CAT 2023: How Scaled Score will be Calculated for Three Shifts?

'How scaled CAT score will be calculated for three shifts' has become one of the most common queries of test-takers after the CAT 2023 exam was conducted on November 26, 2023, in three slots. To ensure fairness and transparency in the evaluation process, the examination authority normalizes the CAT scores of all candidates. This normalization process is critical to ensure that no candidate has an advantage or disadvantage over another due to the varied difficulty levels of the test slot. 

The CAT normalization process involves adjusting the raw scores of candidates based on the difficulty level of the questions in their respective slots. The adjusted scores are then mapped onto a standard scale to assess the performance of candidates uniformly across all slots. This enables the examination authority to select the most deserving candidates based on their actual performance in the exam. In this article, we have discussed in detail what is scaled CAT score, how it is calculated, along with other important details.

Also Read: CAT 2023 Cutoff for Top Private MBA Colleges

What is Scaled CAT Score?

The CAT exam is administered across multiple sessions (two or three). Since the question papers for each session are slightly different from one another, a scaled score is produced through the normalization process to ensure fairness and equality in performance comparison. This scaled score could vary in different ways from the raw score.

Calculation of CAT Composite Score

The final score determined by IIMs for admission to their programs is the composite score. A candidate's composite score is determined by taking into account a variety of factors in addition to their CAT score.

Two candidates who scored the same on paper may have different composite scores based on a variety of factors. The additional criteria taken into account when calculating a composite score are as follows:

• Class 10th Marks

• Class 12th Marks

• Graduation Percentage/ Grade

• Work Experience

• Academic Background

• Gender Diversity

The formula for calculating the CAT Composite Score used by the IIMs is as follows:

How Is Scaled CAT Score Calculated?

The scaled CAT score will be calculated by IIM Lucknow in the following steps:

CAT Scaled Score Calculation Step 1

Mean (M) and standard Deviation (SD) for the raw scores of all candidates for each of the three slots are calculated in the following manner. Specific characters are used by IIMs to indicate these values as provided in the table below:

CAT Slot 1

CAT Slot 2

CAT Slot 3

CAT Scaled Score Calculation Step 2

In this step, the Mean and Standard Deviation are determined by using the candidates’ raw scores from all shifts (morning, afternoon, and evening):

• Mean = M

• Standard Deviation = S

• G = M+S

CAT Scaled Score Calculation Step 3

After the raw scores are calculated for all students across all CAT sessions, the average raw score of the top 0.1% of candidates in each shift is calculated in the third step using the following formula:

CAT Scaled Score Calculation Step 4

The average raw score of the top 0.1% of candidates who participate in all the shifts of CAT 2023 will be calculated in this step.

• Mean of top 0.1% candidates in CAT Slot 1+Slot 2+Slot 3 combined = M0.1

CAT Scaled Score Calculation Step 5

Finally, the candidates’ scaled score is calculated in the last step using a specific formula. If a candidate’s CAT raw score is denoted by R, candidates may calculate their scaled score (S) using the following formula:

What is CAT Score 2023?

The CAT score is the final grade a student receives in the exam using its marking criteria. In plain English, a candidate's CAT score will be determined by how well he or she does in each of the three components (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability). Each student's CAT 2023 composite score will be determined based on their scaled CAT score, their grades in the 10th & 12th and graduation, their academic diversity and gender diversity, and their professional experience or employment history.

IIM Lucknow released the CAT result 2023 on December 21, 2023, and it includes the candidates' personal information, sectional scores earned by the candidate, percentile, scaled score, and total score, among other details.

Candidates who meet the requirements will be invited to participate in the next round of admission. A number of prominent business schools in addition to the Indian Institute of Management also accept CAT scores.

How to Calculate CAT 2023 Raw Score?

Candidates can follow the steps mentioned below to calculate their CAT score:

• Determine the number of correct responses in the CAT exam.

• Since IIM allots 3 marks for each correct answer in CAT, multiply the total number of correct answers by 3.

• Next, count the number of incorrect answers and add them to get the total number of erroneous answers.

• Since -1 mark is deducted for each incorrect response in the CAT exam, subtract the total number of wrong answers from the summation of correct answers.

