KCET Counselling 2026: Check Schedule, Process, Seat-Allotment

Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) handles the entire counselling process for all the professional courses, such as Engineering/technology, Agriculture, and Veterinary courses, for the KCET exam.

This year, KEA has made certain changes in the counselling process for the KCET 2026.

• Vacant special category seats, such as NCC, Sports, etc will be converted to general merit in the seat allotment round 1 if no eligible candidates are available.
• KEA has mandated SC candidates to get updated caste certificates with the new RD (Revenue Department) number for the document verification.

The counselling process will be completely online and will be based on merit. It will include the online registration, document verification, online counselling procedure, seat allotment, and the admission order.

Eligibility to participate in the counselling process, along with instructions, procedures, guidelines, and a schedule, will be published later on the KEA website.

Related Articles:

• KCET 2026 Seat Allotment
• KCET 2026 Seat Matrix
• KCET 2026 Marks Vs Rank

Key Summary

• In 2025, around 3.1 lakh candidates appeared for the KCET, and most of the candidates who appeared were qualified for the counselling.
• Ranks in the KCET exam will be determined based on 50% of KCET marks and 50% marks in the 2nd PUC.
• CSE branch in the most desired colleges, such as RVCE Bengaluru require ranks under 500.
• Government engineering colleges have lower fees compared to private/unaided colleges. For example govt.College charges around Rs. 33,810/year, whereas private colleges charge around 80k-90k/year.
• If a candidate decides to surrender the seat, he/she has to do it only to KEA, online by filling in the required details.
• Merely not reporting to the selected/allotted college should not be presumed by the candidate that he/she has surrendered the seat to KEA.

KCET Counselling 2026: Important Dates

KCET Counselling 2026: Step-by-Step Process

The KCET counselling process will be completely online and merit-based to ensure fairness and transparency. Given below is the detailed counselling process for KCET 2026:

KCET Counselling 2026: Registration

After the declaration of the results of KCET 2026, qualified candidates will be able to register for the counselling process using their CET application number and date of birth.

The candidates must verify documents after registering for the counselling and should download the verification slip before proceeding with option entry.

KCET Counselling 2026: For Other Courses

KEA is responsible to conduct the counselling for other courses such as Medical, Dental, AYUSH, Architecture, and B.Sc Allied Health Sciences as per the government's guidelines.

The KCET exam is not required for admission to these courses as there are other criteria for them. However, they must compulsorily register for KCET 2026 and pay the fees to become eligible for KEA counselling.

• Medical, Dental, and AYUSH courses require a valid UGNEET-2026 score, since the admission will be on the basis of NEET rank.
• Similarly, for the Architecture course, candidates should compulsorily qualify in NATA-2026
• For admission to B.P.T., B.Sc. Allied Health Sciences, BPO courses, selection will be based on PU marks.

Source: KCET 2026 Official Information Bulletin

KCET Counselling 2026: Documents Required

Online seat allotment for admission to various Professional Courses will be based on the claims made by the candidates in their online application form. Hence, candidates are advised to be ready with all the necessary certificates/documents in original form.

If any candidate fails to produce any of the documents/certificates/marks card, such candidates will not be eligible to exercise the options for seat allotment.

The following documents should be kept ready, only if applicable:

• Kannada Medium Certificate
• Rural Study Certificate
• Caste / Caste Income Certificate (Income and Caste Certificate)– with RD Number
• Income Certificate

• Eligibility Certificate for candidates claiming Kalyana-Karnataka Region Reservation
• Candidates claiming eligibility for Government seats based on the domicile/study/employment of the parent should give proof of domicile or employment.
• Affidavit for claiming eligibility under Horanadu and Gadinadu Kannadiga clauses
• Identity Card for the candidates claiming eligibility for Government seats under the Jammu & Kashmiri Migrants quota.

OCI/PUO Candidates

• Birth certificate and Aadhar Card of the candidate.
• Passport, VISA / Resident VISA of the candidate and parent (Copies).
• Citizenship of the candidate - OCI / PIO Card.\
• Income Tax Documents required as per the Income Tax Act 1961.
• Candidate's parents' resident certificate to establish evidence that they are residents of that country/affidavit on Rs.100/- e-stamp paper to that effect.
• Study certificate of the candidate and the parent as per the eligibility “Clause-a” or “Clause-b”.

Also Read: Detailed Eligibility Clauses for KCET 2026

For Medical and Dental candidates only

• Religious Minority: With RD Number
• Linguistic Minority
• Eligibility for St. John Medical College
• NRI Ward Certificate
• Foreign Nationals
  • Passport, VISA / Resident VISA of the candidate and parent (Copies)
  • Citizenship of the candidate.
  • Birth certificate and Aadhar Card of the candidate.
  • Candidate's parents' resident certificate to establish evidence that they are residents of that country/affidavit on Rs.100/- e-stamp paper to that effect.

KCET Counselling 2026: Option Entry

• The options entered by the candidate for the first round will remain the same for all the rounds of seat allotment.
• The candidates will not be allowed to enter options again.
• Option Entry done before the first round will be the final list of options.
• The priority of options entered by the candidate will be shown on the option entry module by obtaining the candidate's credentials.
• The candidate may delete or alter the order of higher options.
• The candidate will be allowed to add new options for any colleges and courses that came into the seat matrix after the first round.

KCET Counselling 2026: Seat Allotment

The seat allotment is a part of the KEA counselling process, which includes various rounds such as round 1, round 2, and the casual vacancy round. The seat allotment will be based on the seat matrix released by KEA after the KCET 2026 results.

• Round 1: The round 1 seat allotment is expected to start from August 2026. It is the primary round of allotment of seats based on the choices filled by the candidates. In this round, the vacant seats of the special quota will be converted to general seats.

• Round 2: The 2nd round seat allotment is expected to start from late August, which is conducted for the allotted vacant or unfilled seats and the seats surrendered by the candidates. Candidates can choose to accept the seat or participate in the next round.

• Casual Vacancy Round or Round 3: The extended round, the round 3 or the casual vacancy round is expected to start from September 2026. This round is conducted for the remaining seats from the 2nd round, often with relaxed cutoffs, and it is the final chance for seat allotment as per the regular counselling cycle.

KCET Counselling 2026: Seat Acceptance

Candidates can choose the following options in the counselling rounds if they want to upgrade their seats or lock their seats.

• Freeze: It means the candidate has accepted the allotted seat permanently.
• Float: It means the candidate has accepted a seat, but he/she will remain eligible to upgrade for a seat with higher preference in the next round.
• Slide: It means the candidate wants to upgrade the branch within the same college.

KCET Counselling 2026: Required Fee

After the seat allotment, candidates have to pay the acceptance or the counselling fees, which are different from the actual fees paid to the respective college.

These fees vary by course and college category, as well as the student's category.

KCET Counselling 2026: Seat Matrix