IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2027–29: What Has Changed From Last Year?

IIM Ahmedabad PGP 2027–29 Selection Criteria: What Has Changed and What It Means for CAT Aspirants

IIM Ahmedabad has released its admission policy for the PGP 2027–29 batch, and while the broad components of the selection process remain familiar, the way candidates are evaluated has changed significantly.

The new policy brings in a common academic scoring system, discipline-wise normalization and removes the earlier AC-RC based shortlisting framework and additional academic filters.

For candidates preparing for CAT 2026, the important question is not just what has changed, but who stands to benefit from these changes and who may lose an advantage they had under the previous system.

Here is what the new IIMA policy means for you.

1. One academic scoring table for Class 10, 12 and Graduation

One of the biggest changes is that IIMA will now use the same scoring table for Class 10, Class 12 and graduation.

Under the previous system, Class 12 and graduation were evaluated using different tables depending on the candidate's stream and academic category. The new system makes the calculation considerably simpler.

What does this mean for students?

Consider two candidates.

Candidate A

• Class 10: 92% → 10 points
• Class 12: 91% → 10 points
• Graduation: 88% → 8 points

Their academic score is 28 points.

For a candidate who has maintained consistently strong academics, the new system is relatively straightforward: higher marks translate into higher points across all three stages.

Now consider Candidate B:

• Class 10: 90% → 10 points
• Class 12: 68% → 3 points
• Graduation: 82% → 8 points

Their academic score is 21 points.

The candidate still benefits from the strong graduation score, but the 68% in Class 12 places them in the 3-point band.

The advantage

Candidates no longer need to understand different scoring tables for different Class 12 streams or older academic categories. A score in a particular range has the same point value across Class 10, Class 12 and graduation.

The disadvantage

The simplification does not automatically mean everyone benefits.

Candidates who previously received an advantage from stream-specific or academic-category-based scoring may find that their relative position changes under the common table.

So, a candidate should not assume that the new system is universally better or worse. The impact depends on their academic profile and the scoring framework they would have fallen under previously.

2. The AC system is gone. IIMA will now use 20 UG disciplines

The previous system grouped undergraduate degrees into broad Academic Categories (ACs).

For 2027–29, IIMA has moved to a list of 20 undergraduate disciplines, including:

• Computer Science & IT
• Commerce, Accounting & Finance
• Economics
• Social Sciences
• Arts & Humanities
• Law
• Journalism & Media
• Management
• Engineering & Technology
• Mathematics
• Pure Sciences
• Medical & Health Sciences
• Agriculture & Allied Sciences
• Statistics & Actuarial Science
• Architecture & Planning
• Fashion & Design
• Hospitality & Food Sciences
• Life Sciences
• Professional courses such as CA/CS/ICWA/FIAI
• Others

Important: the official policy lists 20 disciplines, not 22.

Why does this matter?

Under the older system, degrees that were quite different from each other could fall under the same broader academic category.

For example, Commerce and Management were previously grouped within the broader framework. Under the new system, Commerce, Accounting & Finance and Management are separately identified disciplines.

Similarly, Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Law and Journalism & Media are separately recognised.

This makes the academic comparison more granular.

3. Your composite score will now be normalized within your UG discipline

This is one of the most important changes for candidates.

IIMA will calculate the Raw Composite Score and then normalize it based on the average of the top 1% raw composite scores within the candidate's undergraduate discipline.

For this benchmark, IIMA considers a minimum of 5 and maximum of 100 raw composite scores.

What does this mean?

Imagine two candidates have similar raw scores, but they come from different undergraduate disciplines.

Under the new system, their scores are not simply compared using one common academic pool. Their composite scores are normalized within their respective disciplines.

Potential advantage

This could help candidates whose undergraduate discipline may have been disadvantaged by the broader grouping under the previous AC system.

For example, if a candidate's degree previously sat within a broad category containing several very different disciplines, the new discipline-specific normalization could provide a more relevant comparison group.

But there is a flip side

Normalization works both ways.

A candidate who benefited from the previous broad academic-category structure may not receive the same relative advantage under the new discipline-wise system.

So, being in a separately recognized discipline does not automatically mean a candidate gets extra points. The final impact depends on how competitive the candidate's normalized score is within that discipline.

4. The old additional academic filters have been removed

This is another major change.

Under the previous framework, candidates had to satisfy additional academic conditions, including a P threshold based on the average of Class 10 and Class 12 scores, with different thresholds for Science, Commerce and Arts/Humanities.

There was also an additional requirement where the candidate's graduation percentage had to meet a minimum cut-off based on the 80th percentile of the respective academic category.

These additional filters are not part of the new 2027–29 framework.

The previous AC-RC system and its associated shortlisting structure have also been removed.

What does this mean for candidates?

