KCET Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

• Each paper is 60 questions, 60 marks, 80 minutes: four options, one mark a question, about 80 seconds each.
• No negative marking, but a question with more than one answer marked scores nothing.
• No choice of questions; all 60 are to be attempted.
• Each paper comes in several versions, with the version code printed on the facing sheet, and your version can change between sessions.

So Engineering is 180 marks across three papers, Farm Science 240 across four, and the PCB courses 180.

The OMR sheet

KCET is answered on a two-sheet carbonless OMR sheet. The top sheet is scanned; the lower copy, made by pressure on a chemical coating, is returned to you after each session, which is why a blue or black ball point pen is mandatory. The first ten minutes of every session are for writing and shading your Name, CET Number, Version Code and booklet serial number, and a sheet without the correct CET Number and Version Code is not scanned and gets no rank. Shade one circle per question. The foot of the sheet carries the invigilator's and candidate's signatures and the candidate's left thumb impression.

The papers are set on the First and Second PUC syllabi of the Department of Pre-University Education, Karnataka, not on CBSE. For 2026 the Department's subject experts reviewed the PCMB syllabus and KEA published the CET-2026 version on its UGCET page. Work from that document.

The Kannada Language Test

For candidates claiming Government seats under the Horanadu and Gadinadu Kannadiga clauses whose mother tongue is Kannada, Tulu, Kodava or Beary. It tests speaking, reading and writing Kannada at 4th standard level, 50 marks, one hour, with a pass mark of 12 out of 50; without it no rank is assigned. It is held only at Bengaluru, Belagavi, Vijayapura and Mangalore, so such candidates sit the CET there too. Anyone who studied ten full years in Kannada medium from 1st to 10th standard outside Karnataka is exempt.

The Agriculturist Quota practical test

For the Agriculturist Quota in Farm Science and Veterinary courses, the Agricultural and Veterinary Universities run a practical test at their own centres, with document verification there. Merit for that quota is built from four components of 25 per cent each. The fee is ₹500 for General and OBC candidates and ₹250 for SC, ST and Category-1.

Indian citizens only. You may apply while awaiting your qualifying result but are not admitted without passing at the required percentage. Qualifications from universities not listed in the VTU notification, and from Karnataka State Open University, are not accepted.

The eligibility clauses

Whether you count as a Karnataka candidate for Government seats is settled by clauses (a) to (o) of Rule 5(1), which turn on where you and your parents studied, your parents' employment and domicile, and similar tests, each with its own document list. Reservation is available only under clauses (a), (b), (f), (h), (j), (k), (l) and (o), not under (c), (d), (e), (g), (i), (m) or (n). A non-Karnataka candidate opting for Medical, Dental, AYUSH or B.Sc. (Nursing) is given clause "y" for allotment.

Reservation in Government seats

Rural, Kannada medium and special category reservation applies only to Karnataka candidates eligible under Rule 5.

Supernumerary Quota

A Tuition Fee Waiver Scheme in engineering colleges, on seats over and above the Government seat matrix, for candidates with annual family income below ₹8 lakh, General Merit included. It waives tuition only and is not available for Architecture.

Two things cannot be fixed later: the name on every certificate must match your SSLC marks card, and the caste, category and income you enter stay fixed for ranking and allotment, with no change entertained for any reason.

For engineering, then, the board result is half the rank, and KEA counts the results of the board's annual exam and both improvement exams. There is no minimum mark in the CET; the gate is the qualifying examination.

Tie-break, Engineering and Technology

Mathematics at the CET, then Physics at the CET, then those subjects at the qualifying exam, then age with the elder placed higher, then draw of lots. For Naturopathy and Yoga the first two steps are Biology then Chemistry; for Architecture it is the NATA score, then qualifying exam Mathematics, then age.

From rank to seat

Allotment is online, in rank order, against the Government seat matrix and the options you enter on the KEA portal. You may enter any number of options, but only once you hold the verification slip from document verification at the college. Each candidate gets a high security user ID and secret key. Each round has its own choice entry, mock allotment, provisional allotment, cut-off publication, fee payment and reporting; in 2026 Round 1 began on 20 June, Round 2's final allotment came on 24 August and Round 3's on 7 September, with remaining seats published on 8 September.

