MHT CET Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

• No negative marking.
• Four options per question, one correct.
• Mathematics is 2 marks a question, the rest 1. In PCM, Mathematics is worth as much as Physics and Chemistry together.

The split timing

You can't divide the 180 minutes yourself. The paper runs in two locked halves:

Physics and Chemistry auto-submit at 90 minutes, then Mathematics or Biology opens. You can't carry spare time across or go back. In PCB that's 100 Biology questions in 90 minutes, about 54 seconds each.

Language

Physics, Chemistry and Biology come in English, Marathi or Urdu; Marathi and Urdu only if you chose that medium in the form, and the choice is final. In any dispute the English version wins.

The Cell puts a mock test link on www.mahacet.org before the exam. Use it to get used to the locked halves.

The questions follow the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Maharashtra syllabus, not CBSE. The Cell publishes it in its Syllabus and Marking Scheme.

About 20 per cent of the paper is from Std XI and 80 per cent from Std XII (10 and 40 questions each for Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry; 20 and 80 for Biology).

Std XII

The whole SCERT Maharashtra Std XII syllabus in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

Std XI: only these chapters

Not on the Std XI list: Rotational Motion and Kinetic Theory in Physics, Thermodynamics and Equilibrium in Chemistry, Sets, Relations and Sequences and Series in Mathematics. They can still turn up where Std XII builds on them.

The Cell's own words on difficulty: "at par with the JEE (Main) for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and difficulty level for Biology will be at par with NEET. The questions will be mainly application based."

To sit the test

• Indian nationality.
• Passed or appearing in HSC / Std XII or equivalent.
• No age limit, for the test or for admission.

To be admitted to First Year Engineering and Technology

PCM opens all 29 AICTE major disciplines. PCB opens only nine: Agriculture Engineering, Biotechnology, Food Engineering, Leather Technology, Packaging Technology, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Printing Engineering, Fashion Technology and Textile Chemistry. If you want mainstream engineering, you need PCM.

Rounding

The qualifying percentage is rounded to the nearest integer: 44.50 to 44.99 becomes 45 and is eligible; 44.01 to 44.49 becomes 44 and isn't. Subjects marked out of anything other than 100 are converted out of 100 without rounding, to two decimals, against a maximum of 300. If you reappear in all subjects, only the latest marks count.

Candidature type

You can claim only one of A to E. There are also All India, Minority, and NRI, Gulf-worker, OCI/PIO and Foreign National candidatures; the last group doesn't sit MHT-CET at all.

Maharashtra State and Minority candidates must sit MHT-CET. For All India candidates, JEE (Main) is preferred for B.E./B.Tech. and NEET for B.Pharm. and Pharm.D.

The score doesn't admit anyone. Seats come through the Centralised Admission Process (CAP), with its own registration, its own information brochure and four rounds.

1. CAP registration, with documents and claims verified at an ARC (facilitation centre) or by self-scrutiny.
2. Provisional, then final merit list, separate for Maharashtra State, All India, J&K Migrant and Defence candidates, and for PCM and PCB.
3. Seat matrix for the round.
4. Online option form: the order of the blocks is your order of preference. You must confirm it, and once confirmed it can't change for that round.
5. Allotment, then the seat acceptance fee online, then reporting to the institute.

Your first preference ends the process

Get your first preference in Rounds I, II or III and it's auto-frozen: you must take it and you're out of later rounds. Only list first what you'd be happy to stop at.

Any other allotment

No betterment after Round IV. For Working Professionals the last is Round II.

Corrections at verification

• Allowed: gender; an error in marks entered; caste, sub-caste or category; removing minority status for want of documents; Home University.
• Not allowed: a better merit number from increased marks, or General to Reserved. Reserved to General is allowed if you can't produce the certificates.
• Hold a seat on a claim you can't document and the allotment is cancelled automatically, unless the seat didn't use that claim.

Seat reservation (Maharashtra State candidates only)

SEBC reservation is subject to the High Court's decision in pending writ petitions. Also: EWS 10 per cent, over and above intake; children of Defence personnel 5 per cent, as State Level seats (not civilian staff); women 30 per cent, under a Government Resolution of 17 April 2000, not within the Defence, PwD and Orphan categories; Orphans 1 per cent; and PwD on a single merit list with at least 40 per cent disability.

Home University split

Autonomous institutions have no Home University split, so their cut-off is one state-wide number. In unaided private colleges a fifth of the seats never enter CAP.

MHT-CET is an admission test, so there's no pay scale. What it decides is the course, the institute and the fee you pay.

Tuition fees are set by Maharashtra's Fees Regulating Authority, institute by institute, and linked from the engineering admission portal. You pay a seat acceptance fee online when you accept an allotment; miss the deadline and the seat is forfeited. The Cell has a standing notice against institutes demanding fees beyond the approved ones.

TFWS (Tuition Fee Waiver Scheme) seats have their own cut-offs and aren't easier to get. In 2026 the VJTI Matunga TFWS Civil Engineering seat closed at merit number 4923 (98.8626758 percentile), against 4390 for the open state seat.

