Manipal Entrance Test(MET)

About the exam

About MET

The MET exam is Manipal Academy of Higher Education's own admission test, and in 2026 it ran in two phases with a paid second sitting open to early applicants. Its B.Tech rank fed one online counselling across 5 institutions, including Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University Jaipur and MAHE's Dubai campus. The same name also covers pharmacy, nursing, allied health and several master's papers of different lengths, while Manipal's MBBS, BDS and B.Arch seats run through NEET and NATA instead.

The Manipal Entrance Test (MET) is conducted by Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), and it is only one of the routes into a MAHE programme. The MAHE Entrance Test 2026 page sorts admissions into MET alone, a Department Test conducted by the institute, MET followed by a Department Test, and national entrance tests.

The B.Tech paper reaches beyond MAHE itself. MAHE's MET 2026 Syllabus page describes MET 2026 as a common entrance test for B.Tech at Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) Manipal, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMU Sikkim), Manipal University Jaipur and MIT Bengaluru, followed by an online B.Tech common counselling for MET rank holders only.

A similar name can mislead here. The Sikkim Manipal University SMIT page calls SMIT a constituent college of Sikkim Manipal University, and the SMIT admissions important dates page, on the admissions site that page links, schedules a separately named Sikkim Manipal Entrance Test (SMET) with its own 2026 phases, result dates and B.Tech branch allotment, plus a separate SMIT B.Tech online counselling for JEE candidates. SMET is not MET: a MET rank counts at SMIT through MAHE's B.Tech common counselling, and an SMET applicant follows SMIT's own calendar.

MAHE also publishes a PhD MET syllabus for doctoral admission, built on research aptitude, numerical aptitude and reasoning, data interpretation and English rather than school subjects.

At a glance

MET highlights

Calendar

Important dates

Every date below belongs to the MET 2026 cycle. Version 9 of MAHE's MET and Counseling Schedule 2026, marked "Updated 27.04.2026", set out the two phases for all UG and PG programmes other than B.Des and BFA, with most Phase 1 steps marked tentative.

MAHE's MET 2026 Schedule page closes Phase 1 application submission with the fee on 15 March 2026, with any extension to be posted under manipal.edu/datestoremember, while version 9 of the schedule PDF prints 23 March 2026, 11:00 PM for the same step.

For Phase 2 the PDF labels 30 April 2026 only as a "Timeline", and MAHE's Dates to Remember 2026 page lists April 30 as the last date of application for the B.Tech programmes at MIT Manipal and MIT Bengaluru.

The B.Des and BFA papers at Srishti Manipal Institute (SMI) ran on their own track: the schedule put them on 14 April 2026 in Shift 2 and 24 May 2026 in Slot 2, with no second attempt.

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

MET eligibility is set programme by programme, in MAHE's 2026 Eligibility & Admission Process documents rather than in one MET notice. For B.Tech through MET at MIT Manipal and MIT Bengaluru, the MAHE Eligibility & Admission Process 2026 for undergraduate programmes accepts these qualifications:

• Indian boards: a pass in 10+2 or equivalent with Physics, Mathematics and English compulsory, plus Chemistry, Biotechnology, Biology or a technical vocational subject as the optional, with a minimum 50% aggregate across Physics, Mathematics and any one optional subject. A technical vocational subject must relate to the Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical or Mechanical streams.
• 'A' Levels: Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry, Biotechnology, Biology, Computer Science or a technical vocational subject at 'A' Level; English at 'AS' level or a minimum 5 passes at IGCSE, GCSE or GCE 'O' Level including English; and an average of 'D' grade in Physics, Mathematics and any one optional subject.
• International Baccalaureate: English, Physics, Mathematics and an optional subject, preferably Mathematics and Physics at Higher Level, with an IB Diploma or Certificate averaging a minimum 4 points in Physics, Mathematics and the optional subject and an overall minimum of 24 points, 3 or more points in every subject, a minimum 3 subjects at Higher Level and 3 at Standard Level, and at least two science subjects at Higher Level.

The Online BTech Common Counseling 2026 information brochure, published through the MAHE Online Counseling 2026 portal, also names the American High School Diploma, requires a MET 2026 rank, and applies the 50% floor for all 5 participating institutions, with at least the board's pass marks in each of those subjects.

