National Insurance Academy (NIA) Cutoff

Expected shortlist percentiles for regular I&RM

For the 2027-29 regular PGDM in Insurance and Risk Management (I&RM), NIA publishes expected shortlisting cut-offs rather than a final admission score. Its current admissions page lists the following entrance-test percentiles:

TableCards

Category shown by NIA	CAT	XAT	CMAT
General / EWS	75	80	95
NC-OBC / SC / ST / PWD	70	75	90

These are the institute’s expected percentile benchmarks for shortlisting. They are not a guarantee of an interview call, a minimum that overrides the live selection process, or a closing score for admission. The page says selection is as per the merit list. Applicants should therefore use the table to judge whether their score is near the published shortlist expectation, then check the current application page for updates before deciding whether to apply.

The categories are reproduced as NIA groups them. In particular, the page places PWD in its second row for this cutoff table; that wording should not be treated as a complete explanation of how horizontal reservation is applied in the separate seat matrix. Candidates whose category is not straightforward should confirm their treatment with NIA.

Which test and percentile are compared

The regular I&RM intake accepts CAT 2026, XAT 2027 and CMAT 2027 scores. NIA’s page says XAT and CMAT percentiles are converted to CAT-percentile equivalence using the equivalence in its cutoff table. The 50% entrance component in the merit calculation is based on the percentile after that conversion. So a raw test score, a percentile and the converted percentile are different measures; comparing a raw score with the table would be misleading.

Use the row and column for the relevant category and test. For example, a General/EWS applicant using CMAT compares the reported CMAT percentile with 95, while an NC-OBC/SC/ST/PWD applicant using CAT compares with 70. These examples describe the published expected thresholds only. The page does not state that meeting one number alone secures shortlisting.

Shortlisting is one stage in a wider merit process

The admissions page assigns 50% of merit-list weight to the entrance score, 15% to group discussion and 20% to personal interview. Past academics account for 10% in total (Class 10: 2%, Class 12: 4%, graduation: 4%), while work experience accounts for 5%; it says experience beyond one year is considered. NIA also states that English knowledge is assessed in the GD description. The table is therefore a screening reference within a broader selection process, not the complete ranking formula by itself.

The admissions page says past-academic marks are awarded in the same ratio as the candidate’s actual percentage to 100. As an illustration of that published rule, an applicant with 80% in Class 10 receives 1.6 of the available 2 academic-weight marks for that component (80 ÷ 100 × 2); the same 80% would yield 3.2 of 4 for Class 12 or graduation. This is a calculation from NIA’s formula, not a prediction of the applicant’s final score. For the entrance component, a 90 CAT percentile corresponds to 45 of 50 marks under the stated 50%-of-percentile rule, before the other components are added. Candidates should keep their mark sheets, score report and work-experience documents available so the inputs used in the merit calculation can be checked against the institute’s current instructions.

There is one detail worth confirming if you use XAT or CMAT. NIA says those percentiles are converted to CAT-percentile equivalence, but the visible admissions text does not set out a separate numerical conversion formula. It refers to an equivalence in the cutoff table, while the displayed table lists expected shortlist percentiles by category and test. Do not calculate your own conversion from the expected thresholds. Ask the admissions office which equivalence applies to your score and intake, and rely on the institute’s calculation for merit ranking. The page also does not say how much experience beyond one year adds within the 5% component, so do not assume that additional years increase the weight beyond the stated maximum.

The expected cutoff table sits under a section that the page explicitly identifies as information for the PGDM in Insurance and Risk Management. Do not carry these figures to NIA’s Working Professionals, Technology Management or International Students routes. The source presents those as distinct programmes and does not assign the regular I&RM cutoff table to them.

Before acting on a benchmark

Check the official NIA PGDM admissions page close to the application date. Confirm that the 2027-29 intake, accepted test year, category label and expected cutoff are still the same. The same page lists 15 March 2027 as the regular I&RM application deadline, but a deadline and an expected cutoff answer different questions: the first concerns when to submit; the second is an anticipated shortlist benchmark.

If your score is below the expected figure or your reservation category spans more than one row, ask the admissions office how the live shortlist will treat your case. Do not treat older years’ cutoffs or third-party estimates as a substitute for a current NIA notice. This article reports the published expectation, not an independently verified final cutoff or an assurance of admission.