DU likely to open UG admission portal this week, academic session may begin on July 21

New Delhi: Delhi University is likely to open its undergraduate admission portal for the academic session 2026-27 by the end of this week and is aiming to begin the new academic session from July 21, university officials said on Wednesday, a day after the declaration of the CUET-UG 2026 results. The Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) serves as the single-window entrance examination for admission to undergraduate programmes in most central universities, including Delhi University.

DU Registrar Vikas Gupta told PTI that the university is in the final stages of preparing to open the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) portal. "We want to start the academic session tentatively on July 21," Gupta said. "We are just doing a final checking of the portal and the required details. The portal will tentatively open by this week itself," he added.

The undergraduate admission process at Delhi University attracts lakhs of applicants every year for more than 71,000 seats across around 79 undergraduate programmes offered by over 70 colleges. Once the CSAS portal opens, candidates will first be required to register themselves.

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Following the registration phase, students will be able to fill in their programme and college preferences. Based on CUET scores and the preferences submitted by candidates, the university will announce seat allocations in multiple rounds. After each allocation round, candidates who accept the allotted seat can either choose to freeze their admission or opt for an upgrade, under which they are considered for higher preferences in subsequent rounds.

Over the past few years, delays in the CUET admission cycle have drawn criticism from sections of the teaching community, who have argued that dependence on the CUET has led to disrupted academic calendars. In 2025, Delhi University began classes on August 1 as scheduled, but several admission and mop-up rounds continued till late September, resulting in many students joining courses weeks after teaching had commenced.

A similar situation prevailed in 2024 when the academic session started only on August 29, following delays in the declaration of CUET-UG results. Mop-up rounds that year extended into October. However, speaking on the importance of CUET, Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh, on Wednesday, said that CUET has helped address disparities arising from different evaluation standards followed by school education boards across the country.

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"Earlier, admissions were based on Class 12 marks and some boards were considered more liberal while others were stricter in awarding marks. CUET provides a common benchmark for all students, which has been implemented and has been giving us good results," he told PTI.

Ahead of the opening of the admission process, Singh also urged students not to panic and advised them to carefully fill their preferences on the CSAS portal. "There is no need to panic. Admission will be based on CUET scores. If there is any change in Class 12 marks after re-evaluation, students can submit the updated documents by September 30 and, if required, the deadline can be extended further into October," Singh said. He also advised aspirants to opt for as many preferences as possible while filling the form.