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Beyond Doctor,
Engineer, CA

How to prepare

CUET-UG

Common University Entrance Test (Undergraduate). Run by National Testing Agency (NTA).

The exam
You choose up to five papers from 37: 13 languages, 23 domain subjects and one General Aptitude Test.
Opens
Undergraduate admission to the central universities, such as Delhi University, BHU and JNU, and to other universities that choose to use it (244 universities used CUET-UG 2026 scores, including state, deemed and private ones); each university then runs its own merit list and counselling.
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Your plan, step by step

  1. Now to March 2027 (rest of Class 11)

    Make sure your school subjects fit your target courses

    Look up two or three target programmes now, for example B.Com (Hons) or BA (Hons) Economics at DU. DU needs you to have passed the matching subject in Class 12, so a student who wants Economics or BMS at DU needs Mathematics or Applied Mathematics in school. Read your NCERT textbooks properly, read a newspaper for 20 minutes a day, and keep your Class 10 arithmetic sharp.

  2. April to June 2027 (summer before Class 12)

    Build a subject map

    Make a simple table: each programme you want, each university, and the exact CUET subject combination it asks for. Pick five papers that cover all of them. Start one past or sample paper a fortnight for your language and General Aptitude Test.

  3. July to December 2027 (Class 12)

    Board syllabus is CUET syllabus

    CUET domain papers follow NCERT, so good board preparation is most of your CUET preparation. Add 30 minutes a day of reading-comprehension and reasoning practice. From October 2027, take one timed 60-minute paper a week.

  4. January 2028 (registration)

    Register with the right five

    Registration has opened in early January in 2026. Before paying, check your subject table against the latest DU and other university bulletins. Fill the form yourself, carefully, with a parent watching.

  5. After boards to May 2028

    Timed papers on a screen

    Do full 60-minute papers for each of your five subjects on a computer, including NTA's free mock. Practise skipping: every question carries minus 1 if wrong.

  6. June to July 2028

    Result, then the university forms

    CUET only gives scores. Fill each university's own admission form, such as DU's CSAS, by its deadline, and track rounds on the university website.

This plan is advice from the author, not an official schedule. Adjust it to your school and your pace.

What the exam testsPapers, marks, marking and the syllabus

You choose up to five papers from 37: 13 languages, 23 domain subjects and one General Aptitude Test. Every paper has 50 compulsory multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, for 250 marks: +5 for a right answer, minus 1 for a wrong one. It is a computer-based test in many shifts, so scores are normalised. Important: these rules (37 subjects, a cap of five, all questions compulsory, 60 minutes each) were introduced for CUET-UG 2025, not 2026. The 2026 bulletin kept them unchanged.

  • 37 subjects: 13 languages, 23 domain-specific subjects and 1 General Aptitude Test. (CUET-UG 2026 bulletin)
  • You may choose up to five subjects in total, counting languages and the General Aptitude Test.
  • Each paper: 50 questions, all compulsory, 60 minutes. PwBD candidates get 20 extra minutes an hour.
  • Marking: +5 for a correct answer, minus 1 for a wrong answer, 0 if left blank. 250 marks a paper.
  • Computer-based test (CBT) only, in multiple shifts. Marks are converted to 'normalised' scores by an equipercentile method so that different shifts can be compared.
  • Language papers test reading comprehension (factual, literary and narrative passages), literary aptitude and vocabulary. Domain papers follow the NCERT syllabus. The General Aptitude Test covers general knowledge, current affairs, general mental ability, numerical ability, quantitative reasoning (simple arithmetic, algebra, geometry, mensuration and statistics) and logical and analytical reasoning.
  • Question papers come in 13 languages: Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
  • What changed and when: in December 2024 the UGC chairman announced for CUET-UG 2025 that subjects would fall from 63 to 37 (20 language papers and 6 domain papers dropped, including Entrepreneurship, Teaching Aptitude, Legal Studies and Engineering Graphics), that admission to courses based on dropped subjects could use General Aptitude Test scores, that all 50 questions would be compulsory instead of 40 of 50, and that every paper would be 60 minutes. The limit of five subjects also applied from 2025. The 2025 and 2026 bulletins show the same pattern.
  • Scale in 2026: 15.68 lakh registered and 11.64 lakh appeared, across 19 days and 35 shifts. The most chosen papers were English, Chemistry, Physics and the General Aptitude Test.

When. May, with a spill-over into early June. CUET-UG 2026 ran from 11 to 31 May 2026, with rescheduled papers on 6 and 7 June; registration opened on 3 January 2026 and results came on 23 June 2026 (NTA). CUET-UG 2027 and 2028 dates have not been announced.

Syllabus. Domain papers follow the NCERT syllabus, and NTA says all questions are set at the level of the NCERT syllabus. NTA publishes a subject-wise syllabus page for each year. Languages test reading and vocabulary, and the General Aptitude Test tests general knowledge, current affairs, reasoning and basic maths. (CUET-UG 2026 bulletin and FAQs)

Source: NTA: CUET (UG) 2026 Information BulletinSource: NTA: CUET (UG) 2026 syllabus
Study materialFree official material first, then books

Free and official

Books students commonly use

Commonly used, not endorsed. Finish the free official material first.

  • NCERT textbooks for your domain subjects, Class 11 and 12 by NCERT

    The main book for every domain paper. Commonly used, not endorsed.

  • A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal

    Reasoning for the General Aptitude Test. Commonly used, not endorsed.

  • Data Interpretation by R.S. Aggarwal

    Tables and charts practice for the General Aptitude Test. Commonly used, not endorsed.

  • English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin

    Grammar base for the English paper. Commonly used, not endorsed.

  • Objective General English by S.P. Bakshi

    Objective English practice. Commonly used, not endorsed.