Cancelling a seat after the stipulated round forfeits the entire fee paid and makes you liable to a penalty of five times the annual course fee. Read the bulletin's cancellation section before accepting. Allotment is computer-generated from the merit list and your options, so any tout offering a seat is lying; KEA asks for such approaches to be reported.

KCET is an admission test, so no pay attaches to it. What a rank decides is which course at which college, on a Government seat, and what it costs.

• KEA notifies the fee structure for each course separately before allotment.
• The Supernumerary Quota waives tuition in engineering colleges for family income below ₹8 lakh.
• SC, ST and Category-1 candidates with a Tahsildar income certificate get tuition fee exemption and the Government of India scholarship.
• KEA advertises an education loan of up to ₹5 lakh at 6 per cent for students admitted through its counselling.
• The application fee is never refunded, including where a candidate turns out ineligible.
• Cancelling after the stipulated round costs the entire fee paid plus five times the annual course fee.

Online only, on the KEA UGCET portal, and one application covers every course KEA counsels for.

The fee is not refunded for any reason.

Document verification comes before the exam

Originals are verified at your college in a window that opens three days after applications open, and the verification slip that results is what later allows option entry. Clause (a) candidates with reservation show as Successfully Verified once the college confirms their study particulars; other clauses follow their own document lists. Article 371(J) claimants need the Assistant Commissioner's eligibility certificate, and SC, ST and Category-1 claimants also need a Tahsildar income certificate. Anyone seeking the Supernumerary Quota waiver should get an income certificate showing family income below ₹8 lakh.

Get the name on every certificate to match your SSLC marks card first, and enter caste, category and income correctly: none of it can be changed later. KEA's messages come only from 90 35 05 34 84.

Seats are the Government share at Government, University, private aided and private unaided professional institutions in Karnataka, as set in the seat matrix the Government issues each year. KEA publishes the matrix course by course and updates it during counselling with additional seat matrices, surrendered management seats returned to the Government pool, and the vacant seats left after each round.

Every seat matrix, cut-off file and allotment list uses a letter code per course:

Each comes in three versions: General, HK for Kalyana Karnataka under Article 371(J), and SPL for the special categories. A figure that does not say which is incomplete.

A candidate who studied, or is studying, the qualifying exam in Karnataka sits the test at a centre KEA assigns in the district where they studied 2nd PUC or 12th standard. Horanadu and Gadinadu Kannadiga candidates taking the Kannada Language Test must sit the CET at Bengaluru, Belagavi, Vijayapura or Mangalore, the only places that test is held.

Engineering candidates attend both mornings and one afternoon; all four papers mean two full days. The Agriculturist Quota practical test is held by the Agricultural and Veterinary Universities at their own centres. The medical examination for candidates with disabilities is at KEA, Bengaluru, on a notified date with slot booking, and special category certificates for NCC, Sports, Defence, Ex-Defence, CAPF, Ex-CAPF, Anglo-Indian and Scouts and Guides are submitted there too.

CET 2026 calendar

What followed

KEA notifies separately the results and rank lists, the Agriculturist Quota practical test and its document verification, the medical examination for candidates with disabilities, and special category certificate submission. The pattern is stable: bulletin in January, exam in late April, counselling from June into September.

The admission ticket is downloaded from the KEA UGCET page with your registration login. In 2026 it was available from 10 April, 11:00 a.m., about two weeks before the 23 and 24 April exam. It names your centre and sessions.

The number on it that matters is your CET Number, which you write and shade in the first ten minutes of every session; without it the sheet is not scanned and you get no rank. KEA hosts a specimen OMR sheet and asks candidates to photocopy it four or five times and practise with a ball point pen. Keep the carbonless lower copy from each session: it is your record for checking against the key. The same login carries through to counselling.

KEA publishes a provisional answer key; candidates, parents and lecturers may object online with supporting documents, and an Expert Committee's approved key is used in evaluation. In 2026 the provisional keys came on 26 April and the revised key on 10 May.

