There is a version of this story that Jammu students used to get told: if you want an IIM, you first have to get to Delhi or Chandigarh to even sit the paper. That has not been true for a while, and this year it is emphatically not true — Jammu, Samba and Srinagar all appear on the CAT 2026 test-city list.
The Common Admission Test is the entrance for the IIMs' flagship MBA programmes, including the one at IIM Jammu, and for a long list of other business schools that accept the score. Registration opened on 3 August and closes at 5 PM on 15 September 2026. The exam is on Sunday, 29 November. Below is what actually matters between now and then.
Who can apply?
A bachelor's degree with at least 50 per cent marks, or the equivalent CGPA. For SC, ST and PwD candidates the bar is 45 per cent.
Final-year students are eligible. If you are in the last year of your degree at Jammu University, Cluster University, Central University of Jammu, SMVDU or any recognised institution, you can register now and complete the qualification later — admission is provisional until your final result comes through. There is no age limit and no cap on the number of attempts.
What does it cost?
The application fee is ₹2,700 for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates and ₹1,350 for SC, ST and PwD candidates. It is paid online at the time of registration and is not refundable.
Budget for it now rather than on 15 September. Every year a number of applications die at the payment step in the last hour because a bank transaction fails and there is no time left to retry.
Where will I actually sit it?
This is the bit worth reading twice. CAT 2026 runs across roughly 170 test cities nationally, and the J&K cities on the list include Jammu, Samba and Srinagar.
During registration you choose up to five preferred cities, in order. Allotment then depends on capacity — a city being on the list is not a guarantee you will be placed there, which is exactly why the preference order matters. Put your genuine first choice first, and use the remaining slots on cities you could realistically reach for an early-morning slot: Jammu, Samba, and then the nearest options across the border in Punjab if you are willing to travel.
Do not fill the preference list at random. The exam is conducted in three sessions on the same day, and you do not choose your session. A candidate allotted a morning slot in a city four hours away is looking at travelling the night before.
How do I apply?
Everything happens at iimcat.ac.in. There is no offline route and no authorised agent.
- Register with a working email address and mobile number — both stay in use through admit card, result and the interview stage, so use ones you will still have in March.
- Fill in personal, academic and work-experience details. Academic percentages must match your marksheets exactly.
- Upload a recent photograph and signature in the specified format and size.
- Choose your five test cities in order of preference.
- Select the programmes and institutes you want to be considered for.
- Pay the fee, then download and save the completed application.
Once you submit, most of it cannot be altered. Read the form back before paying rather than after.
What if I miss it?
Then you wait a year. CAT runs once annually, and there is no late-fee window, no supplementary round and no appeal. That is the single most important line in this piece.
It is also worth knowing that CAT is not the only door. IIM Jammu, like the other IIMs, runs an integrated five-year management programme entered through a separate test taken after Class 12 — a route worth knowing about if you are reading this at 17 rather than 21.
If you're registering, register this week
Three months of preparation is a workable runway for a first attempt if you start now. It is not one if you start in November.
The practical order is: register and pay first, because that deadline is fixed and external; then sit one full-length mock under exam conditions to find out where you actually are, rather than where you assume you are; then build the plan around what that mock tells you. Doing it in the other order is how people end up with a well-organised study schedule and no valid application.
One more deadline for the same calendar: GATE 2027 registration opened on 27 August, and if you are an engineering student weighing an MBA against an M.Tech or a PSU job, the two windows overlap. We covered that one here — GATE 2027 Registration Opens August 27 — And This Year You Cannot Apply Without DigiLocker.
