Thousands of management aspirants across India are on high alert as the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM Kozhikode) prepares to release the final answer key for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025. This crucial step will pave the way for the official declaration of results and percentile scores, determining the next phase of the MBA admission journey for candidates nationwide.
The Road to the Final Answer Key
The process leading to this moment began when IIM Kozhikode, the conducting body for CAT 2025, published the provisional answer key and individual response sheets on December 4. This allowed test-takers from all three exam slots to evaluate their performance and estimate their scores. Following this, the institute opened a formal objection window from December 8 to December 10.
During this three-day period, candidates were permitted to challenge specific questions they believed were incorrect. They had to submit formal objections supported by justifications and relevant documents for expert review. The evaluation of these objections by subject matter experts is now complete, setting the stage for the final, authoritative answer key.
Significance of the Final Answer Key
The impending release of the CAT 2025 final answer key is more than just a procedural update. Once published, this document becomes non-challengeable and serves as the definitive benchmark for all subsequent calculations. It is the official reference that IIM Kozhikode will use for the critical processes of score normalisation and percentile computation across the different exam slots.
Any revisions made at this final stage—whether corrections to answer options or the complete withdrawal of certain questions—will be directly incorporated into each candidate's final score. This makes the final key the last technical checkpoint before the results are officially announced, ensuring fairness and accuracy in the evaluation.
How to Access the Key and Prepare for Results
The CAT 2025 final answer key will be made available exclusively on the official CAT website, iimcat.ac.in. To access it, candidates must log in using their unique CAT registration ID and password. The key is typically released in a downloadable PDF format. It may or may not be accompanied by updated candidate response sheets.
With the objection window closed, all attention is now focused on the result timeline. While IIM Kozhikode has not announced an official result date, historical patterns suggest that the CAT results are declared a few weeks after the final answer key is published. The institute will use the final key to compute scaled scores and apply the normalisation process to ensure equity among candidates who appeared in different slots.
What Comes After the CAT 2025 Result?
The declaration of CAT 2025 results will trigger the next wave of the MBA admission process. Individual Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other participating business schools will begin releasing their specific shortlisting criteria. These criteria will determine which candidates are called for the subsequent stages of selection.
These stages typically include a Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI). Together, these components form a comprehensive assessment of a candidate's suitability for a management program, making the CAT result a critical gateway.
Authorities have advised candidates to exercise caution and rely solely on official communications from IIM Kozhikode. Aspirants should regularly monitor the official CAT portal for updates and avoid relying on unverified information circulating on social media or coaching institute platforms. For a generation of management aspirants, the next few days will be decisive in shaping their academic and professional futures.
