Entrance exams

The exams that decide most admissions in India: what each one is for, who runs it, when it's usually held, and what happens after the result.

National and state exams 14
College entrance tests 17

After Class 12

Exam	For	Conducted by	Usually held	Streams
JEE Main	B.Tech at NITs, IIITs and state colleges; the first step to the IITs	National Testing Agency (NTA)	Two sessions a year, in January and April	Engineering Architecture
JEE Advanced	B.Tech and BS at the IITs	One of the IITs each year, under the Joint Admission Board	Once a year, in May or June, a few weeks after the final JEE Main session	Engineering Science Architecture
NEET-UG	MBBS, BDS and AYUSH courses everywhere in India	National Testing Agency (NTA)	Once a year, usually on a Sunday in early May	Medical Allied health
CUET-UG	UG at Delhi University, JNU, BHU and many others	National Testing Agency (NTA)	Once a year, between May and June	Arts Commerce Science Management Computer applications
CLAT	Law at the National Law Universities	Consortium of National Law Universities	Once a year, usually on a Sunday in early December	Law
AILET	Law at NLU Delhi	National Law University Delhi	Once a year, in December	Law
UCEED	B.Des at the IITs	IIT Bombay	Once a year, in January	Design
NID DAT	B.Des and M.Des at NID	National Institute of Design (NID)	Prelims in December or January, with Mains a few months later	Design
NATA	B.Arch at most architecture colleges	Council of Architecture (CoA)	Several attempts a year, between spring and early summer	Architecture

After graduation

Exam	For	Conducted by	Usually held	Streams
CUET-PG	PG at central and participating universities	National Testing Agency (NTA)	Once a year, usually in March	Arts Commerce Science Computer applications
CAT	MBA at the IIMs and other leading B-schools	One of the IIMs each year, on rotation	Once a year, on a Sunday in late November	Management
XAT	PGDM at XLRI and other B-schools	XLRI Jamshedpur, for the Xavier Association of Management Institutes	Once a year, in the first week of January	Management
MAT	MBA and PGDM at many private B-schools	All India Management Association (AIMA)	Several times a year	Management
GATE	M.Tech, PhD and public-sector jobs	IISc Bengaluru and seven IITs, with one of them organising it each year	Once a year, over weekends in February	Engineering Architecture Science

College and university entrance tests

Tests that a college or university runs for its own admissions. Each one appears on its college's page too.

Test	College	For	Level
BITSAT	BITS Pilani	B.E., B.Pharm and integrated M.Sc at BITS Pilani and its campuses	Undergraduate
VITEEE	VIT Vellore	B.Tech at VIT	Undergraduate
SRMJEEE	SRM IST	B.Tech at SRM Institute of Science and Technology	Undergraduate
MET	MAHE Manipal	B.Tech and most programmes at Manipal Academy of Higher Education	Undergraduate and postgraduate
KIITEE	KIIT	B.Tech and most programmes at KIIT	Undergraduate and postgraduate
NPAT	NMIMS Mumbai	Undergraduate programmes at NMIMS	Undergraduate
SNAP	SIBM Pune	MBA at Symbiosis institutes, including SIBM Pune	Postgraduate
SLAT	SLS Pune	Five-year law programmes at Symbiosis law schools	Undergraduate
IPMAT Indore	IIM Indore	The five-year Integrated Programme in Management at IIM Indore	Undergraduate
LPUNEST	LPU	Admission and scholarships at Lovely Professional University	Undergraduate and postgraduate
CUCET	Chandigarh University	Admission and scholarships at Chandigarh University	Undergraduate and postgraduate
IPU CET	IP University (GGSIPU)	GGSIPU programmes that don't use a national exam	Undergraduate and postgraduate
NIFT entrance exam	NIFT Delhi	Design, fashion technology and management programmes at NIFT	Undergraduate and postgraduate
Christ University entrance test	Christ University	Most programmes at Christ University	Undergraduate and postgraduate
AMU entrance test	AMU	Most programmes at Aligarh Muslim University	Undergraduate and postgraduate
Jamia entrance test	Jamia Millia Islamia	Programmes at Jamia Millia Islamia that use Jamia's own test	Undergraduate and postgraduate
KEE	KIET Ghaziabad	B.Tech at KIET Deemed to be University	Undergraduate

Last reviewed October 2026. Admission rules, dates and eligibility change every year, so confirm them on the official website before you apply. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.