MIT Manipal and MIT Bengaluru also admit to B.Tech without MET: the JEE Mains rank counselling brochure says 20% of B.Tech General Category seats are earmarked for JEE Mains 2026 rank, and the undergraduate eligibility document sets stricter school-mark conditions and a JEE Mains percentile floor for that route. The same eligibility document gives the two MIT campuses a separate Foreign / NRI category process with no MET step in it: an online application, eligibility documents and a provisional admission offer.

For the postgraduate engineering paper, the MTech / ME Counseling 2026 information brochure asks for a BE or B.Tech in a relevant branch with a minimum 50% aggregate for M.Tech, and a BE or B.Tech in an Electrical or Circuit stream or a Computer Science stream with a minimum of 60% for M.E.

Step by step

Application process and fee

Candidates apply on apply.manipal.edu, and the application form is the one place a candidate names test cities. The MET and Counseling Schedule 2026 asked every applicant to select 3 tentative test centre cities in order of preference. MAHE would make all efforts to allot the first but could allot the second, the third or another city, and slot booking later offered no choice of city.

The same schedule capped how many programmes one candidate could chase. Phase 1 ran 2 slots per day over 2 days, so an undergraduate applicant could apply for a maximum of 4 programmes and a postgraduate applicant a maximum of 2, depending on the schedule; Phase 2 allowed a maximum of 2 programmes.

The MET 2026 syllabus PDFs for B.Sc. Nursing, B.Pharm and Pharm.D and the UG allied health programmes each state that the MET 2026 test fee of Rs 1,200 is collected by default along with the application fee at the time of online application. The B.Tech syllabus PDF does not carry that line.

Neither the schedule nor the syllabus PDFs state the application fee as a separate figure. The one application amount in the schedule is a warning: a Phase 1 applicant who wants a second attempt must not submit a fresh application for the programme paying Rs 2,000, because such applications are rejected and the fee paid is non-refundable.

The second attempt itself cost an additional Rs 1,200 under the schedule, paid online against the same application number by 25 April 2026, 11:00 PM. MAHE's MET 2nd attempt payment instructions show the payment being made through the "MET 2nd attempt Fee Payment" button under "My Application" on apply.manipal.edu, after which the application status reads "MET 2nd attempt Fee Paid".

Before the exam

Admit card and exam day

MET slots are booked by the candidate. The MET 2026 Online Test Booking System instructions have candidates log in with the MAHE application number and a password that starts as the date of birth in DDMMYYYY format, change that password at first login, then pick a date and slot from the seats shown as available.

Booking is first come, first served, and a booked slot cannot be changed. The MET 2026 OTBS & Instructions page says a candidate without a test slot booking is not eligible to appear, yet the schedule also lists "Phase 1 Slot Auto Booked" as a booking status for applicants who met the first-attempt deadline.

The hall ticket carries the examination centre address, according to the OTBS instructions. For Phase 2 those instructions, updated on 07 May 2026, say the download is enabled on 20 May 2026 at 11:00 PM, while the schedule gives 20 May 2026, 11:00 AM to 22 May 2026.

MET 2026 centres expected 1 hard copy of the e-hall ticket at reporting time, per the schedule. With it went a single photo ID, and the schedule's list stretched from Aadhaar, PAN and an EC voter ID card to a passport, a driving licence or a school or college photo-bearing ID card. The registration process also captured each candidate's photo and thumb impression.

Version 9 describes Phase 2 as two days with 1 slot per day, even though its own reporting table gives timings for Slot 1 and Slot 2 in both phases. At the test the login ID is the hall ticket number and the password takes the form DDMMYYYY, per MAHE's MET 2026 mock test instructions.

The schedule also reserves MAHE's right to run a detailed audit where a candidate's behaviour looks unusual or suspicious, including CCTV footage, the pattern of attending questions and rough sheets, and to disqualify a candidate if it finds grounds to believe malpractice occurred.

Structure

Exam pattern

MAHE set a different MET 2026 paper for each programme group. Every syllabus PDF cited under the table, including the MET 2026 B.Tech syllabus, gives a test duration of 120 minutes, while question count, maximum marks and question type change with the paper:

The mock test instructions also set rules for the actual test. The B.Tech, B.Pharm / Pharm.D, B.Sc. Biotechnology and B.Sc. (Basic Medical Sciences) papers have 7 sections in a fixed order. In every paper a section can be visited only once, and a numerical answer type question takes a typed answer of up to 3 decimal places, with the minus sign typed for a negative value.

