IIM Kozhikode, ranked third in the NIRF 2025 Management ranking, runs its flagship PGP from a hilltop campus near Kozhikode in Kerala. It is known for a strong focus on gender and academic diversity and a selection formula that gives weight to Class 10 and 12 marks as well as CAT. It suits candidates with solid school academics and balanced sectional scores. Women and graduates from non-engineering backgrounds also earn diversity points in shortlisting.
At a glance
| NIRF 2025 Management rank | 3 (score 79.85) |
| Established | 1996 |
| Type | Indian Institute of Management, governed by the IIM Act, 2017 |
| Location | IIMK Campus, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode, Kerala |
| Flagship programme | Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) |
| Duration | Two years, full-time, residential |
| Sanctioned intake | 591 across two-year PG programmes in 2023-24 (NIRF 2025 data) |
| Admission test(s) | CAT |
| Programme fee | Rs 23,50,000 for two years, PGP 2026-28, including hostel; plus deposits and mess charges (official fee structure) |
| Median salary | Rs 27 lakh per annum for the two-year PG cohort graduating in 2023-24 (NIRF 2025 data) |
| Website | iimk.ac.in |
About IIM Kozhikode
According to the institute's growth history, IIM Kozhikode was founded in 1996 as the fifth IIM set up by the Government of India. Its first PGP batch of 42 students started in 1997 on the campus of NIT Calicut. In 2003 the institute moved to its own 97-acre hilltop campus at Kunnamangalam, outside Kozhikode. In 2012 it set up a satellite campus in Kochi for executive education.
The institute's tagline is "Globalizing Indian Thought". Its listed milestones include reaching 35% women in the PGP class. It opened the Indian Business Museum on campus in 2013. IIMK's fee documents carry AMBA and EQUIS accreditation marks.
Teaching mixes lectures, cases, simulations and projects, with continuous evaluation. The PGP shares its admissions process and fee structure with two related two-year programmes, PGP-Finance and PGP-LSM (Liberal Studies and Management).
Programmes
- PGP: the two-year flagship programme covered on this page.
- PGP-Finance: a two-year programme focused on finance.
- PGP-LSM: a two-year programme in liberal studies and management.
- PGP-BL: a programme in business leadership with its own placement process.
- Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS): an undergraduate programme.
- Doctoral Programme in Management (PhD) and a PhD practice track for working professionals. The NIRF 2025 data lists 124 full-time and 95 part-time PhD students.
- Executive programmes: an MBA for working executives, the Executive Post Graduate Programme at the Kochi campus, and management development programmes.
Admissions and eligibility
When we checked in October 2026, IIMK's website still carried its PGP Admissions Policy for the 2026-28 batch (CAT 2025). We could not find a 2027-29 policy there yet. The rules below are from the 2026-28 policy and may change for the next cycle.
- Degree: at least 60% aggregate in a graduation degree of at least three years after Class 12. Candidates who have completed CA, CMA (ICWA) or CS need at least 50% aggregate in those examinations.
- CAT: a positive scaled score in every section.
- Minimum CAT and school marks (Stage 1):
| Category | CAT overall percentile | Sectional percentile | Class 10 % | Class 12 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | 85 | 75 | 60 | 60 |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 75 | 65 | 60 | 60 |
| SC | 65 | 55 | 55 | 55 |
| ST / PwD | 55 | 45 | 55 | 55 |
Candidates who meet these minimums must register online with IIMK; registration is not an interview call. Reservation follows Government of India norms for central educational institutions.
Selection process
The 2026-28 policy has three stages.
Stage 2: Aggregate Index Score for the interview shortlist
Eligible, registered candidates are ranked within each category on an Aggregate Index Score (AIS):
- CAT index score: 50%, from the scaled scores of the three sections, weighted equally
- Class 10 percentage: 15%, adjusted against the highest score from the same board
- Class 12 percentage: 20%, adjusted against the highest score in the same stream and board
- Gender or academic diversity: 10% or 5%. Women and transgender candidates receive 10. Candidates with a non-engineering bachelor's degree receive 5. A candidate can receive only one of the two.
- Work experience: up to 5%. Scoring starts at 6 months, peaks at 35 to 36 months and falls to zero at 61 months or more.
Stage 3: WAT, PI and final score
Shortlisted candidates write an essay in a Written Ability Test (WAT) and then face a Personal Interview (PI) in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai or New Delhi. The panel assesses academic effort, general awareness, attitude, personality, communication and the quality of work experience. The final score is:
- CAT index score: 35%
- Personal interview: 35%
- WAT: 20%
- Resume score: 10%. This gives 5 points for a CA, CMA (ICWA) or CS qualification and 5 for completing any level of CFA.
Offers are made from common and category-wise merit lists. IIMK does not allow offers to be deferred to a later year.
Fees and financial aid
IIMK's official fee structure for the PGP, PGP-Finance and PGP-LSM 2026-28 batch is Rs 11,75,000 for the first year and Rs 11,75,000 for the second year, a total of Rs 23,50,000. Each year includes tuition of Rs 7,00,000, hostel of Rs 45,000, library of Rs 95,000 and books and study material of Rs 1,15,000, along with IT, examination and other charges. In addition:
- a refundable caution deposit of Rs 25,000 and a Rs 2,000 Students' Welfare Fund contribution at admission
- Rs 40,000 at the start of each term towards mess and student activities, refunded after each term based on actual use
Confirm the fee for the 2027-29 batch on the official site before you apply.
