KCET (Karnataka Common Entrance Test) is conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) for admission to BTech, BE, BPharm, BSc Agriculture, and B.VSc programmes in Karnataka government, aided, and unaided private engineering and medical colleges. It is one of the most important state entrance exams in South India, with lakhs of students competing annually. The same exam covers both engineering (PCM) and medical (PCB) streams, depending on the combination opted by the candidate.

KCET covers admission to approximately 1.5 lakh+ engineering seats and 50,000+ medical seats across 200+ engineering colleges and 50+ medical colleges in Karnataka. Premier institutions accessible through KCET include RV College of Engineering, BMS College of Engineering, PES University, Manipal Institute of Technology (state quota), and all government engineering colleges under VTU. The exam is the primary route for Karnataka domicile students to secure seats in the state's top engineering institutions.

KCET is primarily designed for Karnataka domicile students—those who have studied in Karnataka for the last 7 years or whose parents are Karnataka government employees. However, certain seats in private unaided colleges are open to students from other states under the NRI, management, or all-India quota. Horanadu and Gadinadu Kannadigas (Kannadigas settled outside Karnataka) also have special reservation provisions. Students without Karnataka domicile must check specific college policies for eligibility.

KCET is conducted in offline mode over two days. Day 1 covers Mathematics and Biology (for relevant stream candidates), and Day 2 covers Physics and Chemistry. Each subject paper has 60 questions worth 1 mark each, totalling 180 marks for PCM or PCB stream. There is no negative marking, which means candidates should attempt all questions. Questions are based on the Karnataka 2nd PUC (Class 12) syllabus, with some questions from 1st PUC (Class 11) as well.

Yes, KCET score is combined with 2nd PUC (Class 12) marks for final merit rank calculation in Karnataka. JEE Main scores are not considered for KCET-based admissions in government and aided colleges. However, top private colleges like MSRIT and BMS consider both KCET and JEE scores for their various quota seats. Students appearing for KCET are strongly advised to also take JEE Main for a broader range of options, especially if targeting NIT Karnataka (NITK Surathkal) which uses only JEE Main ranks.