With the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak delaying the admission process, the Karnataka government has decided to begin Common Entrance Test (CET) counselling for engineering and other professional courses first, while counselling for medical admissions will be held later. The move marks a departure from its earlier practice of holding both simultaneously.
Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar announced the decision after a meeting with private professional college managements and officials from the Higher Education and Medical Education departments on Thursday, May 21.
Under the revised plan, counselling for eight CET-linked courses, including engineering, will be conducted first based on CET ranks. Counselling for medical, dental and AYUSH courses will be held later after the NEET admission process is completed.
The move comes amid delays in the NEET schedule following a question paper leak in the national medical entrance examination held on May 3. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has since announced a re-test on June 21, with results expected only by late July or August.
Speaking during a Youth Congress protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru against alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination, Sudhakar said Karnataka would not wait for NEET results to proceed with engineering admissions.
He said CET results are likely to be declared next week and reiterated the Congress government’s demand for a return to the pre-NEET admission system.
“Usually, NEET and CET counselling are conducted simultaneously. However, with the NEET re-examination now scheduled for June 21 and results expected only later, it will not be practical to delay CET counselling because of the postponed medical admission process,” Sudhakar said.
The minister said Karnataka’s decision follows similar steps taken by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, both of which have proceeded with engineering admissions independently due to delays in the NEET timeline.
The government also decided to allow candidates across engineering, medical, dental and AYUSH courses to upgrade their seats until the third round of counselling.
Earlier, students were generally permitted to upgrade only until the second round when CET and NEET counselling took place simultaneously.
Explaining the revised system, Sudhakar said one round of counselling itself takes around 30 to 40 days, making simultaneous counselling difficult this year.
“For example, if a candidate who wants a medical seat gets admitted to engineering in a good college through CET counselling and later secures a medical seat in NEET counselling, both that candidate and engineering aspirants waiting for the vacated seat will be allowed to upgrade,” he said.
He added that students who shift from engineering to medical courses after securing a NEET seat would receive a full refund of the engineering fees already paid.
Private professional colleges have reportedly agreed to extend similar reimbursement arrangements for students moving between courses during the counselling process.
The Executive Director of the Karnataka Examinations Authority, Prasanna H, has also requested colleges to submit the seat matrix for CET-based courses, including engineering, at the earliest to facilitate the counselling process.
Nearly 2.5 million students appeared for NEET-UG 2026 across more than 5,000 centres nationwide before allegations of a paper leak triggered controversy and demands for corrective action.
This story was written by a student intern working with TNM.
