CMAT eligibility criteria is released by NTA on the official site. Here, we have provided the details of the requirements for appearing in CMAT 2026.
CMAT 2026
Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is a national-level computer-based management entrance test conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) India. Its score is accepted by all AICTE-Approved Institutions/University Departments/Constituent Colleges/Affiliated Colleges.
CMAT 2026 Exam is expected to be conducted in
January 2026. The dates of
CMAT 2026 are out now.
CMAT Eligibility Criteria 2026: General Requirements
Candidates have to fulfil the following set of CMAT exam eligibility conditions so as to appear for it:
- The candidate should be an Indian citizen.
- The candidate should have a recognized Bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
- The candidate must have obtained at least 50% (45% in the case of candidates belonging to the reserved category) in the qualifying Examination.
- Candidates in the Final year of their graduation (10+2 +3) whose result will be declared before commencement of admission for academic year 2026-27 can also apply.
- No age limits for appearing for the CMAT entrance exam.
CMAT Eligibility Criteria 2026: Course-Specific Requirements
The following table displays the courses offered by CMAT-accepting institutes along with their particular eligibility conditions:
|
Course
|
Eligibility Criteria
|
|
MBA, PGDM, or equivalent
|
Graduate in any discipline from a recognized university/ institute
|
|
Executive PGDM
|
Graduate in a recognized Bachelor’s Degree of atleast 3 years duration.
Minimum work experience of 5 years (managerial/ supervisory).
|
|
Post Graduate Certificate in Management (PGCM)
|
Graduate in any discipline from a recognized university
|
CMAT Reservation Criteria
For institutes owned or aided by the Central or State government, the following reservation policy is applicable during admissions through CMAT:
|
Category
|
Reserved Seats
|
|
Scheduled Caste (SC)
|
15%
|
|
Scheduled Tribe (ST)
|
7.5%
|
|
Other Backward Classes (OBC-NCL)
|
27%
|
|
PwD (each category)
|
5%
|
|
GEN-EWS Category
|
10%
|
Recent changes for CMAT
- NTA has increased the total number of centres from 109 to 153
- In 2021, NTA introduced a new section in CMAT named ‘Innovation & Entrepreneurship’. This section was optional in 2021 but was mandatory from 2022.
- The fees for candidates for Males/ Female increased to Rs 2500 & Rs 1250 respectively and for SC/ ST/ PwD/ OBC-NCL/ Gen-EWS/ Third gender/ Female, it has raised to Rs 1250.
Top CMAT-accepting Colleges
CMAT is an important exam as its score is accepted by thousands of management institutes. The popular colleges which accept the CMAT score are:
- Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
- Institute for Financial Management and Research, Sri City
- KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai
- Goa Institute of Management, Goa
- Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
- Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore
- Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Pune
- VIT Business School, Vellore
- ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai
Now you know about the CMAT exam eligibility, you can go ahead and apply for the upcoming session.
Finally, you must make sure to enter the examination hall with CMAT admit card for which you must apply on the official website. Once you have filled up CMAT 2026 application form, you will receive the admit card. Along with the CMAT admit card, you are supposed to take their ID cards with them to the examination centre.
For more details about the exam, you can check out cmat.nta.nic.in.
FAQs about CMAT Eligibility 2026
1. Can 12th pass apply for CMAT?
No, the candidate must be a graduate or be in the final year of graduation to be eligible for CMAT.
2. How many times CMAT can be given?
There are no lifetime limits on CMAT, but in one year it can only be taken once.
3. Is CMAT required for MBA?
Apart from CMAT, there are also other entrance tests like CAT, XAT, NMAT, SNAP, etc. that can be used for MBA admissions.
4. What can I do after the CMAT result?
After the CMAT result, you can apply at the B-schools as per their expected cut-offs. Accordingly, you will be called for further admission rounds like group discussion, written ability test, extempore, personal interview, etc.
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