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CAT 2026

CAT 2026 registration closes soon — the final checklist

Closes 15 September, 5:00 PM. What actually goes wrong at the deadline, and the one thing worth not rushing.

Beyond Brochure Team · Updated

CAT 2026 registration closes on 15 September 2026 at 5:00 PM. Registration opened 3 August. There is no late window once it closes, though the IIMs have extended the deadline by several days in some past cycles — confirm on iimcat.ac.in rather than relying on any secondary listing, including this one. The exam itself is on 29 November.

Verify the deadline on the official portal

Closing dates and any extension are announced on iimcat.ac.in first. Secondary sites lag, and a wrong date copied from a blog is a genuinely expensive mistake. Check the source directly before you plan your final day around it.

What actually goes wrong at the deadline

The avoidable failures

  1. Leaving payment to the last day — gateway load spikes near the deadline, and a failed transaction close to cut-off is hard to recover from
  2. Photo and signature rejections — wrong dimensions or format is the most common upload failure; check the spec before you start, not after a rejection
  3. Category certificate not ready — if you're claiming a category, the documentation needs to be in hand and valid
  4. Test city chosen carelessly — popular centres fill up, and a correction window is not guaranteed to exist
  5. Name mismatches — a name that doesn't match your ID exactly causes problems later at the centre, not now
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If you miss it, the cycle isn't over

There's no late registration for CAT, but XAT, CMAT and MAT run on separate and later timelines — see MBA colleges accepting XAT, CMAT and MAT. Missing one exam narrows your options; it doesn't close the admission year.

The one thing worth not rushing

Deadline pressure has a way of spilling into decisions that have no deadline. Registering for CAT is urgent this week; deciding which colleges you actually want is not, and shouldn't be compressed into the same panic. That shortlist deserves its own unhurried process — see CAT percentile vs college and how to compare colleges properly.

Watch for deadline-driven sales pitches

The weeks around a registration deadline are peak season for urgency-based pitches — "limited seats," "apply now through us," "guaranteed admission." Urgency is the oldest lever in this business. See how college admission agents make money for why that framing shows up exactly now.

Common questions

When does CAT 2026 registration close?

CAT 2026 registration closes on 15 September 2026 at 5:00 PM. The official portal iimcat.ac.in is the only authority on the deadline; in some past cycles the IIMs extended the window by several days, but an extension is never guaranteed.

What happens if I miss the CAT registration deadline?

There is no late window once registration closes — you would wait for the next year's cycle. However, other MBA entrance exams including XAT, CMAT and MAT have separate, later timelines, so missing CAT does not end the admission cycle for you.

Can I change my CAT test city after registering?

Correction and edit windows, where offered, are announced on the official CAT portal after registration closes. Don't assume one will exist — treat your city preferences as final when you submit.

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