How to apply for KCET
Last checked against the official KEA site: September 2026
KCET registration is entirely online, through the KEA portal at cetonline.karnataka.gov.in/kea. The broad steps stay the same every year:
- Register on the official KEA/CET portal with a valid mobile number and email address.
- Fill in personal, academic and category details, including your SATS student ID (for Karnataka board), PUC/Class 12 board, subject combination, and candidature category (Karnataka Clause A to O / Kalyana Karnataka Article 371-J / Horanadu / Gadinadu).
- Enter Revenue Department (RD) numbers: KEA directly fetches and validates Caste, Income, and Article 371(J) certificates from the Karnataka Revenue Department database via 15-digit RD numbers (no document scanning needed for valid RD certificates). Upload photograph and signature per specifications.
- Pay the application fee online, based on your category (see the table below).
- Choose exam centre preferences where the form allows it.
- Review and submit, then download/print the confirmation for your records.
Application fee (2026 cycle)
| Candidate category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Karnataka: General Merit / OBC | ₹500 |
| Karnataka: SC / ST / Category-1, and Karnataka-resident female candidates | ₹250 |
| Outside Karnataka (India) | ₹750 |
| Outside India | ₹5,000 |
Fee amounts are set fresh each cycle and can change; the figures above are what the 2026 notification specified. In 2026, the payment deadline was also extended past the original registration close date, so watch for a similar extension notice rather than assuming the first deadline is final.
Documents commonly required
- Recent passport-size photograph and signature (per the portal's file-format rules)
- Marks card / admit card of the qualifying (2nd PUC or equivalent) exam, once available
- Caste/category certificate, for candidates applying under a reserved category
- Income certificate, where required for category or fee concessions
- Domicile or study certificates, to establish Karnataka candidature
- Rural/Kannada-medium study certificates, if claiming a related reservation
Certificate validity isn't the same for both: a caste certificate doesn't expire — it's valid until formally cancelled. An income certificate is only valid for 5 years from its issue date, and an expired one is generally not accepted at document verification. If yours is close to or past that mark, renew it before applying rather than after — a fresh income certificate can take a few weeks to arrive.
Made a mistake after submitting? The correction window
KEA opens a one-time application correction window after the main registration period closes — in the 2026 cycle this ran February 24 to March 30. Only candidates who already submitted their form and paid the fee can access it, via the same candidate login (application number + DOB/password) on the official portal.
Editable fields typically include: name, date of birth, address details, educational qualification details, academic details, and reservation/category details.
This window is one-time only and closes for good once the deadline passes — no further corrections are allowed after that, including after the exam. Don't sit on an error hoping for another chance; fix it the moment you spot it, within the window.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Selecting the wrong candidature category. This affects both eligibility and fees, and corrections after submission can be limited or unavailable.
- Mismatched name/date-of-birth spelling between the application and your PUC marks card.
- Missing the fee-payment step after filling the form; an unpaid application is usually treated as incomplete.
- Waiting until the last day, when KEA's servers tend to slow down in most years.