Banaras Hindu University Undergraduate Entrance Test(BHU UET)

About the exam

About BHU UET

BHU UET, the Banaras Hindu University Undergraduate Entrance Test, was the set of course-wise papers BHU used to fill its bachelor's seats, and it is no longer held. Its 2021 edition was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on BHU's behalf. From the 2022-23 academic session, undergraduate admission to central universities moved to the Common University Entrance Test, CUET (UG), and BHU's 2026 undergraduate bulletin bases admission on CUET (UG) 2026 scores.

For the 2021 cycle, the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin records that BHU had entrusted NTA with conducting UET 2021, and that NTA's role was confined to registration, conducting the exam, answer keys, processing results and "handing over the results to BHU". NTA put the number of UET test papers at 23 in its NTA public notice on the BHU Entrance Test 2021, dated 14.08.2021.

The Ministry of Education FAQ on CUET (UG), April 2022 states that CUET was being introduced "for admission into all UG Programmes in all Central Universities for academic session 2022-23". BHU's row in the Tentative Timeline of Admission in UG Programmes on the basis of CUET-2022 in Central Universities (UGC) gives the criteria for its 2022 merit list as the "Normalized subject score provided by NTA" and the eligibility criteria of the "BHU UET information bulletin 2022". The UET name stayed on BHU's bulletin that year while the scores came from CUET.

For 2026, the BHU Undergraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026 says admissions to all undergraduate programmes at BHU and its colleges "will be determined by scores obtained in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) 2026", with seats allocated through BHU's Combined Allotment Program, CAP-UG 2026.

At a glance

BHU UET highlights

Calendar

Important dates

The calendar below is the 2021 cycle as NTA's public notices announced it, and it shows how often NTA moved the test days once the papers were scheduled.

For the 2026 cycle, BHU opened registration for undergraduate admission on July 09, 2026 to candidates who had appeared in CUET (UG) 2026, and kept the window open until July 25, 2026, per its BHU notice on Registration for Undergraduate Admissions 2026.

BHU's own practical tests for the Bachelor of Fine Arts and the Bachelor of Performing Arts were scheduled for 09 August 2026 and 08 to 11 August 2026 respectively, according to the BHU Central Admission Committee public notice on the BFA / BPA practical test.

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

Eligibility for BHU UET 2021 was set programme by programme, and the minimums in the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin fell into these groups:

• Bachelor's programmes entered from Class 12. B.A. (Hons.) Arts, B.A. (Hons.) Social Sciences and the Bachelor of Fine Arts asked for 10+2 or equivalent with at least 50% aggregate marks and an age of not more than 22 years on 1st July 2021, per the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin. B.Com. (Hons.) and B.Sc. (Hons.) kept the 50% bar and the age limit but tied them to subject conditions; for B.Sc. (Hons.), the 50% applied to the aggregate of the three qualifying subjects, Physics and Maths plus one more for the Maths group, and Physics and Chemistry plus one more for the Bio group.
• B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture. 10+2 in Agriculture, or in Science with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics or Biology, with at least 50% aggregate, and an age of not less than 16 and not more than 25 years on 1st July 2021.
• B.Tech. in Food Technology and in Dairy Technology. 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, or with Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology, along with English, at least 50% aggregate, and an age of not less than 17 and not more than 23 years on 1st July 2021.
• Shastri (Hons.). The Madhyama examination of BHU, or Madhyama, Uttar Madhyama, Upa Shastri, Intermediate or 10+2, with at least 50% aggregate and a pass in Sanskrit. BHU's one-year certificate course in Sanskrit, taken after 10+2, was a further route when both carried 50%.
• Bachelor of Performing Arts. 10+2 or a graduate or postgraduate degree with vocal music, instrumental music or dance as a subject; or BHU's 3-Year Diploma in the discipline or an equivalent; or one of the listed diplomas, such as the Senior Diploma of the Prayag Sangeet Samiti. Candidates needed at least 50% in the music or dance practical, with only pass marks required of SC and ST candidates.
• B.A. LL.B. (Hons.). 10+2 or equivalent with at least 50% for General candidates, 45% for OBC candidates and 40% for SC and ST candidates. As for the three-year LL.B., a 10+2 obtained straight through the open university system, with no prior basic qualification, was not accepted.
• Bachelor of Vocation programmes. 10+2 or equivalent in any stream, or a level 4 NSQF certificate, with at least 50% aggregate; the Food Processing and Management and the Medical Lab. Technology programmes asked for the science stream.
• Programmes that needed a degree. UET 2021 also covered B.Ed., which asked for at least 50% in a bachelor's and/or master's degree in Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities or Commerce (or 55% in an engineering or technology degree specialising in Science and Mathematics) plus a school subject studied as a main subject; the three-year LL.B., which asked for a B.A., B.Sc., B.Com. or Shastri under at least the 10+2+3 pattern with 50% aggregate; and B.P.Ed., which combined a bachelor's degree with a physical education subject, sports participation or a sports position, or teaching experience for deputed in-service teachers, with an age limit of 25 years on 1st July 2021.

