Summary
The National Testing Agency has opened a re-allocation facility for candidates appearing in the Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2026.
The facility was activated on Wednesday at the official CUET portal, cuet.nta.nic.in, and is being operated on a first-come, first-served basis.
The National Testing Agency has opened a re-allocation facility for candidates appearing in the Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2026 after receiving complaints regarding non-allotment of preferred examination centres. The agency has now allowed affected candidates to select from available vacant slots in alternate cities through the official portal.
According to official data released by NTA, a total of 15,68,866 candidates registered for CUET UG 2026. Of these, 96.6 per cent were allotted one of their preferred examination cities, while nearly 79 per cent received their first-choice city. However, around 3.4 per cent of candidates were allotted centres outside their selected preferences due to heavy demand and limited computer-based test (CBT) infrastructure in certain regions.
The agency stated that candidates who could not be accommodated in their preferred locations because of capacity constraints in high-demand cities can now participate in the re-allocation process. The facility was activated on Wednesday at the official CUET portal, cuet.nta.nic.in, and is being operated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Explaining the complexity of the examination process, NTA noted that candidates were allowed to choose up to five subjects, resulting in approximately 67,56,321 test instances. On average, candidates opted for 4.31 subjects each. The agency further revealed that as many as 12,906 distinct subject combinations have been recorded, significantly increasing the logistical complexity of scheduling and centre allocation.
To accommodate the massive scale of the examination while ensuring fairness and integrity, the CUET UG 2026 exam is being conducted across 35 shifts nationwide. NTA highlighted that the pressure on testing infrastructure is particularly high in a few states. Around 6,74,352 registrations, accounting for nearly 43 per cent of the total candidate pool, have come from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi alone. These states together account for approximately 29,93,554 effective test instances spread across 9,922 subject combinations.
The testing agency explained that examination centre allocation depends on multiple factors, including the candidate’s chosen city, selected subjects, and the specific shift in which those subjects are scheduled. When the demand for a particular city-subject-shift combination exceeds the available CBT capacity, candidates may be allotted nearby or alternate cities.
In a recent notification, NTA has informed that due to logistical and operational challenges, only changes in the examination state and city will be considered during the re-allocation period.
“Candidates who have already submitted requests for change of their allotted examination city/date/shift are also hereby informed that due to unavoidable logistics reasons, only the change of examination state/city shall be considered. Requests submitted for change in the examination date & shift will not be entertained, and the originally allotted schedule (i.e. date of exam/shift) shall remain unchanged,” the notice further stated.
Candidates have been advised to complete the process at the earliest, as seat allocation under the facility will depend on availability, and the facility will be closing by today, May 7.
Read the new official notice here.
Last updated on 07 May 2026