This could be particularly relevant for candidates who had:

• A weaker Class 10/12 combination
• A graduation percentage that would have fallen below the previous category-specific threshold
• An academic profile that did not satisfy the previous additional filters

Such candidates may now remain in consideration based on their overall composite score, rather than being eliminated by those additional filters.

But this does not mean that academics no longer matter.

Your Class 10, Class 12 and graduation marks continue to contribute points to the Application Rating.

And the basic eligibility requirement remains 50% in the bachelor's degree for general candidates and 45% for SC/ST/PwD candidates.

So the accurate takeaway is:

IIMA has removed additional academic filters, not the basic graduation eligibility requirement.

5. CAT continues to carry 65% of the shortlisting composite

At the shortlisting stage, the Raw Composite Score is calculated using:

• 35% Normalized Application Rating
• 65% CAT percentile

The Application Rating itself includes academic scores, work experience and gender diversity.

What does this mean?

Despite all the changes to academic evaluation, CAT remains the biggest component you can directly control at the shortlisting stage.

This is particularly important for candidates who do not have perfect academic profiles.

A weaker academic score does not automatically eliminate a candidate, because CAT still makes up 65% of the shortlisting composite.

However, it also means that candidates should not interpret the new policy as a reason to ignore academics. Academic points still affect the remaining 35%.

6. Work experience and gender diversity remain unchanged

The work-experience scoring continues as follows:

• Less than 12 months: 0 points
• 12–36 months: 0.20 × (months − 11)
• More than 36 months: 5 points

The work-experience multiplier is 0.20.

IIMA also continues to award 3 gender-diversity points to non-Male candidates, while Male candidates receive 0 points.

What does this mean?

There is no new advantage here for candidates compared with the previous framework.

The major change is how academic performance and undergraduate discipline are evaluated, rather than work experience or gender diversity.

7. CAT cutoffs remain the same

The published minimum CAT 2026 cutoffs for the 2027–29 batch are:

These are the minimum published cutoffs, not guaranteed call-off percentiles. IIMA states that the cutoffs can be changed depending on the applicant pool and CAT score distribution.

So while the published thresholds remain unchanged from the previous year, candidates should not assume that simply crossing 95 percentile will result in an IIMA interview call.

8. The final selection weightage has changed slightly

Once candidates clear the shortlisting stage and appear for AWT and PI, IIMA will calculate the Final Composite Score using:

• 50% Personal Interview
• 10% Analytical Writing Test
• 40% Normalized Composite Score

The 40% Composite Score itself contains:

• 65% CAT
• 35% Application Rating

Therefore, the effective final weightage works out to:

The 26% CAT and 14% Application Rating figures are a mathematical breakdown of IIMA's official 50/10/40 formula, rather than separately published weightages.

For comparison, the previous 2026–28 framework used 50% PI, 10% AWT, 25% CAT and 15% Application Rating.

What does this mean?

The change is relatively small, but the balance has shifted slightly:

CAT's effective final weight has increased from 25% to 26%, while Application Rating has decreased from 15% to 14%.

More importantly, PI remains the single biggest component at 50%.

So getting the CAT percentile is critical for the shortlist, but once you reach the interview stage, your PI performance can have the biggest impact on the final outcome.

9. Candidates with multiple undergraduate degrees get another important provision

If a candidate has multiple undergraduate degrees belonging to different disciplines, IIMA will calculate the Raw Composite Score separately for each represented discipline, normalize each score separately and use the highest normalized score for shortlisting.

What does this mean?

This is potentially beneficial for candidates with multiple eligible undergraduate qualifications because they are not restricted to whichever discipline gives them the weaker normalized outcome.

The highest normalized score is considered.

What the new criteria means for CAT 2026 aspirants

The new policy is simpler, but not necessarily easier.

Potential advantages

• Candidates affected by the old P threshold or graduation 80th-percentile filter can now compete without those additional filters.
• More specific UG disciplines could benefit candidates who were previously disadvantaged by broad academic categories.
• Candidates with multiple UG degrees get the benefit of their highest normalized score.
• CAT continues to provide substantial weightage for candidates with less-than-perfect academics.

Potential disadvantages

• Candidates who benefited from the old academic-category or stream-wise scoring may lose some relative advantage.
• Discipline-wise normalization means your outcome depends partly on the competitiveness of your own UG discipline.
• Strong academics still matter because 10th, 12th and graduation continue to contribute to the Application Rating.

The practical takeaway

For CAT 2026 aspirants, the strategy remains straightforward: maximize your CAT score, understand where your academic profile fits into the new scoring table, and prepare seriously for PI and AWT.

The new policy gives some candidates a better opportunity to compete, but the removal of old filters does not guarantee an IIMA call. Your normalized composite score and performance relative to the applicant pool will still determine where you stand.