For reserved categories, SC and ST candidates needed no minimum percentage except for LL.B. and B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), where 40% applied; OBC and PwD candidates received a relaxation of 5% marks; and the upper age limit was relaxed by 5 years for SC, ST and PwD candidates and by 3 years for OBC candidates. Final-year students could sit the test and take conditional admission, provided they produced the qualifying mark sheet by 31st December, 2021, as the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin set out.

The eligibility record printed below describes the CUET (UG) route, not UET. The BHU Undergraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026 adds that undergraduate applicants must be Indian citizens, and that foreign nationals are exempt from CUET (UG) 2026 and register through the Foreign Students' Registry.

Step by step

Application process and fee

Applications for BHU UET 2021 went through NTA's online form only, in four steps: registering with the candidate's own email ID and mobile number, completing the form, uploading a photograph and signature, and paying the fee by net banking, debit card, credit card, UPI or wallet, according to the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin. A candidate who wanted more than one programme applied separately for each, even when programmes shared a common test, and paid a reduced fee for every application after the first.

Bank or payment gateway service charges came on top of these amounts, and the bulletin said no request for a refund of a fee once paid would be entertained.

Under the CUET (UG) route, BHU's fee is a separate registration charge. A CUET (UG) 2026 candidate who wanted a BHU seat registered separately with BHU, and the BHU CAP (UG)-2026 document set a one-time, non-refundable registration fee of Rs 500 for UR, OBC-NCL and EWS candidates and Rs 250 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates. Registration required the candidate's CUET (UG) 2026 application number and roll number.

Before the exam

Admit card and exam day

NTA issued BHU UET 2021 admit cards provisionally and for download only: none went by post, and no duplicate was issued at a centre, as the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin stated. Candidates who sat both a computer-based and an OMR-based paper received two roll numbers on the same admit card and wrote the OMR roll number on the OMR sheet, per the NTA notice clarifying BHU Entrance Test 2021 test paper codes.

The 2021 test ran under a COVID-19 advisory. The BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin told candidates to carry only the admit card with its self-declaration, a transparent ball point pen, an extra photograph, a personal hand sanitizer of 50 ml, a transparent water bottle and an ID proof, with sugar tablets or fruit allowed for diabetic candidates. Late entry was not permitted.

For the 2026 BFA and BPA practical tests, the BHU Central Admission Committee public notice on the BFA / BPA practical test told candidates to download admit cards from the admission portal, with the date, time and venue printed on the card.

Structure

Exam pattern

Each BHU UET 2021 programme had its own test unless the bulletin grouped it under a common test, as it did for B.A. (Hons.) Arts and B.A. (Hons.) Social Sciences; every question was multiple choice, and the medium was English and Hindi, with the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) paper in English only. The BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin gave four marks for a correct answer and deducted one mark for a wrong one, gave nothing for an unanswered question, and awarded full marks to all candidates for a question dropped because of a technical error. The mode was computer-based, with hybrid (tablet) or pen-and-paper papers used where needed.

The BFA, BPA and B.P.Ed. programmes added a second component for shortlisted candidates, held at BHU's Varanasi campus only. The BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin set a practical test of 400 marks for BFA and of 600 marks for BPA, with BPA merit calculated at 40% theory and 60% practical, and called four times the intake in each category to both practicals. B.P.Ed. candidates took a Physical Fitness Test of 400 marks, six times the intake were called to it, and bonus marks for sports achievement counted towards merit.

