HPCET 2026: Exam Date, Registration, Eligibility, Syllabus, and More

The HPCET 2026 exam will be conducted through offline OMR based mode across several test centres expectedly on 10^th & 11^th May 2026. Interested students can register online for the entrance test probably from the last week of January 2026 through its official website. Additionally, candidates should fill-in & submit their exam form before the last date i.e., 3^rd Week of April 2026 (tentative).

The Himachal Pradesh Common Entrance Test is a University-level entrance exam which is popularly known as HPCET. The duration of the exam is 2 hours for all the courses. For B.Tech & B.Pharm programs, 3 hours & 15 minutes is the stipulated time.

Candidates looking forward to taking the HPCET exam 2026 can read this article to gain insights about the exam schedule, eligibility criteria, paper pattern, test centres, admit card, results, counselling / seat allotment process, participating Institutions, and so on.

The Himachal Pradesh Technical University (HPTU), Hamirpur conducts the University-level entrance test i.e., HPCET to offer admissions in various Technical and Professional courses. Through the test scores, students can enrol in the UG and PG level programs offered by the University & its affiliated Colleges, Deemed-to-be-University, and other Universities.

Aspirants can refer to the following table to know the key highlights of the HPCET Exam 2026:

Aspirants are suggested to be well-aware of the important dates for the HPCET 2026 to avoid missing deadlines.

Refer to the following table to get familiar with schedule of the entrance examination:

The HPCET Eligibility Criteria 2026 should be fulfilled by the aspirants to take the entrance exam. The same is prescribed by HPTU Hamirpur (exam conducting body).

The particulars including educational qualification, age limit, and nationality required to appear for the HPCET 2026 are mentioned in the following table:

Note: Students who are yet to take the final examination of Class 12^th / UG degree can register for the exam.

The exam conducting authority will likely start the HPCET Registration 2026 from January 2026 and the procedure will end in the month of April 2026. Aspiring candidates are required to apply via online mode through the conducting authority’s official website i.e., ‘himtu.ac.in’.

The registration fee for HPCET 2026 exam is Rs. 1600/- for students of General / EWS / OBC categories, and Rs. 800/- for SC / ST / BPL categories. The test fee is non-refundable and can be paid online via Net Banking, UPI, Debit / Credit cards.

Note: If the aspirants wish to apply for 2 courses i.e., (B.Tech & B.Pharm / MBA & MBA in T & HM) then, they will have to pay double fee for the same.

Aspiring candidates should be well-informed about the specified curriculum before starting with the preparation of the test. The prescribed HPCET Syllabus 2026 for all the programs including B.Tech, MBA, M.Sc (Physics / Environmental Sciences), and so on is different.

In addition to this, the curriculum of the B.Tech course for the HPCET 2026 exam comprises 3 subjects including Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics along with its multiple sub-topics. However, students who will be appearing for MCA & MBA / MBA (T & HM) programs will have to thoroughly cover the topics prescribed under subjects like Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA).

According to the HPCET Exam Pattern 2026, the test will be conducted through offline Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) based mode in English language only. The test paper of the HPCET 2026 will consist of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). Moreover, the exam duration for B.Tech / B.Pharm courses will be 3 hours & 15 minutes, and 2 hours for all the other programs.

For B.Tech / B.Pharm / MCA / MBA / MBA (T & HM) programs, students will be allotted 4 marks for a correct answer; whereas, for an incorrect response, negative marking of -1 mark will be done. However, for courses like B.Sc (HM & CT) / BHMCT / M.Sc (Physics or Environmental Sciences), 1 mark for each right response will be given, and -0.25 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer.

The exam conducting authority will release the e-admit cards of the registered applicants probably in May 2026. The appearing students will be able to download the HPCET Admit Card 2026 via the official website of the conducting body, i.e., ‘himtu.ac.in’ by entering details like their date of birth and application form number.

The e-admit card of the HPCET exam 2026 will contain essential details of the registered candidate such as photograph, e-admit card number, and exam date & address of the centre. Additionally, in case of any discrepancies, students must convey the same to the Controller of Examinations, HPTU Hamirpur or else, they will not be allowed to take the exam without an accurate e-admit card.

The entrance exam will be conducted across different HPCET Exam Centres 2026 according to the respective courses.

The following table contains the details of expected exam centers for HPCET 2026 exam:

* The University is liable to add / change / cancel the test centres depending on the number of applications received for appearing at a particular location.

In order to get admission in the desired course through HPCET 2026, students should prepare for the same with sincerity. Solving the HPCET Previous Year Question Papers is one of the best ways to track the preparation level, and it also helps the candidates in developing their answering skills.

Furthermore, aspiring students who will be appearing for the test should attempt the HPCET Mock Test 2026 to gain better understanding about the format, marking scheme, structure of the questions asked, and so on for obtaining excellent results.

Candidates will be able to access the HPCET Answer Key 2026 immediately after the exam is conducted, through the University’s official website. The complaints regarding various aspects of the test including question paper, answer key, etc. can be notified to the Office of Controller of Examinations along with the supporting documents or solutions within 2 days of the conduct of the exam.

The Himachal Pradesh Technical University (HPTU) will declare the HPCET Result 2026 probably in May 2026 on the official website i.e., ‘himtu.ac.in’. Students can login using their User ID & password to check and download the result of HPCET 2026.

In order to get admission in the desired program, students are required to qualify the HPCET 2026 with the cut-off marks (minimum marks to pass an exam) specified by the exam conducting authority.

Aspirants can go through the following table to gain details regarding the course-specific cut-off needed to qualify the University-level entrance test:

Aspirants have to apply for the desired course separately by filling the Counselling cum-Admission forms, after the declaration of HPCET 2026 results. The form will be available on the official website of HPTU Hamirpur i.e., ‘himtu.ac.in’. Additionally, aspirants can start applying for the HPCET Counselling Process 2026 probably from June 2026 and the tentative end date of the same is June 2026.

Moreover, HPCET Seat Allotment 2026 to the respective courses will be based on merit in the JEE (Main) / HPCET 2026. In case of B.Tech program, 50% of the seats will be filled on the basis of merit in JEE (Main) exam and remaining seats will be allotted to the students who have secured a merit in Himachal Pradesh Common Entrance Test in the first round. Additionally, if the seats reserved for JEE (Main) qualified students remain vacant in the first round then, such seats shall be merged to be allocated to students qualifying the HPCET 2026 exam during the second round.

Note: If the seats remain vacant after the counselling procedure, the University will allocate the same as per applicable admission policies.

The Himachal Pradesh Technical University (HPTU) & its affiliated Institutions, Deemed-to-be-University or any other Universities established under the State Act or its constituent units accept the entrance test scores. Also, students can get admission in the Technical & Professional courses offered by the aforementioned participating Institutions at the UG & PG levels through the marks obtained in HPCET 2026.

Below-given are few of the HPCET Participating Colleges 2026 specified by the conducting authority:

• Himachal Pradesh Technical University (HPTU), Hamirpur
• Laureate Institute of Pharmacy, Kangra
• Abhilashi College of Pharmacy, Mandi
• Himalayan Institute of Engineering and Technology, Sirmaur
• Vaishno College of Engineering, Kangra
• LR Institute of Management, Solan
• Government College, Dharamshala
• Himalayan Institute of Management (HIM), Sirmaur
• Shaheed Bhagat Singh College of Pharmacy (SBSCP), Palampur
• Green Hills Engineering College, Solan