Previous year question papers
One of the most-asked questions for any of KEA's three exams is "where do I get last year's paper?" Here's a straight answer for KCET, PGCET and DCET, plus what to actually do with a previous paper once you have it.
Why this page links out instead of hosting papers directly: Karnataka government exam content, including question papers, is copyrighted. KEA's own content reuse policy requires prior written permission from the Centre for e-Governance before republishing it elsewhere, while direct linking to the official source is explicitly permitted without permission. So this page points you straight to KEA's own archive rather than rehosting scanned or retyped copies — which also means you're always looking at the genuine, unaltered paper rather than a third-party transcription that might contain errors.
Where to download the official papers
| Exam | Where papers are published |
|---|---|
| KCET | Provisional answer key releases on the official KEA portal include the question paper and your individual OMR response sheet, published by subject and version code. See the KCET answer key page for how that release cycle works. |
| PGCET | Published the same way on the official PGCET portal, separately for MBA, MCA and M.Tech/M.E./M.Arch streams. See the PGCET answer key page. |
| DCET | Published alongside the provisional and revised answer keys on the official KEA portal. See the DCET answer key page. |
KEA typically keeps a rolling archive rather than every past year indefinitely, so older papers can be harder to find than the most recent one or two cycles. If a specific past year's paper isn't on the current portal, KEA's helpdesk (see the contact page for how KEA can be reached) is the right place to ask, rather than a third-party site of unknown accuracy.
What each exam's paper covers (so you know what you're looking at)
- KCET: four separate 60-question subject papers (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology), plus the Kannada language test for Horanadu/Gadinadu candidates. Full structure on the KCET exam pattern page.
- PGCET: one 100-question paper per stream (MBA / MCA / M.Tech-M.E.-M.Arch), each with different subject content. Full structure on the PGCET exam pattern page.
- DCET: one common 100-question paper covering Engineering Mathematics, Basic Sciences, IT skills, Electrical/Electronics fundamentals, and Engineering/Project Management, the same regardless of diploma branch. Full structure on the DCET exam pattern page.
How to actually use a previous paper
- Time yourself against the real duration for that exam (80 minutes per KCET subject paper, 120 minutes for PGCET, 3 hours for DCET) rather than doing questions casually.
- Mark against the official answer key, not a third-party solution set, since KEA's own accepted-objection corrections only show up in the official final/revised key.
- Track which topics you consistently miss rather than just your overall score — a single mock score tells you less than a pattern across two or three years' papers.
- Compare years to spot pattern drift: question difficulty and topic emphasis can shift slightly year to year even when the syllabus doesn't change.
Interactive Practice Tools Available
Ready to test your speed and accuracy? Take official timed question sets in our Timed PYQ Mock Arena, or inspect historical 5-year question frequency across 119 syllabus topics in our KCET Chapter Weightage & Blueprint.