On the M.Tech / M.E. paper, the MET 2026 M.Tech / M.E. syllabus has the candidate select one of the 8 test disciplines during slot booking, with no change allowed afterwards. Under the same syllabus, candidates with a valid GATE score at the general-category qualifying cutoff, uploaded before the last date of applications, get 10% additional marks on the MET 2026 score, and MAHE allots a general rank and a stream rank, with counselling by general rank only.

What to study

Syllabus

MAHE published a separate MET 2026 syllabus PDF for each paper on its MET 2026 Syllabus page, where several syllabi carry "Revised" labels dated late February and early March 2026.

The MET 2026 B.Tech syllabus runs Mathematics from sets, relations and functions through statistics, probability and trigonometry, and Physics from units and measurements to electronic devices and experimental skills. Chemistry is split into physical, inorganic and organic chemistry with a unit on principles related to practical chemistry, and English covers grammar and language use, vocabulary, punctuation and usages, and reading comprehension.

Several non-engineering papers test different ground. The BBA (Hons) / IPM syllabus covers numeracy, conceptual questions, general English, general awareness and reading comprehension, and the UG allied health syllabus comes in a PCB version for programmes where counselling is based on the MET score obtained in PCB subjects, alongside a separate PCM version.

How to prepare

Preparation and books

MAHE's MET 2026 mock test page links programme-wise mock tests, from B.Tech and the eight M.Tech / M.E. test disciplines to MA Media and Communication, with none listed for the B.Des and BFA papers. The mock test instructions make each mock shorter than the real paper: 18 questions against 60 in the actual B.Tech test, and 15 against 100 for B.Sc. Nursing.

Those instructions say the mock can be taken on a desktop, laptop or mobile, recommend a laptop or desktop, and warn that the mock and actual test environments differ, so the mock environment must not be taken as a reference for the actual test. The B.Tech syllabus PDF lists topics only and names no books.

Where it is held

Exam centres

MET 2026 was a centre-based online test, as MAHE's mock test instructions state. The schedule lists test cities state by state, from Guntur and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Kolkata and Siliguri in West Bengal, with Dubai under "International", and keeps shorter separate lists for the SMI programmes in each phase.

Allotment followed the 3 city preferences given at application, and the schedule says a second attempt is held in the same city as the first, or at a nearby city if that city has no test centre.

After the exam

Answer key

The MET and Counseling Schedule 2026 has no answer key row: its Phase 2 table goes from the 23 and 24 May 2026 test dates to a tentative merit list in the 2nd week of June 2026. Every syllabus PDF on MAHE's MET 2026 Syllabus page, the test booking instructions and the mock test instructions are equally silent on a key or on any way to query an answer.

Scores

Result and scorecard

The MET and Counseling Schedule 2026 placed the merit list for both phases in the 2nd week of June 2026, marked tentative. The schedule allowed a second attempt for a candidate not satisfied with the first, but does not say which of the two scores goes into the rank.

For B.Tech at MIT Manipal and MIT Bengaluru the MET score is only half of the merit calculation: the undergraduate eligibility document builds that merit list from 50% weightage to the MET score and 50% weightage to the marks obtained in 10+2 examinations in Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry (or the optional subject) and English. The common counselling brochure on the MAHE Online Counseling 2026 portal allots seats at all 5 institutions by MET 2026 rank without restating that weighting, and that eligibility document does not cover SMIT, MU Jaipur or MAHE Dubai at all.

Scores you need

Cutoff

MAHE's 2026 MET cutoffs are closing ranks published after counselling rounds, not test scores. For B.Tech, the MAHE Online Counseling 2026 portal leads to the B.Tech Common Counseling 2026 cutoff ranks after round 5, which for B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering read:

The file marks a closing rank as unchanged where vacancies from round 4 withdrawals and non-acceptances were filled by upgradations and fresh registrations. For the other MET programmes, MAHE's Counseling 2026 page posts round-wise cut-off rank files for the programmes it lists, from B.Pharm / Pharm.D and B.Sc. Nursing to M.Tech / M.E. and the M.Sc. (Medical) courses.

Getting a seat

Counselling and seat allotment

MET-route B.Tech seats were filled through one online common counselling open only to MET 2026 rank holders. The Online BTech Common Counseling 2026 brochure, version 11, linked from the MAHE Online Counseling 2026 portal, names 5 participating institutions: MIT Manipal, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University Jaipur, MIT Bengaluru and MAHE Dubai.

