Tips to Score 99+ Percentile in CAT Exam 2025

Securing 99 percentile in CAT Exam is every MBA aspirant’s dream but “How to score 99 percentile in CAT Exam?” is an evergreen question. This never goes off trend. Every CAT taking candidate aims to secure at least 99 percentile since it is the only gateway to get admission in top MBA institutes. Also Read - CAT 2025 Subject-wise Syllabus

Calculate Your Expected CAT Exam Percentile

How to Score 99+ Percentile in CAT 2025?

In order to get admission to the Top IIMs, candidates must secure at least 99 percentile in CAT. The number of candidates who register for the MBA exam every year is usually around 2.3 lakhs but only a very few students score 99+ percentile. In the CAT 2023, only 29 students secured 99.99 percentile and the number of students with 100 percentiles was 14.

But at the same time, getting a high score in the CAT Exam is not enough to secure a seat in Top IIMs. Many students achieve excellent marks in the exam but they do not get selected for admission to IIMs. The main reason behind this is ‘low percentile’.

What is CAT Normalization Process?

The MBA aspirants are usually unaware of what CAT Normalization is. “What is the difference between CAT score and CAT percentile?” is one of the most commonly asked questions amongst candidates.

• CAT Score is the marks obtained by candidates in the Common Admission Test while the percentile secured by candidates is the scaled score of all the candidates through the normalization process.
• The CAT Percentile is defined as the candidate’s performance against the other test takers.
• Most of the top MBA colleges release their own individual CAT Percentile Cutoff to shortlist deserving candidates for the IIM Admission Process.

Also Read - CAT Score vs Percentile

Another important question which is asked more frequently is “How many questions to attempt in CAT to score 99 percentile?”. The answer to this question is extremely important for getting a good score in the CAT Exam and every candidate must know the answer to this question.

Some of the most effective ways to obtain 99 percentile in CAT Exam have been mentioned below in this article. Please read below to get detailed analysis on the topic.

Understand the CAT Exam Pattern

This is one of the foremost steps that students must take in order to ace CAT exam with 99+ percentile. A thorough understanding of CAT Exam Pattern is the key to securing 99 percentile in CAT. It helps candidates understand the format of the question paper and develop a strategy to tackle the questions and solve them in the stipulated time.

Read in Detail - CAT 2025 Exam Pattern

The table given below shows the CAT Exam Pattern and CAT Marking Scheme

Marks Required for CAT 99 Percentile

“How many marks are required for 99 percentile in CAT Exam?” is one of the top searched questions. Achieving a score of 99 percentile in CAT Exam is a challenging task but it’s not impossible. If the candidates follow a strategic approach, which involves targeting a minimum score of 100 marks out of total 198 marks.

They should also attempt easier questions first and get higher marks.

To score 99 percentile marks, candidates must secure at least 85+ percentile in any of the two sections and a 99 percentile in the third section. In simpler words, candidates must aim to obtain 45-50% marks in any two sections and 55-60% marks in the third section.

Impact of CAT Negative Marking

“Is there any negative marking in the CAT Exam?” or “What is the marking scheme in CAT Exam?”. The answers to these questions are almost similar. Before appearing in the exam, candidates must be aware of the marking scheme of CAT Exam. How many questions they should solve for how many marks is what clarifies these questions. Candidates must begin with a strategic approach by targeting a specific score range.

• 3 marks are awarded for each correct answer.
• For every incorrect MCQ answer, 1 mark will be deducted as a penalty.
• The TITA questions, the Non-MCQ ones, do not lead to any negative marking. You can also take a guess in these questions but these questions are often lengthy and tricky.
• Candidates must mark their answers carefully as each incorrect answer will lead to negative marking.

The key strategy to secure good marks in the exam is to mark answers carefully and answer only those questions that students are very sure of.

Since the CAT Exam Pattern witnesses changes every year, there is no sure shot way to secure 99 percentile but yes, this is all about how accurately you solve the question in the least amount of time.

“How many questions to attempt in CAT Exam to score 99+ percentiles?”

As per the experts’ advice, students must attempt at least 75 percent questions accurately to secure 99+ percentile. Since both sectional and overall percentile are of individual importance for IIM Admissions, candidates are advised to maintain good accuracy in each CAT Exam Sections.

CAT 2025 - Section-wise Attempt for 99+ Percentile

The questions in the CAT Question Paper are of varying difficulty levels. Mainly the difficulty level ranges between moderate and difficult. For example, the difficulty level of questions in VARC section is comparatively lesser than the questions in Quantitative Aptitude section.

However, equal time of 40 minutes has been allocated to each section. This is why the total number of attempts in each section is not evenly distributed.

Below is the distribution of number of questions candidates must attempt in each section to secure 99 percentile in the exam: