In a major reform for engineering and management aspirants, the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell will now conduct the MHT CET 2026 exams twice a year. State Education Minister Chandrakant Patil announced that from the next academic session, the entrance exams for BTech (PCM, PCB) and MBA courses will be held in April and May 2026.
According to the minister, the move aims to give students a second chance, similar to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted at the national level. “There are two entrance exams for JEE at the national level, so students get two opportunities. Similarly, students in Maharashtra will get two opportunities through these two entrance exams,” he said.
The first MHT CET 2026 exam will be conducted in April, while the second session will be held in May 2026. The detailed schedule for both exams will be released soon by the CET Cell.
Students can appear for either one or both sessions. For candidates taking both exams, the higher of the two scores will be considered for admission.
A review meeting was recently held under the chairmanship of Chandrakant Patil, attended by B Venugopal Reddy (Chief Secretary, Higher and Technical Education Department), Dilip Sardesai (CET Cell Commissioner), Shailendra Devlankar (Director of Higher Education), and Vinod Mohitkar (Director of Technical Education), among other officials.
The MHT CET Cell conducts entrance exams for admissions to engineering, pharmacy, medicine, management, and other allied courses across Maharashtra.