The common counselling brochure on the counselling portal sets out the sequence:

• Registration on counseling.manipal.edu with a waitlist deposit of Rs 10,000, which becomes a refundable caution deposit once the fee is paid, or is refunded within 2 months of the last round if no seat is allotted.
• Choice filling of institute and branch pairs, where Preference 1 is mandatory and Preferences 2 to 55 are optional, and an allotted choice cannot be reversed.
• Seat allotment by MET 2026 rank, vacancy and choice over 5 online rounds, with fresh registration allowed at the start of each round.
• A first instalment of Rs 2,90,000 to confirm the seat, with the balance due by that round's deadline; a MAHE Dubai seat instead needs Rs 5,00,000 towards the programme fee during counselling, with the balance paid in AED by physical reporting. Missing the first instalment forfeits the Rs 10,000 deposit.
• A spot round by MET 2026 rank for seats left after intra-institute sliding, after which remaining vacancies are filled on JEE (Main) rank, any state CET rank or marks in the eligibility subjects.

Under the brochure's 2026 schedule on the counselling portal, round 1 registration and choice filling ran from 03 Jun to 06 Jun 2026 with allotment on 08 Jun 2026, and the 5th round allotment came on 30 Jul 2026. Additional rounds and the intra-institute round were listed as "To be announced later".

Several other MET programmes, including B.Pharm / Pharm.D, B.Sc. Nursing, M.Tech / M.E., the M.Sc. (Medical) courses and Master of Physiotherapy, run their own online counselling after the merit list is declared, each with an information brochure on MAHE's Counseling 2026 page. The MTech / ME counselling brochure opens that process only to candidates with a MET 2026 rank. Those tracks kept their own calendars, well past the B.Tech rounds: the B.Pharm / Pharm.D counselling brochure runs its schedule to a 9th round with seat allotment on 02 Sept 2026, and the Counseling 2026 page carries a B.Pharm / Pharm.D cut-off rank file for round 10.

Where it is accepted

Participating institutes

The shared B.Tech test and the B.Tech counselling list are not identical. MAHE's MET 2026 Syllabus page names MIT Manipal, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University Jaipur and MIT Bengaluru for the common test, and the 2026 common counselling brochure on the counselling portal adds MAHE Dubai.

Only some of those names belong to MAHE. The brochure lists both MIT campuses as constituent units of MAHE and SMIT as a constituent unit of Sikkim Manipal University, lists Manipal University Jaipur without a MAHE affiliation, and makes a seat at any of the 5 subject to criteria prescribed by UGC / AICTE or by MAHE Manipal, SMU Sikkim or MU Jaipur, as applicable. The Manipal University Jaipur website counts MAHE, Sikkim Manipal University and Manipal University Jaipur as separate universities of the Manipal Education and Medical Group.

Beyond B.Tech, the MAHE Entrance Test 2026 page routes MET into MAHE's own colleges: the M.Sc. medical courses at Kasturba Medical College (KMC) Manipal, M.Tech at MIT, M.E. at Manipal School of Information Sciences, B.Pharm and Pharm.D at Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, B.Sc. Nursing at Manipal College of Nursing, allied health programmes at Manipal College of Health Professions, and programmes at Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Institute of Communication, the Department of Basic Medical Sciences and Prasanna School of Public Health. T A Pai Management Institute's Integrated Program in Management and BBA Honors take MET followed by a Department Test for shortlisted candidates.

Several Manipal programmes do not use MET at all. MAHE's NEET 2026 page puts MBBS, BDS, MD, MS, MDS, PG Diploma, DM and MCh admissions on NEET rank, the undergraduate eligibility document routes the B.Arch through NATA, and the Entrance Test 2026 page puts the B.Des programmes at the Department of Design, B.Sc. Animation at the Manipal Institute of Communication and the hotel management, culinary science and hospitality degrees at Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration on a Department Test instead.

Get help

Contact

MAHE's OTBS instructions send all queries to admissions@manipal.edu, warn that queries sent to any other email ID will not be replied to, and list the admissions team telephone number as +91 9243777700. The MET 2026 Schedule page asks candidates to mention the application number, name, course applied for and the exact nature of the query.

B.Tech counselling queries go elsewhere. The common counselling brochure on the counselling portal names btech.counseling@manipal.edu, with the application number in the subject line, and promises a response within 2 to 3 working days in its disclaimer but within 2 working days in its query resolution section.

Source

Official links

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Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Exact phase dates, fees, attempt windows, cutoffs/ranks, seat allotment and counselling rounds change each cycle. Anything per-cycle here is stated for the cycle it names and is taken from the conducting body's own notification; confirm it on the official website before acting on it. Expertie does not conduct any exam, process applications or charge fees.

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