For 2026, the written test was CUET (UG), with each BHU programme mapped to named CUET papers. The BHU Central Admission Committee notice for Undergraduate Registration 2026 puts B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), whose UET paper had been English-only, on English (101) or Hindi (102) plus the General Aptitude Test (501), and its section on programmes requiring practical tests names BPA, on Performing Arts (320), and BFA, on Fine Arts / Visual Arts (312), noting that "Final admission merit has both CUET (UG) + Practical Examination conducted in BHU."

What to study

Syllabus

The 2021 UET bulletin carried no separate syllabus: each paper's content sat inside its description of that test's structure. In the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin, the B.A. (Hons.) common test split its 120 questions into general knowledge and current affairs (60), general mental ability or reasoning (15), numerical ability (15) and language comprehension (30), with the comprehension offered as a Hindi set or an English set and the standard set at +2 examinations or equivalent.

Other papers were narrower. The BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin gave the BPA written paper a common Section A of 40 questions and a subject-specific Section B of 60, based on the 3-Year Diploma Course of Vocal, Instrumental and Dance of BHU or an equivalent examination. Shastri tested Hindi and Sanskrit at Madhyama or 10+2 standard, and the BFA theory paper covered general awareness in visual arts: painting, sculpture, commercial or applied art, pottery, ceramics and textiles.

The syllabus record printed below applies to CUET (UG). The BHU Undergraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026 points candidates to NTA's participating-universities page for syllabus details.

How to prepare

Preparation and books

The BHU UET 2021 bulletin named no books. Its caution notice advised candidates "not to be allured by various claims of any party or person or institute for qualifying BHU-UET 2021 securing seat", and it pointed candidates to NTA's free Test Practice Centres, which it said were meant to help candidates, especially in remote and rural areas, become comfortable with a computer-based test, according to the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin. Each paper was also covered by a non-disclosure agreement that barred candidates from disclosing its questions.

By 2026 there was no UET paper to prepare for. BHU's Central Admission Committee notice for Undergraduate Registration 2026 tied most bachelor's programmes to named CUET (UG) papers and added, for BPA and BFA, a practical examination conducted in BHU.

Where it is held

Exam centres

Only the written papers of BHU UET 2021 went out to exam cities. The practical tests for BPA and BFA and the Physical Fitness Test for B.P.Ed. were held only at the BHU campus in Varanasi, and the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin told shortlisted candidates to come prepared to stay for at least 2 to 3 days. For the written papers, candidates picked four cities from the bulletin's list when applying; the bulletin warned that logistic and administrative reasons could put a candidate in a nearby city instead, and ruled out any change of city once the correction window had closed.

BHU's 2026 undergraduate bulletin kept the BPA and BFA practical examination at BHU, describing it in the BHU Undergraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026 as "conducted in BHU", while NTA conducted the CUET (UG) test itself.

After the exam

Answer key

One NTA notice opened the key challenge for UET and PET together, and because some UET papers were answered on OMR sheets, it let those candidates challenge the OMR response recorded for them as well as the key. The NTA answer key notice dated 03.11.2021 put question papers, recorded responses and provisional keys up at the same time, charged Rs 200 for each challenged question as a non-refundable processing fee, closed challenges at 07:00 pm on 05 November 2021, and accepted payment until 11:50 pm that day.

A panel of subject experts reviewed the challenges, no candidate was told individually whether a challenge had been accepted, and the result was prepared on the revised final key, as the same NTA answer key notice dated 03.11.2021 explained. In NTA's final answer keys for the BHU Entrance Test 2021, an asterisk against a question meant it had been dropped.

Scores

Result and scorecard

UET scores came out on a notice of their own, separate from PET. The NTA score declaration for BHU-UET 2021, dated 22.11.2021, put the undergraduate score cards up for download against application number and date of birth, and none were sent by post. Merely appearing in the test gave no right to admission, and there was no re-evaluation or re-checking of the result, as the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin stated.

Where a paper ran in more than one shift, the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin converted raw marks to an NTA percentile score. If the percentile matching a qualifying mark differed between shifts, the lowest applied to every shift: in the bulletin's own example, where 40% marks corresponded to a percentile of 78 in Shift 1 and 79 in Shift 2, candidates at or above the 78th percentile in both shifts became eligible in the General category. The bulletin also said the record of BHU-UET 2021 would be preserved for up to 90 days from the date of declaration of result.

