CUET UG 2026: Registration (Closed), Exam Date (11 May), Eligibility, Syllabus, and More

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will probably schedule the CUET UG 2026 exam dates from 11th May 2026 to 31st May 2026. The online CUET UG 2026 registrations are ongoing and will continue till 30th January 2026.  The Common University Entrance Test (Undergraduate) is commonly known as CUET UG and it is a National Level Entrance exam conducted by the NTA – the National Testing Agency.

This article will help the candidates develop an extensive understanding about the CUET UG exam, its eligibility criteria, the exam schedule including the registration dates, exam syllabus & pattern, results, cut-off, participating Universities & Institutes, and other aspects related to this entrance exam.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had previously announced major changes in the exam pattern of entrance test. Students can go through the below-stated updates that could be followed during the CUET UG 2026:

• As per the updates by UGC, the exam will be conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) online mode instead of Hybrid mode which used to be followed previously. 
• The total number of available subjects has been reduced from 63 to 37. 
• Earlier, students had the option to choose a maximum of 6 subjects which is now updated to 5 subjects only. 
• Regarding subjects, it has been announced that now the students have the flexibility to choose any subject regardless of their background of 10+2 standard. 
• As announced by UGC, the duration of each CUET exam paper has been standardised to 60 minutes (1 Hour), earlier it used to range from 45 minutes to 60 minutes for different papers. 
• The provision of optional questions has been removed and from now onwards, all the questions in the exam will be compulsory to attempt for the students. 
• It has also been declared by UGC that the standard of all questions in the exam will be based on the NCERT syllabus. 
• In the exam, negative marking will be applicable to analyse the performance of students. 
• The currently known ‘General Test’ will now be named as ‘General Aptitude Test’. 
• Apart from the 13 languages, for the remaining 20 languages (including foreign languages), the admission in such programmes will be done on the basis of candidates’ performance in the General Aptitude Test. 
• For the deleted domain subjects, the admission will be based on the General Aptitude Test. 
• The 13 languages which are remaining include English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam, Assamese, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, and Odia.
• The removed 20 languages are Sanskrit, Konkani, Maithili, Sindhi, Manipuri, Kashmiri, Santhali, Dogri, Bodo, Nepali, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Persian, Tibetan, and Arabic.
• The deleted domain subjects include Entrepreneurship, Legal Studies, Fashion Studies, Tourism, Engineering Graphics, and Teaching Aptitude.

The CUET UG Exam Pattern: Then Vs Now

Check the below-stated table to have a clear idea about the changes implemented by UGC in the CUET UG 2026 exam pattern and the provisions which were effective earlier: 

CUET UG is an entrance test for students who wish to secure admissions in Undergraduate courses in the Central Universities or other participating Institutions.

The below-given table reflects the highlights of the CUET UG exam 2026:

The students can check important dates related to CUET UG and related events from the table given-below:

* The above mentioned dates & schedule of the CUET UG exam 2026 can be modified later on. Candidates need to keep themselves updated by checking the official website.

The CUET UG 2026 Eligibility Criteria is specified with the points listed below:

• The candidates must have passed 10+2 examination or are appearing in the final year of the same.
• The student must be an Indian National to apply for the CUET UG exam.
• There is no minimum or maximum age limit specified for the exam.

Check: CUET UG Eligibility Criteria 2026

The CUET UG 2026 Registration has been started by the NTA (exam conducting authority). After the update and release of the application forms, candidates must visit the official website, ‘exams.nta.ac.in/CUET-UG’, to complete the registration / application process.

Candidates must know that they can proceed to fill the application form only after their registration is successfully completed. Also, the application process will be finished only after filling the form and completing the payment of applicable fees.

Check: CUET UG Registration 2026

The CUET UG Syllabus mainly includes three sections from which the first section is segregated into further two parts. The whole first section of the Syllabus is based on Language. The second section of the Syllabus includes 27 domain-specific subjects with a unique code allotted to each. The third or the last section is the General Test.

Syllabus of the CUET UG exam 2026 will be soon uploaded by the authorities on the official website. Once released, the students can check out the domain-specific CUET UG 2026 Syllabus of the exam. Until then, to get an idea about the sections & the subjects, students can check the previous year Syllabus.

Check: CUET UG Syllabus 2026

As per the CUET UG 2026 Exam Pattern, it will be conducted in CBT mode i.e., the Computer Based test. The exam paper will consist of questions from all three sections of the syllabus which includes language, domain-specific, and general test. All the questions in the exam will be compulsory to be attempted and the total duration of the exam will be 1 Hour (60 Minutes). Students need to know that 5 marks will be awarded for every correct answer and there will be negative marking applicable in the exam. Moreover, it is to be noted that students can choose a maximum of 5 subjects which are regardless of their educational background in 12th standard.

