Engineers dominate CAT 2024 results with 13 achieving perfect 100 percentiles! Is the discipline gap widening?

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta announced the much-anticipated Common Admission Test (CAT) 2024 results on December 19, 2024. CAT is one of India’s most prestigious management entrance exams, attracting lakhs of aspirants each year who aim to secure admission to postgraduate management programs at IIMs and other top business schools nationwide.
While students from diverse academic backgrounds compete in CAT, one might assume that candidates from commerce backgrounds would dominate the top ranks or secure perfect 100 percentiles. However, this year, the majority of top performers were engineers—a trend that has persisted for years. Although it might surprise some, engineers have consistently outshined other disciplines in CAT results.
Let’s delve into this year’s statistics and compare them with the 2023 results to analyze the trends and understand the dominance of engineers in one of the most competitive exams in the country.

CAT 2024 Results: Discipline wise performance

The CAT 2024 results showcase a significant dominance of engineers among the top scorers. Of the 14 candidates who achieved a perfect 100 percentile, 13 were engineers. Similarly, engineers accounted for 28 out of 29 candidates scoring 99.99 percentile and 22 out of 30 scoring 99.98 percentile. In total, 63 of the 73 top scorers came from engineering backgrounds, leaving only 10 spots for non-engineers. This highlights a consistent trend of engineering students excelling in CAT year after year.

The CAT 2023 results highlight a notable dominance of engineers among high achievers, although non-engineers made a modest impact in the top percentiles. Of the 14 candidates scoring a perfect 100 percentile, 11 were engineers and 3 were non-engineers. Among those with a 99.99 percentile, 22 were engineers, while 7 were non-engineers. However, engineers completely dominated the 99.98 percentile bracket, securing all 20 positions. This reflects a recurring pattern of engineers excelling in this competitive management entrance exam.

Comparison of CAT 2024 and CAT 2023 results

A comparison of CAT 2024 and CAT 2023 results reveals a consistent dominance of engineers among top scorers, though the degree of disparity has increased this year. In CAT 2024, engineers accounted for 63 out of the top 73 scorers (86%), compared to 53 out of 73 (73%) in CAT 2023, marking a notable rise in their share.
For perfect 100 percentiles, the proportion of engineers increased from 11 (78.5%) in 2023 to 13 (92.8%) in 2024. Similarly, among candidates scoring 99.99 percentile, the number of engineers rose from 22 (75.8%) in 2023 to 28 (96.5%) in 2024. The gap was stark in the 99.98 percentile range, with non-engineers dropping from 9 in 2023 to just 8 in 2024, while engineers increased marginally.
This growing imbalance suggests a widening systemic advantage for engineers in CAT, raising concerns about inclusivity and the representation of diverse academic backgrounds in premier management institutes.