The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026 will use artificial intelligence-based facial recognition to check candidates' identities at examination centres for the first time, on a trial basis, IIM Indore director Himanshu Rai told the Hindustan Times on Wednesday. IIM Indore is conducting this year's exam.
The system will be an additional check, not a replacement. Exam officials will still match each candidate's face against the admit card, and candidates will not be denied entry if the technology fails to recognise them, Rai said.
What candidates need to know
- The exam is on November 29, in three sessions, at more than 350 centres in about 170 cities.
- 2,89,961 candidates have registered, slightly fewer than the roughly 2,95,000 last year, HT reported.
- Results are likely in the first week of January 2027. Scores are used for admission to MBA and other management courses at 22 IIMs and other business schools.
What about privacy?
Asked about candidates' facial data, Rai said no new data would be collected. The system will match faces against the photographs candidates already submitted with their applications. "There is no new data that is being captured," he said.
Why it matters
After the exam, IIM Indore will compare the machine's identifications with those made by human officials, to see how accurate the system is and whether it needs changes. Rai said that if the trial succeeds, the technology could be used more widely, though each institution would decide for itself. Facial recognition is already used for attendance at many institutions, he said, and was used in online exams during the Covid-19 pandemic.