Apply online only at www.mahacet.org. Postal applications aren't accepted, incomplete forms are rejected, and you may submit one form only.

Fee

The lower fee covers SC, ST, VJ/DT NT(A), NT(B), NT(C), NT(D), OBC, SBC, SEBC, EWS and PwD candidates of Maharashtra only, plus Orphan and Transgender candidates. Pay online by wallet or UPI. The fee is non-refundable and non-transferable; if you fill the form wrongly, the Cell's advice is a fresh form with a different mobile number and email.

Aadhaar and APAAR

Both are verified through DigiLocker during registration. A mismatch in Aadhaar or APAAR details can delay or reject the application, so make sure your Aadhaar photo, name, date of birth, gender and address are current.

Photograph

2 x 2 inches (50 mm x 50 mm), colour, face filling 80 per cent of the frame, 100 KB to 5 MB. Front view, eyes open and visible, neutral expression, plain light or white background with no shadows. No head covering except for religious reasons (face fully visible), no tinted glasses.

Fixed once chosen

The group, the medium (English, Marathi or Urdu) and the allotted exam centre can't be changed. Keep your application number and login safe; your email and mobile are how the Cell reaches you.

MHT-CET feeds every Government, Government-Aided, University and unaided private professional institution in Maharashtra offering:

• B.E. and B.Tech., four years
• Integrated M.E./M.Tech., five years
• B.Pharm., Pharm.D. and Pharm.D. Post Baccalaureate
• B.Planning and integrated M.Planning

Each course has its own CAP portal. The 2026-27 engineering portal has the seat matrix, round-wise cut-offs, colleges with intake, off-campus institutes and the institutes affiliated to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere.

The ten Home Universities

Your Home University is where you passed the qualifying exam, not where you live. It decides which share of a non-autonomous college's seats you compete for (see the selection process).

The test runs online at almost all district headquarters in Maharashtra. You list districts in order of preference; the Cell tries for your own district, then a nearby one, and its allotment is final.

• The allotted centre can't be changed.
• If you take both groups or both attempts, each can be at a different centre.
• Bring the admit card printout and one original photo ID in exactly the admit card name: PAN, passport, driving licence, voter card, bank passbook with photo, a Gazetted Officer's or People's Representative's photo ID on letterhead, a recent school or college ID, or Aadhaar/e-Aadhaar. No photocopies or soft copies; ration cards and learner's licences don't count.
• No phones, calculators, digital or smart watches, or any electronic gadget. You can't leave before the end, and there's no extra time for anyone.
• A Venue Officer at each centre decides on-the-spot grievances such as time lost to an administrative error.

Candidates with disability

• 20 minutes extra per hour with a scribe: 30 minutes per 90-minute half.
• A scribe for 40 per cent or more disability with difficulty writing. For blindness, locomotor disability of both arms and cerebral palsy, the disability certificate or UDID is enough; other disabilities need a functional-limitation certificate from a Government CMO, Civil Surgeon or Medical Superintendent in the Cell's proforma. Under 40 per cent with difficulty writing can also qualify on a certificate.
• You arrange and pay for the scribe. The scribe must be two academic years below you and not a Std XII candidate. Give details of two scribes, declare it when applying, and bring the original certificate on the day.

The rules follow the RPwD Act, 2016 and the Office Memoranda of 10 August 2022 and 1 August 2025.

MHT-CET 2026

The 14 September date came from a Cell circular of 7 September 2026, following the Supreme Court's order of 12 August 2026 in MA No. 2380/2026 and AICTE's revised calendar of 13 August 2026. It's final for CAP and institute-level rounds alike.

Admit card dates, the shift schedule, the response display and objection window, and the CAP round dates are announced separately on the Notices page.

Download it from your login on the CET portal on the date the Cell notifies. Nothing is posted. It shows your centre, date and shift, and the test ends at the time printed on it.

Bring the printout, one original photo ID (see exam centres for what counts), and, if you're claiming extra time or a scribe, the original disability certificate and the scribe's ID in the proforma.

No one gets in after the gate closes. Lost login or missing mail? Check spam, then use the ticketing system on the Cell's site, the helplines, or a student assistance centre.

The result is a percentile, because the test runs in many shifts with different papers. The method is in the Cell's Document on Normalization:

• Your percentile is the share of candidates in your session who scored equal to or below you, on a 100 to 0 scale.
• The top raw score in each session is 100 percentile, which is why several people can be at 100.
• Calculated to seven decimal places.
• Separate percentiles for Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Biology, and the Total. The Total isn't an average of the subject percentiles; it comes from your total raw score, and percentile isn't percentage. You can be 99th percentile in every subject and land somewhere else on the Total.
• Physics and Chemistry percentiles aren't swapped between groups or attempts.

MHT-CET 2026

Across all 21 of its tests in 2025-26 the Cell registered 14,08,031 and examined 12,47,761, so MHT-CET is more than half its work. Score cards are in your login; a district-wise and category-wise topper list comes with each result. Figures are on CET Statistics.

