KCET 2026 to be held on April 23, 24

The Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) 2026 will be held on April 23 and 24. The online application submission process will begin from January 17. Kannada examination for Horanadu and Gadinadu Kannada candidates will be held on
April 22.

The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) on Friday released the date sheet for the KCET 2026 and the authorities stated that this year the dates of all other examinations, including PGCET, DCET and KSET, have been released along with the KCET.

For the first time, the KEA has published a ‘CET Guide’, available both in Kannada and English, to help students to fill the application forms. “To help candidates to fill applications without errors, we have released a Guide and the same has been supplied to all pre university colleges, including those affiliated to other boards,” said Minister for Higher Education Dr M C Sudhakar.

As explained by the minister, the CET Guide has complete and step-wise information on application filling and also complete information about the documents needed, verification process and seat allotment. This year, the KEA will open a Candidate Portal and candidates can download copies of application form, admission ticket, verification slip etc., by logging on to the portal.

Speaking about the decision to continue with the questions from the practical part of the PUC curriculum, Sudhakar said, “We have introduced practical-based questions in the KCET from 2025 and it will continue even for this year. This is basically to ensure that students concentrate even on practical classes.”

In the CET guide released, the KEA has even cautioned parents and students about the middlemen. In the guide, the KEA has stated, “In matters related to CET, neither candidates nor parents should trust any middlemen and get cheated. Because, you should know that the seat allotment is done only on merit, based on the seat matrix provided by the government.”

This year also it is OTP-based application filling and after the successful registration and login, candidates may proceed with entry of application details only after verifying the login plus OTP or live photo. The real candidate must provide his/her face identification at each subsequent
stage.