CAT 2026 Registration Ends Today: IIM Indore Closes Application Window at 5 PM; Check Edit Window Rules and Key Dates

The registration window for the Common Admission Test (CAT 2026) officially terminates today, September 22, 2026, at 5:00 PM IST, on the official centralized admission portal iimcat.ac.in. Administered this cycle by the Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore), the gateway examination governs admissions into postgraduate management programs across all 21 premier IIMs and over 100 non-IIM partner business schools. Following a seven-day administrative deferral from its original September 15 cutoff, the convenor office confirmed that no further deadline extensions will be considered. With interim tallies exceeding 3.08 lakh registered candidates as of September 21, final applicant numbers are projected to match or surpass historic testing baselines once reconciliation completes.

Crucial Timeline: Deadlines, Edit Window, and Exam Schedule

Aspirants completing their online submission must execute successful fee settlement transactions before the 5:00 PM cutoff to avoid profile invalidation. The operational roadmap through result declaration proceeds along the following timeline:

"Applicants must not delay their final fee submissions until the final hour to avoid payment gateway congestion. The registration window strictly lapses at 5:00 PM today without exception," convenor communications confirmed.

The Correction Window Reality: What Can and Cannot Be Modified

A recurring mistake among MBA aspirants is treating the post-registration application edit window as a mechanism for correcting fundamental demographic errors. Official protocols establish that the correction facility is strictly limited to three specific data points:

• Candidate Passport Photograph: Uploading a fresh photograph if the original scan failed white-background criteria or clarity parameters.
• Candidate Signature: Replacing blurred or illegible digital signature crops.
• Test-City Preferences: Modifying the ranking of six preferred test cities from the ~170 designated regional test hubs.

Under no circumstances does the system permit edits to candidate names, parentage, date of birth, category classifications (SC, ST, NC-OBC, EWS, PwD), mobile numbers, email addresses, or academic percentage matrices. Any discrepancy in personal identity data entered during today's registration phase remains binding through subsequent document verification rounds at individual IIM interview stages.

Testing Matrix & Operational Scale

CAT 2026 will be conducted as a 120-minute computer-based assessment segmented into three mandatory 40-minute sections: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). Sectional switching remains disabled during the active testing window.

The examination will be executed simultaneously across approximately 170 test cities in three discrete time slots (Morning, Afternoon, and Evening) on Sunday, November 29, 2026. Candidates who have finalized their submissions will be able to retrieve their verifiable hall tickets on November 4, 2026, using their generated CAT credentials.