IIM CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria Update: Here’s What you Should Know

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, recently released the updated eligibility criteria for the written exam of the Common Aptitude Test of CAT 2021. These eligibility criteria involve the students who have been issued with the certificate of  “promotion or pass” instead of the “award of marks” certificate because of their academic year clashing with the COVID-19 pandemic. IIM Ahmedabad is the responsible authority for bringing this update to the eligibility criterion of CAT 2021. 

Applicants having the “promotion/pass” certificate in any of the last two years of their bachelor’s program can now apply for the “Promotion or Pass” option in the application form.

This will approve the candidate with a “promotion/pass” certificate to submit the CAT 2021 application form under the criterion of "promotion/pass." The updated eligibility relaxation is also relevant and applicable to final year students having certificates with “award of marks".

This exemption is granted only to the applicants who are currently pursuing their bachelor’s degree or are in the final year of the bachelor’s program (2021 and 2022) preparing for IIM entrance exam.

According to the institute, other colleges and universities have been subsequently altering the criteria for the assessment and evaluation of students in the last two years. Since the ongoing pandemic started, exams were not being conducted according to the normal system guidelines and students were being promoted without strict evaluation of their exams, universities were issuing a “promotion/pass” certificate instead of the “marks” certificates.

The CAT center received many inquiries from the aspirants regarding their candidate because of the “promotion/pass” certificate of their bachelor’s program along the timeline of the pandemic. Hence, the committee took a step forward by introducing exceptions for CAT 2021 registration.

Due to the implementation of the new update in the eligibility criteria and consideration of the different evaluation patterns of top MBA universities in India due to the Covid-19 pandemic across the country, the CAT Committee has also decided to remove the minimum percentage of marks (45 percent and 50 percent) for appearing for the CAT exam 2021.

“This announcement is only applicable to the eligibility criteria for writing the CAT 2021. Candidates are advised to look at and follow respective institution-specific admission policy,” the official notification reads.