Scholarships and aid offered by the institute:
- IIMK Merit Scholarship: one scholarship for every 20 students in each year, based on CGPA.
- IIMK Need Based Financial Assistance: for students whose gross annual family income was Rs 8 lakh or less in the last financial year and who have taken an education loan from a scheduled commercial bank.
- Central government schemes for SC and ST students are also listed.
Placements
NIRF 2025 data: for the two-year PG programmes, all 547 students who graduated in 2023-24 within the stipulated time were placed. The median salary was Rs 27,00,000 per annum. It was also Rs 27 lakh for 2022-23 graduates and Rs 26.5 lakh for 2021-22 graduates.
Final Placements Report 2025: this is the latest final placement report on IIMK's website as of October 2026. It covers the 29th PGP batch and the sixth batches of PGP-Finance and PGP-LSM (batch 2023-25). The report does not state whether it was audited.
- 561 students participated; 169 recruiters, including 57 new recruiters; 13 international offers
- Median CTC Rs 27.50 lakh per annum; mean CTC Rs 28.18 lakh per annum; highest CTC Rs 81 lakh per annum
- Offers by domain: consulting 32%, finance 19.2%, general management 16.4%, sales and marketing 14.4%, IT and analytics 13.5%, operations 4.5%
- Consulting recruiters named include Bain & Co., BCG, Kearney, Accenture Strategy and EY-Parthenon. Finance recruiters named include Goldman Sachs, JPMC, Citi and Deutsche Bank.
Placement figures vary by year and role; read the official report.
Campus and student life
The 97-acre hilltop campus at Kunnamangalam has on-campus hostels. Student affairs for the PGP, PGP-Finance and PGP-LSM are run through a Students' Council, committees, interest groups, clubs and chapters. The institute also runs outgoing and incoming student exchange with partner institutions.
IIMK's CARE committee (Corporate Access, Readiness and Engagement) runs sector workshops and one-to-one coaching by professionals and alumni to prepare students for placements.
How to prepare for IIM Kozhikode
IIMK's shortlist leans on school marks more than most: Class 10 and Class 12 together carry 35% of the AIS. These are fixed by the time you apply, so the practical lever is CAT, which carries 50%. Each section counts equally in the CAT index. With a 75th-percentile sectional floor for General candidates, you cannot afford to neglect any section. The CAT 2026 syllabus guide and our guide to improving your CAT quant score are useful if one area lags.
In the final stage, CAT drops to 35% and the interview and WAT together make up 55%. The WAT here carries 20%, more than at many IIMs, so practise writing a structured essay on an unseen topic within a fixed time. Our reading comprehension strategy also helps you read and argue more clearly.
Work experience scores peak at about three years, while CA, CMA, CS or CFA add to the resume score. At interview, expect questions on academics, general awareness and your work.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CAT cut-off for IIM Kozhikode?
Under the 2026-28 admissions policy (CAT 2025), the minimum for General candidates was the 85th percentile overall and the 75th in each section, with at least 60% in Classes 10 and 12. Lower minimums applied to other categories. These are eligibility thresholds; the actual shortlist depends on the Aggregate Index Score.
What are the IIM Kozhikode PGP fees?
For the 2026-28 batch, the official fee is Rs 23.5 lakh over two years, including hostel. A Rs 25,000 caution deposit, a Rs 2,000 welfare fund contribution and a Rs 40,000 refundable mess and activities deposit each term are extra.
What is the median salary at IIM Kozhikode?
The Final Placements Report 2025 gives a median CTC of Rs 27.5 lakh per annum for the batch of 2023-25. The NIRF 2025 data gives Rs 27 lakh for two-year PG graduates of 2023-24.
Do non-engineers have an advantage at IIMK?
Candidates with a non-engineering bachelor's degree receive an academic diversity score of 5% in shortlisting. Women and transgender candidates receive a gender diversity score of 10% instead. A candidate can receive only one of these.
How is IIM Kozhikode different from IIM Ahmedabad or IIM Bangalore?
Their selection formulas differ: IIMK weights Class 10 and 12 marks heavily and gives the WAT 20% of the final score. Compare the published criteria on our IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore pages.
Sources
- NIRF India Rankings 2025: Management: rank and score (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIM Kozhikode NIRF 2025 data submission (IR-M-S-8909): sanctioned intake, graduates, placed students, median salary, PhD numbers (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIMK PGP Admissions Policy and Procedure for 2026-2028 Batch: eligibility, cut-offs, AIS and final score weights, WAT-PI cities (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIMK Fee Structure, PGP, PGP-Finance and PGP-LSM 2026-28: fees, deposits and mess charges (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIMK Post Graduate Programme page: programme description, pedagogy, history of the PGP (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIMK Growth History: founding year, campus moves, Kochi campus, milestones (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIMK Scholarships: merit scholarship and need-based financial assistance (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIMK Final Placements page: list of placement reports (accessed 22 October 2026)
- IIMK Final Placements Report 2025: placement statistics, domains and recruiters for batch 2023-25 (accessed 22 October 2026)
Researched from official sources on 22 October 2026. Admissions policies, fees and placement figures change every year: confirm them on the institute’s website before applying.