New Delhi, 5 August 2021 – The Maharashtra State Government has confirmed that this year there will be no Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to various non-professional UG courses (arts, science, and commerce) in the state colleges. Instead, the admissions will be based on Class 12 marks.
The Maharashtra Class 12 Result 2021 was announced on 3rd August 2021, which was based on the previous three years’ performance of students (Class 9 to 11) and internal assessments by schools. Maharashtra State Board has achieved a pass percentage of 99.63% this year. Although there has been a 9% increase in the passing percentage of students at the Higher Secondary School (HSC) level this year (2020-21), the Higher Education Department of Maharashtra has decided not to hold CET this year.
This decision was taken during a meeting presided by State’s Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant, Principal Secretary Vikas Chandra Rastogi, Director Dhanraj Mane, Directorate of Technical Education Abhay Wagh. In addition, the Vice-Chancellors of all non-agricultural universities and concerned officials were also present in the meeting.
No CET for Non-Professional UG Courses in Maharashtra – Why This Decision?
On Wednesday afternoon, Samant held a meeting with vice-chancellors of all state universities. During the meeting, it was unanimously decided that no CET should be conducted for admissions to non-professional courses. 
Maharashtra’s Education Minister stated that he had received several requests not to hold CET, ever since the academic calendar has been delayed. In this scenario, holding a CET would mean a further delay in higher education admissions by several weeks.
Keeping in mind the hike in the overall pass percentage of Class 12 students across the boards in the state, instructions have been given to universities to give adequate approval for the intake capacity of courses (seats in colleges) to accommodate the demand (higher number of students).
Increase in Seats Across Colleges in Maharashtra
Compared to the last year, the number of students getting more than 90% is higher in 2021. This led to the stakeholders questioning how so many students will get admission to degree courses.
As an answer to this, Uday Samant announced on Wednesday evening via a press conference that colleges will be allowed to increase their number of seats. He has asked universities to send proposals to increase divisions in colleges.
Students must note that since the Common Entrance Test will not be held this year, top colleges across Maharashtra are likely to have higher cut-offs than last year. This can lead to more competition among students for admission in undergraduate courses.
CET for Professional UG Courses – Important Dates and Latest Updates
1. The Common Entrance Test for engineering courses (MHT-CET 2021 for engineering, pharmacy, and other courses) will be held in two sessions:
- Session 1 – Between 4th and 10th September 2021
- Session 2 – Between 14th and 20th September 2021
2. The common entrance test for professional courses like MBA, MCA, MA in Architecture, Bachelors, and Masters courses in Hotel Management and Catering Technology will begin from 26th August 2021 onwards.
3. This year CET will be conducted in 350 exam centres compared to last year’s 175.
4. CET for BA-BEd or B.Sc. BEd, Bachelor of Education (BEd), Masters of Education (MEd), Bachelors of Physical Education (BPEd), or Masters of Physical Education (MPed), where the number of students are generally less, will be conducted from 26th August 2021.
5. For 3 – 5 years of LLB course or those courses in which the number of students are more than the general class strength, CET will begin from 16th August 2021.
6. In the next 8 days, the state government will decide on reopening colleges after considering the COVID-19 situation in the respective districts of Maharashtra.
Till then, students are advised to keep an eye on all the updates from the state government officials as they are expected to share a detailed notice and guidelines on college admissions soon.
