 99 percentile enough for IIM Ahmedabad?
There is no single CAT percentile that guarantees an IIM Ahmedabad call. The institute uses CAT performance along with academic profile, Application Rating and other shortlisting criteria.
Can I calculate my IIM Ahmedabad composite score?
You can calculate your raw Application Rating and use the official formula to estimate the shortlisting Composite Score if the relevant normalised values are available.
However, the exact normalisation values depend on the applicant pool and are not fixed numbers that can simply be assumed.
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Source
The information above is based on the official IIM Ahmedabad Admission Criteria for the PGP 2026–28 batch.
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