Source: Toprankers: CUET preparation books (not official)
Coaching: do you need it?Your options, how to choose, red flags

Self-study with free material

Free: NCERT, SATHEE CUET and NTA's mock tests

Most students. Domain papers follow NCERT, so steady board preparation plus timed practice covers most of it.

Online course or mock-test series

Varies. No CUET fee was verified on an institute's own page.

Students who want structured timed practice for the General Aptitude Test and language papers.

Classroom coaching

Varies. No CUET classroom fee was verified on an institute's own page.

Rarely needed for CUET alone. It can help a student who also targets IPMAT or CLAT and needs regular reasoning and English practice with a teacher.

How to choose a coaching centre

  • First ask whether you need coaching at all. CUET domain papers follow NCERT, which your school already teaches.
  • If you pay, pay for mocks and General Aptitude Test practice, not for re-teaching your board syllabus.
  • Ask the centre to show you the DU or university subject combinations for your target course. A good centre should help you pick the right five papers.
  • Get fees and the refund policy in writing. The Ministry of Education's 2024 guidelines ask centres to publish fees and refund rules.
  • For classroom centres, ask about the counsellor, whether batches are split by marks, and where the helpline is displayed, as the Supreme Court's July 2025 directions require.

Red flags

  • Promises of a guaranteed DU college or a guaranteed score.
  • Pressure to pay a full year upfront with no written refund policy.
  • Advice to pick CUET subjects you did not study in Class 12 for DU, where they will not count.
  • Very large batches with no individual feedback.
  • Topper claims that do not say which course the topper actually took.
Names families usually consider
  • Career Launcher. Runs a CUET UG section with free mocks and preparation programmes on its own site. Fees not verified. Source: Career Launcher: CUET UG
  • SciAstra. Lists CUET coaching among its courses on its own site. Fees not verified. Source: SciAstra courses
  • Physics Wallah. Commonly considered online option. No CUET fee verified.
  • Toprankers. Commonly considered online option. No fee verified.
  • Listed so you know the names, not ranked or endorsed. Visit, ask the questions above, and compare in writing.
Mocks and the last monthsPractice tests, final months, common mistakes

NTA's free mock tests are at nta.ac.in/Quiz, and CUET(UG) is listed there. SATHEE CUET has free practice. NTA displays question papers with each candidate's recorded responses during the answer-key challenge, and final answer keys stay on cuet.nta.nic.in. Past papers are also on publisher and coaching sites. Practise each of your five papers as a full 60-minute test.

  • Recheck your five subjects against the latest bulletin of every university you will apply to.
  • Do one full 60-minute paper a day, rotating your five subjects, on a screen.
  • For the General Aptitude Test, revise current affairs of the last 12 months and practise arithmetic without a calculator.
  • Skip questions you cannot narrow down; each wrong answer costs 1 mark.
  • Keep university deadlines, such as DU's CSAS form, on a wall calendar. CUET alone does not get you a seat.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing CUET papers that do not match the target programme, for example skipping Mathematics and then applying for BA (Hons) Economics at DU.
  • Taking a subject for DU that you did not pass in Class 12; DU will not count it.
  • Treating CUET as separate from boards, when domain papers follow the same NCERT syllabus.
  • Forgetting to fill the university's own admission form after the result.
  • Believing old articles: the 37-subject, five-paper, all-compulsory pattern started in 2025, and rules can change again.
Who can sitAttempts, age, marks and subjects
  • No age limit for the exam itself. Anyone who has passed Class 12 or is appearing that year can sit it, but each university's own age rules still apply. (2026 bulletin)
  • NTA lets you choose any subject regardless of what you studied in Class 12, but universities set their own rules, and Delhi University is strict (see below).
  • Fee 2026 for up to three subjects: Rs 1,000 (General), Rs 900 (OBC-NCL and EWS), Rs 800 (SC, ST, PwBD, third gender); each extra subject Rs 400, Rs 375 and Rs 350 respectively; centres outside India Rs 4,500 plus Rs 1,800 a subject.
  • Delhi University: you must take CUET papers in the subjects you passed in Class 12, and if a programme needs a subject, you must have passed it in Class 12 and taken it in CUET. A Science student can still apply for BA (Hons) History, with no penalty for changing stream. (DU UG FAQs 2026-27)
  • Delhi University examples for 2026-27: B.Com (Hons) needs one language plus Mathematics or Accountancy plus two domain subjects; BA (Hons) Economics needs the CUET Mathematics paper; BMS, BA (Hons) Business Economics and BBA (FIA) need one language, Mathematics or Applied Mathematics, one domain subject and the General Aptitude Test (Applied Mathematics students choose the Mathematics paper); BA (Hons) Journalism takes English plus three domain subjects, or English plus the General Aptitude Test; many BA (Hons) programmes take one language plus three domain subjects, or two languages plus two domain subjects. Merit uses the best-scoring allowed combination. (DU Bulletin of Information UG 2026-27)
  • At Delhi University, Class 12 marks count only for minimum eligibility and tie-breaks, only the current year's CUET score is accepted, and you must also fill DU's own CSAS form.
  • Law at Delhi University: the five-year BA LLB and BBA LLB took students through CLAT 2026, not CUET. (DU BA LLB bulletin 2026)
  • In April 2026 NTA reopened a three-day window to let candidates change their subjects after several requests from candidates who needed different papers to be eligible at their chosen university. Check programme rules before you register.
Source: Delhi University: UG Admissions 2026-27 FAQs

This exam leads to

Humanities, psychology and economicsCommerceJournalismForeign languagesSocial workManagementLaw

Want a plan for your own situation?

Tell Raahi your class, your marks and how many hours you have.

Plan my CUET-UG preparation
Sources, checked 27 September 2026

Rules change every year. Confirm each detail on the official site before you register or pay.