Scores you need

Cutoff

BHU UET 2021 used qualifying floors, not a fixed published cutoff. For papers assessed by the CBT alone, the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin required General and OBC candidates to score at least 35% of the marks obtained by the topper of their category in that test, and SC and ST candidates at least 25%. BFA, BPA and B.P.Ed. set 35% in the theory paper and 45% in the practical or Physical Fitness Test, and the university reserved the right to change those marks.

For BPA, the bulletin gives two theory thresholds. Its paper description makes 40% in each of Section A and Section B mandatory for shortlisting to the practical test, while its merit rules give 35% as the minimum qualifying marks for the BPA theory paper; the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin prints both without saying how they fit together.

For the 2026 CUET (UG) cycle, BHU's UG Admissions 2026 cutoff page lists undergraduate cutoffs round by round, and its BHU UG spot round notice for 2026 warned that the spot round cutoff "will be incomparable from the regular rounds".

Getting a seat

Counselling and seat allotment

After NTA declared the 2021 results, admission to each programme was handled by BHU's departmental admission committees, which issued electronic call letters to "nearly two-four times the number of seats available in the course", as the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin put it. Counselling was computerised. A called candidate ranked honours subject, programme, location and seat type (regular fee or paid seat) in an online preference form, confirmed it with original documents on the counselling day, and collected a provisional admission letter at 10:00 am the next day, with the fee ordinarily due by 4:00 pm on the day after counselling. Seats were rearranged by computer after each counselling day, so a candidate could move up their own preference list.

By 2026 that departmental counselling had given way to one online allotment, set out in the BHU CAP (UG)-2026 document. Under it, BHU calculates programme-specific merit from each candidate's CUET (UG) 2026 scores and allots seats for all undergraduate programmes solely on them, except for practical-based courses and the sports quota, where CUET (UG) 2026 is combined with the practical or sports proficiency test. Its spot round carries a non-refundable fee of Rs 1,000 and is not held for courses with practical or physical fitness components. After paying for an allotted seat, a candidate could choose either FREEZE or UPGRADE, per the BHU UG Round 1 allotment notice for 2026.

Where it is accepted

Participating institutes

The 2021 test filled undergraduate seats in BHU's faculties on the main campus, at Mahila Mahavidyalaya for women, at Rajiv Gandhi South Campus in Barkachha, Mirzapur, and at the Varanasi colleges admitted to the privileges of the university: Arya Mahila Post Graduate College, Chetganj; Vasant Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Kamachha; Vasanta College for Women, Rajghat; and DAV Post Graduate College, Ausanganj, as listed in the BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin. The same bulletin listed B.V.Sc. & A.H. but said its 2021-22 seats would be filled from the Veterinary Council of India's qualified merit list, which the council would draw from NEET-UG 2021.

The BHU Undergraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026 lists the same main campus, Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus and colleges. The UET 2021 programmes that needed a degree appear elsewhere in 2026: B.Ed., B.P.Ed. and LL.B. are in the BHU Postgraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026, which bases admission on CUET (PG) 2026 scores except for programmes requiring GD-PI or physical tests.

Not every BHU bachelor's programme ran on CUET (UG) in 2026. The BHU Undergraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026 states that admission to all undergraduate programmes will be determined by CUET-UG 2026 scores, yet its own Faculty of Education entry lists the four-year B.A. B.Ed. as admitted through NCET conducted by NTA, and BHU's registration notice for GAT-B, M.Sc. Life Sciences and B.A. B.Ed. admissions 2026 names NCET-2026 among the NTA tests whose candidates could register. The BHU B.V.Sc. & A.H. Information Bulletin 2026 admits to that course through NEET-2026 scores.

Get help

Contact

Queries about BHU UET 2021 went to NTA. The BHU Entrance Test 2021 (UET) Information Bulletin directed candidates to NTA's online Query Redressal System and to bhu@nta.ac.in, and the NTA answer key notice dated 03.11.2021 gave the NTA Help Desk number 011 40759000 for that test.

For BHU's 2026 undergraduate admission, the Central Admission Committee's notice on Registration for Undergraduate Admissions 2026 gives the email address admission.help@bhu.ac.in, and the BHU Undergraduate Admission Information Bulletin 2026 lists int.collaboration@bhu.ac.in for foreign students seeking admission.

Source

Official links

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Disclaimer

Disclaimer

BHU UET is no longer conducted. This page is kept as a record of a former exam and is written in the past tense; it is not a guide to a live admission route. Expertie does not conduct any exam, process applications or charge fees.

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