Results are separate rank lists for Engineering, Architecture, Farm Science, B-Pharm and Pharm-D, published only on the website with the correct key and a list of withheld results with reasons. A result withheld for missing 2nd PUC marks or date of birth gets a rank once the documents arrive and the board confirms them.

Within three days of the result you may object to entries on the result sheet, such as qualifying exam marks, version code or NEET or NATA score, but not to your CET marks. There is no re-totalling or revaluation of OMR sheets. If your board marks change after revaluation, submit the new marks card to have the rank reassigned.

A KCET cut-off is a closing rank, published by KEA after each counselling round for every course at every college in every category, on its Cut-Off Ranks page with a Cut-off Rank Analyser. There is no qualifying mark in the CET itself.

Each course code has its own file in three versions, General, HK and SPL, so a cut-off means nothing without five things: the year, the round, the course code, the college and the category version. Closing ranks deepen from Round 1 to Round 3 as unpaid, unreported and cancelled seats, additional seat matrices and surrendered management seats come back into the pool.

And because board marks are half the engineering rank, a CET score alone does not place you: two candidates with the same CET marks and different 2nd PUC PCM marks get different ranks.

Your board marks are half your rank

For Engineering, Farm Science and Naturopathy and Yoga, CET and qualifying exam marks count in equal proportion, and KEA uses the annual and both improvement exam results. 2nd PUC preparation is KCET preparation, and an improvement attempt can move your rank.

Work through KEA's past papers

KEA publishes previous year papers with key answers, the best free material there is. Sit them one subject at a time, 60 questions in 80 minutes, on the Karnataka PUC syllabus KEA publishes, not a CBSE one. Check bought material for negative marking (KCET has none) and for rank predictions from CET marks alone, which cannot work.

Attempt everything, mark once

No negative marking and no choice of questions, so a blank is a certain zero. But two marked circles score nothing.

Rehearse the OMR routine

Practise on photocopies of the specimen sheet with a ball point pen. Check the version code each session, since it can change, and keep the lower copy to check against the key.

Do the paperwork early

Verification at the college opened on 20 January in 2026 and gates option entry. Match every certificate name to the SSLC marks card, enter category and income correctly, and confirm your eligibility clause.

Build options you would accept

Read the cut-offs by round, course code, college and General, HK or SPL version. Cancelling late costs the whole fee plus five times the annual course fee.

KEA publishes previous year question papers with key answers, year by year from 2021 to 2026, on its website, along with a specimen OMR sheet and each year's provisional and revised answer keys. How to use them is under preparation tips.

• Karnataka Examinations Authority, with exam instructions, past papers with key answers and contacts
• UGCET 2026 page, the live index for the bulletin, syllabus, answer keys, seat matrices, option entry, allotments and course fees
• Information Bulletin, UGCET 2026, the governing document for the cycle
• Cut-Off Ranks, closing ranks by year, round, course, college and category

Who conducts KCET?

The Karnataka Examinations Authority, Bengaluru, which calls it the UGCET.

What is the pattern?

Physics and Chemistry on day one, Mathematics and Biology on day two. Each paper is 60 questions, 60 marks, 80 minutes, one mark a question.

Is there negative marking?

No. But a question with more than one answer marked scores nothing.

Do my Class 12 marks count?

Yes. For Engineering the rank is on CET PCM and qualifying exam PCM in equal proportions; the same applies to Farm Science and Naturopathy and Yoga. B.V.Sc. and the pharmacy courses use CET marks only.

Do NEET and NATA candidates need to register for CET?

Yes. So do candidates for B.P.T., B.Sc. AHS, BPO and D-Pharma, which have no entrance test. The application is common to all KEA counselling.

Is there a minimum CET mark?

No. The bar is in the qualifying exam: 45 per cent in Physics and Mathematics with one of Chemistry, Bio-Technology, Biology, Electronics or Computer for Engineering, 40 per cent for SC, ST and Categories 1, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B.

Can I change my category or income after applying?

No. What you enter stays fixed for ranking and allotment.

What happens if I cancel my seat?

After the stipulated round you forfeit the entire fee paid and are liable to a penalty of five times the annual course fee.