Your responses are shown in your login before the result, with a window to object to questions. Objections outside that window or by any other route aren't considered.

False or suppressed information disqualifies you. Malpractice is punishable under the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at Universities, Boards and Other Specified Examinations Act, 1982. Disputes go to the courts in Mumbai only.

There's no single MHT-CET cut-off and no qualifying mark. The Cell publishes a closing merit number and percentile for every course, institute, category and CAP round, as PDFs on the admission portal after each round. The 2026 Round I Maharashtra State file alone is over 1,500 pages.

2026, CAP Round I, Maharashtra State open category (GOPENS)

The same institute spans a huge range: VJTI Civil closed sixty times deeper than VJTI Computer.

Reading the files

• Every row has a category code. GOPENS is the general open state seat; L prefixes are the Other than Home University pool; PWD, DEF, TFWS, ORPHANN and EWS are their own pools.
• Each file is one round. Closing ranks get deeper from Round I to Round IV.
• Maharashtra State, All India and Diploma candidates have separate files. The Cell's Cutoff Explorer and archive go back several years.

Ties

HSC candidates are ranked on the CET score, with ties broken by:

1. Higher CET Mathematics score
2. Higher CET Physics
3. Higher CET Chemistry
4. Higher percentage in Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry together at the qualifying exam
5. Higher Mathematics at HSC
6. Higher Physics at HSC
7. Higher HSC aggregate

Diploma candidates are ranked on the diploma percentage, ties broken by SSC percentage, then SSC Mathematics, Science and English. NRI, OCI, PIO, Foreign and Gulf-worker candidates are ranked on PCM percentage at the qualifying exam, then Mathematics, Physics and HSC aggregate.

1. Work from the named Std XI list. It's closed and about a fifth of the paper; the rest is the whole SCERT Std XII syllabus.
2. Weight Mathematics double. It's 100 of PCM's 200 marks and the first tie-breaker. Strong Physics won't make up for weak Mathematics.
3. Practise in locked halves. 90 minutes of Physics and Chemistry, then 90 of Mathematics or Biology, with no going back. PCB candidates should drill 100 Biology questions in 90 minutes as one block.
4. Answer everything. There's no negative marking, so keep the last minutes of each half for filling every blank. That's a real difference from JEE Main and NEET.
5. Prepare at JEE Main and NEET level but at speed. The questions are mainly application based.
6. Don't set raw-mark targets or compare marks across shifts. The result is a session percentile.
7. Take both attempts if you can. The better Total percentile counts.
8. Check the cut-off files before you fill the option form, and don't put a seat first unless you'd stop there.
9. Watch the 45 per cent board gate. 44.49 isn't 45.

The CET Cell doesn't publish past MHT-CET question papers. After each session your own responses are shown in your login, and a mock test link goes up on www.mahacet.org before the exam.

The Syllabus and Marking Scheme gives the question counts and Std XI chapters to build your own practice sets from. Material sold for MHT-CET should use the split timing, 2 marks for Mathematics, no negative marking and the SCERT syllabus.

• State CET Cell: notices, time table, helpdesk, Cutoff Explorer
• www.mahacet.org: application and mock test
• MHT-CET 2026 information brochure
• Syllabus and Marking Scheme
• Document on Normalization
• CAP information brochure
• First Year Engineering admission portal 2026-27: seat matrix, merit lists, round-wise cut-offs
• Notices and CET Statistics

Who conducts MHT CET?

The State Common Entrance Test Cell, Government of Maharashtra.

Is there negative marking?

No. Answer every question.

Can I move between subjects during the test?

No. Physics and Chemistry get the first 90 minutes and auto-submit before Mathematics or Biology opens.

Which syllabus is it?

SCERT Maharashtra: about 20 per cent from named Std XI chapters, 80 per cent from all of Std XII.

Can I appear twice?

Yes. The better Total percentile counts, not the better subject scores.

Should I take PCM or PCB, or both?

PCM opens all 29 AICTE engineering disciplines; PCB opens pharmacy and nine engineering branches. You can take both, but marks don't transfer.

What is the fee?

₹1,300 per group for one attempt, ₹2,600 for both; ₹1,000 and ₹2,000 for Maharashtra reserved categories, Orphan and Transgender candidates.

Is there an age limit?

No.

I have 44.6 per cent. Am I eligible?

Yes. It rounds to 45. But 44.49 rounds to 44 and isn't.

Is MHT CET held outside Maharashtra?

No.

What was the cut-off?

It depends on institute, course, category and round. In 2026 Round I, VJTI Computer Engineering closed at merit number 71 for open state seats.

What happens if I get my first preference?

It's auto-frozen and you leave the process. Only put first what you'd be happy to keep.

Does MHT CET accept JEE Main scores?

For All India candidates, JEE (Main) is preferred for B.E./B.Tech. and NEET for pharmacy. Maharashtra State candidates must sit MHT-CET.

How many candidates take it?

In 2026, 4,54,069 appeared for PCM and 2,63,213 for PCB in the first attempt.