CUET UG 2027
CUET UG 2027: Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Subjects and Practice
CUET UG (Common University Entrance Test, Undergraduate) is the entrance test the National Testing Agency (NTA) runs for undergraduate admission to the central universities and to the state and other universities that take part. You choose up to 5 of its 37 papers, and each university decides which papers a programme needs. This page covers the exam pattern, every paper’s official syllabus, how to pick your five, and how to prepare from NCERT.
2027 status: NTA has not released the CUET UG 2027 syllabus or dates. Each subject page shows the official CUET UG 2026 syllabus, the latest one, and we will update these pages when NTA publishes the 2027 version. Dates below are expected, not announced.
CUET UG exam pattern
- Papers offered
- 37: 13 languages, 23 domain subjects and the General Aptitude Test
- Your choice
- Up to 5 papers, languages and GAT included, chosen irrespective of your class 12 subjects
- Questions
- 50 multiple-choice questions per paper, all compulsory
- Time
- 60 minutes per paper (PwBD candidates get 20 extra minutes per hour)
- Marking
- +5 for a correct answer, minus 1 for a wrong answer, so 250 is the maximum per paper
- Mode
- Computer Based Test (CBT) only
- Medium
- 13 languages; each question paper shows English plus the medium you chose, and English prevails if they differ
- Shifts
- Multiple shifts; scores of multi-shift papers are normalised (percentile and equi-percentile method)
Source: NTA CUET UG 2026 information bulletin. No change for 2027 has been announced.
CUET UG 2027 dates (tentative)
- Syllabus
- CUET UG 2026 syllabus is the latest official one. The 2026 PDFs went up in December 2025, so the 2027 syllabus is likely close to the next bulletin.
- Applications
- Expected January 2027 (tentative). The 2026 window was 3 to 30 January 2026.
- Exam
- Expected May 2027 (tentative). CUET UG 2026 began on 11 May 2026, inside a notified window of 11 to 31 May.
- Results
- Not announced. NTA publishes provisional answer keys, takes challenges, then declares scores.
All 37 CUET UG papers
Tap a paper for its official syllabus unit by unit, the NCERT chapter each unit comes from, what changed from 2025 to 2026, and practice.
Domain subjects (23)
Science
Commerce
Humanities and arts
General Aptitude Test (1)
Languages (13)
Every language paper tests reading comprehension (factual, literary and narrative passages), literary aptitude and vocabulary. English links to our syllabus page; the other twelve open NTA’s official 2026 syllabus PDF.
How to choose your 5 CUET subjects
Start from the programmes you want. Make a list of the courses and universities you would accept, open each programme’s eligibility rules, and write down the CUET papers each one names. The papers that repeat across your list are your core.
Then fill the remaining slots in this order: a language if your programmes need one (most students take English), the domain subjects you studied in class 12, and GAT only when a programme on your list asks for it. A subject you never studied costs you the most preparation time for the least certain return, even though the bulletin allows it.
Typical combinations by stream, as a starting point to check against your programme rules:
Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, plus Computer Science or GAT
Pick the fifth paper only if a programme on your list asks for it.
Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, plus GAT or a fourth domain subject
Check whether the programmes you want ask for Physics, Chemistry and Biology together.
Accountancy, Business Studies, Economics, English, plus Mathematics / Applied Mathematics or GAT
Some programmes require Mathematics, so read the eligibility line before dropping it.
English plus three or four of History, Political Science, Geography, Sociology, Psychology and Economics
Choose the subjects you studied in class 12. Each one maps to the NCERT books you already have.
How to prepare for CUET UG 2027
NCERT class 12 is the base. For Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, History, Political Science, Geography, Sociology, Psychology, Accountancy and Business Studies, the 2026 syllabus follows the NCERT chapters closely. Each subject page maps every unit to its chapter, so you can see exactly which pages of the book you need.
Board exams and CUET overlap. CUET usually starts in May, right after class 12 boards. The same chapters serve both, so study each chapter once for the board answer and then practise it as multiple-choice questions.
Read the syllabus against the book. Some papers go beyond NCERT. Business Studies has a Financial Markets unit that the current NCERT book dropped, and Economics now includes the class 11 book Indian Economic Development. The subject pages flag these gaps.
Practise at exam speed. 50 questions in 60 minutes is 72 seconds a question. With +5 and minus 1, a pure guess among four options gains 0.5 marks on average; if you can rule out two options, a guess gains 2 marks on average. Leave a question blank only when you cannot eliminate anything.
Keep language and GAT practice small and daily. Reading comprehension, vocabulary and arithmetic speed improve with short regular sets more than with one long weekend session.
Practise CUET chapter by chapter
The ChapterNotes Study OS has a CUET track built on these syllabi. Pick your papers, then revise each chapter and test it with exam-style questions, with an explanation after every answer.
Frequently asked questions
Has NTA released the CUET UG 2027 syllabus?
Not yet. NTA has not published the 2027 syllabus or the 2027 information bulletin. Every subject page linked here shows the official CUET UG 2026 syllabus, which is the latest one, and will be updated when NTA publishes the 2027 version. The 2026 syllabus PDFs went up in December 2025, ahead of the January application window.
When will CUET UG 2027 be held?
NTA has not announced dates. Going by the last cycle, applications are expected in January 2027 and the exam in May 2027. For reference, CUET UG 2026 applications ran from 3 to 30 January 2026 and the exam began on 11 May 2026. Treat every 2027 date as tentative until the bulletin is out.
How many subjects can I choose in CUET UG?
Up to five papers in total, counting languages and the General Aptitude Test. The fee depends on how many you choose. In 2026 a general category candidate paid Rs 1,000 for up to three subjects and Rs 400 for each additional subject.
Can I take a CUET subject I did not study in class 12?
The 2026 bulletin allows candidates to choose papers irrespective of the subjects they took in class 12. Admission is a separate question: each university sets programme eligibility, and some programmes require that you studied the subject in class 12. Check the programme rules before you pick.
Is there negative marking in CUET UG?
Yes. A correct answer earns 5 marks and a wrong answer costs 1 mark. Each paper has 50 compulsory questions, so the maximum is 250 per paper.
Is the CUET UG syllabus based on NCERT?
For domain subjects the bulletin says the syllabus is as per NCERT. Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, History, Political Science, Geography, Economics, Accountancy, Business Studies and most other papers follow NCERT books chapter by chapter. A few papers such as Agriculture, Environmental Science, Anthropology, Mass Media and Performing Arts have no NCERT class 12 textbook; their pages list the closest official study material.
How are CUET scores compared across shifts?
Papers held in more than one shift are normalised. The 2026 bulletin describes a percentile and equi-percentile method that converts raw marks from different shifts onto one scale for each subject.
In which languages can I write CUET UG?
The exam is offered in 13 mediums: English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The question paper shows English plus the medium you chose, and the English version prevails if the two differ.