Now Reading: Maharashtra to offer two CET attempts for all courses from 2026
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Maharashtra to offer two CET attempts for all courses from 2026
The Story in Brief
The Maharashtra government will offer students two opportunities to appear for Common Entrance Tests (CETs) for all professional courses from the 2026 academic year, extending a facility introduced in 2025 for engineering and MBA/MMS admissions. The move, announced by higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil on Monday (26 October 2026), covers nearly 20 CETs including law, BMS/BBA, nursing and BEd.
The state CET cell conducted two tests in April and May for engineering and MBA/MMS courses in 2025. An official said the second attempt was most used by physics-chemistry-mathematics (PCM) aspirants for engineering admissions, with few takers for other streams. Patil said the facility will now be extended to all state-conducted entrance examinations.
The CET cell is also considering raising the minimum aggregate marks required in Class XII board exams for engineering eligibility, instead of giving weightage to board scores. The current minimum is 45% for the general category. A committee examining board marks weightage has not yet submitted its report. If approved, the revised policy would apply from the 2028-29 academic year, with a decision expected by January.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Extending the two-attempt facility to all CET courses removes a disparity that in 2025 only benefited engineering and MBA/MMS candidates, but the data showing low uptake for the second attempt in MBA/MMS and PCB streams suggests the change may have uneven impact. The more consequential shift is the potential increase in the Class XII marks threshold for engineering eligibility, which would raise the bar for general-category applicants from 45% aggregate. With the committee report still pending and a decision only promised by January, students and colleges face months of uncertainty on both the eligibility floor and whether board weightage will be introduced at all.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