• The obtained result will denote your CAT score.

What is CAT Percentile 2023?

The CAT percentile, along with a few other factors, shows a student's position in the exam in comparison to the other students who took it at the same time. The position of a candidate among all CAT applications, which is used to determine the candidate's ranking, is indicated by the CAT percentile, to put it simply. It is a unit used to determine or assess the proportion of students on the merit list that are above or below you.

How to Calculate CAT Percentile 2023?

The percentiles for the CAT exam are the same as those for other exams. The percentiles just serve as a visual depiction of how many students are performing worse than you on the exam. Below is a general formula for calculating the percentile:

A candidate's overall rank is referred to as his/her CAT 2023 percentile. The percentile for CAT 2023 will be determined based on the scaled score. Candidates who earn more marks throughout all sections will receive a higher rank. If two applicants receive identical scores on the VARC section, both will be assigned Rank 1.  Following a defined formula, the percentile score for CAT 2023 will be determined. After the implementation of the formula, it will be necessary to round a candidate's calculated percentile score (P) up to two decimal points. 

Both the percentile scores for all sections of the CAT and the overall percentile scores for the CAT are calculated using the procedure mentioned below. To understand how the CAT percentile is determined, the QA component was chosen as an example, and subsequent sections will follow a similar procedure.

Step 1: Determine the total number of applicants (N) who appeared for the CAT 2023 exam (i.e. including morning, afternoon, and evening sessions).

Step 2: Assign each candidate who took the CAT 2023 exam a rank (r), based on the scaled scores earned in the QA section. The same rank will be given to all applicants who receive identical scaled scores in the QA portion, whether it be two or more candidates.

Consider that two applicants have received the highest scaled score possible on the QA portion each. In that case, both of them would be given a rank of 1. Additionally, the candidate(s) with the second-highest scaled score in the QA section is given a rank of 3, and so on. 

Step 3: Determine the percentile score (P) for a candidate with a given rank (r) in the QA section using the following formula: 

Step 4: A candidate's estimated percentile score (P) should be rounded off to the nearest two decimal points.

For instance, all percentile scores that are larger than or equal to 99.995 are rounded off to 100, and all percentile scores that are greater than or equal to 99.985 but strictly less than 99.995 are rounded off to 99.99, and so on.

Scaling and Normalization Process for IIMs

Different shifts will be used to administer the CAT 2023 exam. IIMs use a clever scaling and normalizing procedure to convert CAT results to percentile in order to assess the qualifications of applicants taking the exam in various sessions in 2023. 

When it comes to evaluating equity and fairness in performance across several sessions, the normalization procedure used by IIMs for the CAT exam assures perfect justice. The CAT normalization process, which is similar to other well-known admission tests in India like the GATE, is a clear technique for comparing candidates' CAT scores across different forms. IIMs employ percentile equivalence to normalize data across sections.

To put it simply, the CAT normalization process is based on the primary guesswork that in all sessions of the CAT exam, the ability of the candidates remains the same without any changes.

Let us try to interpret the CAT scoring system to get a fair idea of the percentile more clearly. The CAT paper comprises 100 questions and three marks are awarded for each correct answer while one mark is deducted for a negative answer. The original score secured by the candidates in CAT is not based on this typical marking system due to the prevalence of the normalization process.

Due to the CAT exam being offered in two slots on a single day in recent years, the normalization process has not been as aggressive. Because of this, the scaled score listed on the CAT scorecard still corresponds too closely to the actual marks earned by candidates.

CAT 2023 Percentile Calculation Process: Key Changes

Candidates should be aware of every major and minor change regarding the CAT 2023 exam to avoid confusion during the selection process. IIM Bangalore is expected to keep the CAT percentile calculation process the same as last year with the following criteria:

• All percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.995 to be rounded off to 100.

• All percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.985 but strictly less than 99.995 to be rounded off to 99.99 and so on. 

Related Links:

Candidates can check our CAT 2023 College Predictor and CAT 2023 Percentile Predictor tools to get an idea of their results based on their performance in the CAT 2023 exam. In case you have any queries, you can ask them on the CollegeDekho QnA Zone.Stay tuned with us for more updates on CAT 2023!