7 Critical mistakes happens in CAT 2026 last-minute registration

7 critical mistakes to avoid for CAT 2025 Registration

The CAT 2025 registration deadline was September 13, 2025, at 5:00 PM. That's past now but still you need to register in 2026 and many people have questions such as "How should I register?" "Is it too early to think about registration?" "What if I mess up the form?"

Here's the thing - you're not too early but you're being ahead of normal aspirants And it means there's zero room for mistakes.

We have been helping students for many years to get into top MBA colleges and have been watching those smart people making the dumbest errors/mistakes on their CAT registration. These mistakes make them regret for months. Try not to be that person and avoid these critical mistakes in your CAT 2026 registration.


7 Critical mistakes in CAT 2026 registration

CAT registration is a one-time activity with no provision to submit the form offline. The fee is non-refundable, and candidates will have to fill a fresh form if they make mistakes. The registration cost 2,600 rupees for general, EWS and OBC categories, and 1300 for SC, ST and PwD categories. So these mistakes can be very costly. Think about that for a second, one mistake and you need to start over with 2,600 rupees down in the drain.

Let’s begin our list with potential resolution, so that you can avoid these mistakes.

1: Getting your basic details wrong

This sounds so basic, but you'd be shocked that many aspirants make these mistakes many times. They get overconfident about the name and date of birth but sometimes the month and date get mismatched and create conflict. suppose your date of birth is 12-08-2002 and you put 08-12-2002, this makes a very big misunderstanding.

This may sound harmless but IIM admission committee take it seriously and cancel your registration after verifying your date of birth. So you need to be careful and not mix up the month and date.


Once you complete the registration for CAT, you cannot change your name in the CAT form, so always double-check your registration form before clicking the submit button.


The conclusion is to keep your graduation marksheet open while filling the form and copy details, don't rely on memory alone.


2: Wrong Email ID or Mobile number

Incorrect email ID or phone number blocks access to vital updates, it will ruin your communication with the CAT admission committee. These details are very important as you get notification for your admit card downloads, exam center updates, Admit card downloads, exam center updates, result announcements and most importantly interview calls. If you get this wrong then you will be invisible to the CAT admission system.

So make sure to double check your Email ID, Phone number and have access to both things in your smart phone. One last tip: if you have a college mail ID then you must avoid using that as your way of communication.


3: Uploading low resolution photos and signatures

Blurry photo or signature uploads can lead to form rejection. We have one student who uploaded a selfie photo that was from 2019 because of that when he reached the exam center for CAT exam, the examiner did not identify him as his current self because his photo has a major difference. He was unable to take the exam and his year got wasted.

Also if you have multiple signatures then you must remember which signature you have uploaded for your registration and also use that same signature at your exam center. Although in the present time examination committees have created a system where students can see which signature they have done, it's still important to keep in mind.

Let’s go with Photo requirements:

  1. Recent photograph (not older than 6 months)
  2. Clear, passport-size format
  3. White or light-colored background
  4. File size: 50KB to 300KB
  5. Format: JPG/JPEG
  6. Take 2 passport size photos to the examination center with valid photo ID proof such as Aadhar card, pan card, Voter id, etc.

Signature requirements:

  1. Done with black or blue pen
  2. On white paper
  3. Scanned properly
  4. File size: 10KB to 100KB
  5. Format: JPG/JPEG

4: Category certificate confusion

There are two types of caste certification in India, first one is authorized by the state government and other is authorized by the central government. As you know CAT is an all India entrance examination, so you must have a caste certificate that is authorized by the central government. You must also keep in mind that for General, EWS, and OBC categories the caste certificate is only valid for about 2 years and after that you have to make a new one.

Before applying for the CAT examination you must ensure that you have the right certificate with you.

5: Work experience calculation errors

Only full-time work experience will be counted. Please enter the number of days calculated up to 31 July 2025, as per the CAT registration guidelines. If you have work breaks, mention them separately and keep in mind that Internships don't count as work experience.

For example, if you joined work on January 1, 2024, your experience till July 31, 2025, would be 576 days. so try not to get this information wrong in your registration.

6: Ignoring the fee payment process

The application fee for CAT 2026 is ₹2,600 for General category candidates and ₹1,300 for SC/ST/PwD candidates. Your application form will remain incomplete and you will not be allowed to appear in the CAT 2025 exam if you do not pay the requisite exam fee.

Fee structure:

  1. General/NC-OBC/EWS: ₹2,600
  2. SC/ST/PwD: ₹1,300

Payment options:

  1. Credit/Debit cards
  2. Net Banking
  3. UPI
  4. Paytm, PayU, BillDesk


Many people fill the entire form and then realize their payment method isn’t working or their bank has transaction limits. So you must sort out your payment method before you start filling the form. Currently many students prefer UPI as a payment method as it is convenient, you can also use this method.


7: Last-minute technical issues

Government websites are not very good when it comes to user friendliness and server. So when multiple users use their website, it shows server errors because they can not handle user requests. This usually happens on the first day of result declaration or on the last day of exam form registrations. Result declaration doesn’t affect students as they can get their result on a later date but exam registration is not like that. After the last date you will not be able to submit your application until and unless the registration date is extended.


So you must avoid your CAT exam registration on the last day as the server can crash out while submitting your exam form. Even if you are filling the CAT registration exam form on the last date then at least you should do it in the early morning.


In conclusion, try avoiding these mistakes because these can cost you the whole year. The most mistakes students make are not typos or wrong photos. It's the time, as they apply for the exam at the last minute, and because of the rush they make mistakes that can be avoided.

So keep these in mind and have a perfect CAT exam registration form and give your all in your examination.