Check: CUET UG Exam Pattern 2026

The authorities are likely to release the CUET UG 2026 Admit Card in May 2026 on the official website of the exam. Moreover, The Admit cards will include crucial information like the candidates’ allotted examination centre, the exam date, shift timings, etc. Once released, students must download the admit card and take a print out for the exam day.

The candidates need to specify their two preferred exam centres while filling the application form for the CUET UG. From the listed preferences, the authorities allot any one of the CUET UG 2026 Exam Centres to the candidate. It is must to know that once the preferences are listed for the exam centres and the form is submitted, the centre will be allotted and will reflect on the admit card. Candidates have no chance to get the centre changed after it is allotted by the exam authorities.

The CUET UG exam is not easy to clear to get admission in a Central Universities or any of the other prominent participating Institutes. The candidates can follow the below-given CUET UG 2026 Preparation Tips to prepare effectively for the exam:

• Check out the detailed Syllabus and make a suitable & effective study plan accordingly.
• Become familiar with the exam pattern and marking scheme to understand exactly what type of questions will be there in the exam from each subject.
• Solve as many questions as possible from the Chosen domains. Candidates can do this with the help of previous year sample question papers.
• Take mock tests and analyse the scope of improvement on the basis of their results.

Ensure to study from the best sources and do not hesitate to take help.

On the exam date, students must follow the below given CUET UG 2026 Exam Day Guidelines to avoid any hassle:

• Reach the exam centre 1.5 hours prior to ensure that all the formalities & verification can be done with ease.
• Take the necessary documents along for verification purposes, including a printed Admit Card and a valid ID proof.

In order to avoid any conflicts, the Candidates must follow the Instructions prescribed by the NTA for Computer Based Test and the Offline exam.

The CUET UG Previous Year Question Papers are released by the authorities every year so that the students can practise by solving these to get familiarity with the exam questions. The sample question papers have the same paper pattern & marking criteria which makes the candidates experience the way they can answer the questions on the actual exam day.

Moreover, the sample question papers are uploaded on the website with attached answer keys so that the students do not have to find out these separately after solving the papers.

On the official website, mock tests will be available in which students can attempt to check how much they are capable of scoring in the exam. To access the CUET UG 2026 Mock Test, candidates need to enter their login details. Practising with the mock tests will help the students understand where they are doing their best and preparation for which subject needs to be improved.

After the commencement of the exam which will likely be held in May 2026, the authorities will release the CUET UG 2026 Answer Key on the official website. Students can download the answer key and cross check the correct answers with the options they have marked in the exam for every question. In case the students find any wrong answers given in the official answer sheet, they can raise a concern regarding the same and the authorities will resolve the matter.

The CUET UG 2026 Results will be announced expectedly in the last week of June 2026, a few days after the answer sheet is released for the exam. The candidates can check the results and are allowed to download their scorecards only from the official website.

To download the scorecard, students must have to visit the official website and enter their application number, specified date of birth, email ID or registered mobile number, and the security pin i.e., the unique password. Once they fill in all these required details and submit, they will be able to view & download the scorecard. For further use, the students must take a printout of the scorecard after downloading it.

The CUET UG 2026 Cut Off list will comprise of the marks students will need to achieve in order to pass the examination and become qualified to get admission in their desired participating Universities or Institution. The lists including the exam cut-offs will be released only after the results are announced.

Different participating Universities & Institutions will release their separate cut-off lists to shortlist the candidates for further process of the admissions. The cut-offs of different Universities may vary, so the students are advised to check the list released by the desired one in order to check whether they are eligible to get admissions or not.

Students who have cleared the Cut-off are eligible to move forward for the further process which involves Counselling. The CUET UG 2026 Counselling will be scheduled & conducted by the Central Universities & other participating Colleges on an Individual basis. It refers that all the Colleges will conduct it separately and release a merit list based on the Counselling process for provisional admissions.

Candidates who clear the counselling process can check and confirm their name in merit lists released by the Universities. Further, they will have to report at the college for interview rounds & verification to finalise their admissions.

There are various Central, State, Private, and Deemed to be Universities along with various participating Institutions which accept the score of CUET UG to take admissions in their various Undergraduate programs.

Though there are a lot of CUET UG 2026 Participating Universities & Colleges, below-given table comprises some of these in which students can apply through CUET UG exam:

Check: Colleges Accepting CUET UG