NEST Counselling 2026: The UM DAE CEBS has started their NEST 2026 counselling registration process from July 1 with a deadline, July 8. Shortlisted candidates must collect their Expression of Interest (EoI) for UM DAE CEBS by July 8. NISER and CEBS holds the counselling sessions separately for the convenience of the candidates. The UM DAE CEBS NEST merit list 2026 will be released on July 17, July 21, July 24, July 29 and August 1 for Round 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. The NISER Bhubaneswar has released the NEST merit list 2026 on June 24.
Latest: Download NISER Bhubaneswar NEST Merit List 2026 || UM DAE NEST Counselling Registration 2026 Link
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Candidates who qualified in the NEST exam should appear for the counselling and submit their documents for document verification at the time of counselling. The NEST merit list 2026 contains the ranks of candidates in Section-wise Minimum Admissible Score (SMAS) and Minimum Admissible Percentile (MAP). The candidates who got shortlisted will be eligible for the NEST 2026 counselling. Read more to know about the NEST counselling 2026, Documents required for NEST counselling 2026, etc.
| Events | Dates |
|---|---|
| Release of NISER Merit list | June 24 |
| Emails sent regarding Expression of Interest (EoL) | June 25 |
| Last date of submitting EoL | July 6 |
| Creation of admission queue | July 10 |
| First round admission at NISER | July 28 |
| Release of waitlisted candidates list | July 29 |
| Events | Dates |
|---|---|
| Collection of Expression of Interests (EoI) starts | July 1 |
| Collection of Expression of Interests (EoI) closes | July 8 |
| Declaration of admissions queue on CEBS website | July 10 |
| 1st round of admissions | July 17 to 20 |
| Declaration of 1st Merit list (online) | July 17 |
| Payment window for 1st Merit list closes | July 20 |
| 2nd round of admissions | July 21 to 23 |
| Declaration of 2nd Merit list (online) | July 21 |
| Payment window for 2nd Merit list closes | July 23 |
| 3rd round of admissions | July 24 to 28 |
| Declaration of 3rd Merit list (online) | July 24 |
| Payment window for 3rd Merit list closes | July 28 |
| 4th round of admissions | July 29 to 31 |
| Declaration of 4th Merit list (online) | July 29 |
| Payment window for 4th Merit list closes | July 31 |
| 5th round of admissions | August 1 to 4 |
| Declaration of 5th Merit list (online) | August 1 |
| Payment window for 5th Merit list closes | August 4 |
| Last date for reporting on campus* | August 10 |
| Declaration of available seat matrix for final round of admission | August 11 |
| Final round of admission (offline) | August 18 |
NISER, Bhubaneswar and UM - DAE CEBS will conduct the NEST 2026 counselling in offline mode. Candidates are required to attend the counselling sessions at the scheduled location on scheduled date and time. Candidates should submit all the required documents for verification before the NEST 2026 counselling process.
Applicants are required to submit the application form to appear for the NEST 2026 counselling.
Candidates can choose their preferred location based on their convenience for the counselling session.
Candidates are allowed to proceed with the process after the original documents have been verified.
Candidates must present the appropriate certificate for claiming the reserved category.
Candidates are required to choose a college and a course preference during counselling.
Candidates are required to submit a demand draft for the required fee to gain admission in the allotted college.
Candidates will be issued an offer letter by the authority, with which the candidate can enrol in the designated course and college.
Candidates are required to carry all the required documents to the NEST counselling process for verification. The admission process will not be completed without document verification. Here are the documents required for NEST exam counselling 2026.
Class 12 marksheet.
Category certificate.
Printout of NEST 2026 scorecard.
Four passport size colour photographs.
Proof of Date of Birth.
Photocopies of all the documents mentioned above are also required.
Candidates who wish to discontinue from the counselling process and want to withdraw their NEST 2026 admission are required to follow the steps mentioned for withdrawing seats.
Name
Application number and roll number
Date of Birth
Percentage of Class 12th
Venue for counselling
NISER and CEBS will offer reservations to the reserved category candidates applying for admission. NISER and CEBS also reserve a certain percentage of seats for candidates of SC/ ST, OBC-NCL, PwD and Supernumerary Quota seats for candidates who are from Jammu and Kashmir.
OBC-NCL
27% of the total seats are reserved in the admission process for candidates of the OBC-NCL category. It must be noted that candidates belonging to the OBC category are not considered eligible for reservation. Such candidates are treated the same as General category candidates. Even candidates who belong to the Socially and Educationally Backward Class have to match the criteria of OBC NCL to be considered eligible for the reservation as stated by the state government.
SC/ ST
15% of the total seats are reserved for candidates of SC category, whereas 7.5% of seats will be reserved for candidates of ST category. To avail the reservation, candidates have to submit the requisite documents like a caste certificate to the admission committee during admission.
PwD
Candidates of PwD category will have 5% of the total seats reserved for them. The disability certificate presented by candidates has to be in accordance with the latest guidelines specified by the Government of India.
Supernumerary Quota for students from Jammu and Kashmir
Two supernumerary seats at both NISER Bhubaneswar and UMDAE-CBS will be reserved for candidates from Jammu and Kashmir. To avail the supernumerary quota, candidates must have completed their class 12th from the State Board of Jammu and Kashmir or from CBSE-affiliated schools which are located in Jammu and Kashmir.
The following seats are available at NISER and CEBS for each category:
Category | Seat Intake at NISER | Seat Intake at CEBS |
General | 101 | 23 |
Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the General category | NA (to be confirmed at the time of admission process only) | 06 |
Other Backward Classes (OBC) - Non-Creamy Layer | 54 | 15 |
Scheduled Caste (SC) | 30 | 09 |
Scheduled Tribes (ST) | 15 | 04 |
Divyangjan | 5% of seats in each category above | 5% of seats in each category |
Total | 200 | 57 |
The NEST 2026 cut off has been released on June 24. Go through the below table to know about the NEST cut off marks for each category.
This acts as the sectional cutoff. It is calculated as a specific percentage (typically 20% for General candidates) of the average of the top 100 scores in that respective section. Scoring above the SMAS in a section is mandatory for that section to be considered.
What is Minimum Admissible Score (MAS) in NEST?
This acts as the overall cutoff. A candidate must score at least the MAS out of the total score to find a place on the final rank list.
| Parameter | UR / EWS / OBC ~ Divyang | SC / ST ~ Divyang |
| Percentile | More than or equal to 80-40 | More than or equal to 75-40 |
| Subject | UR / UR-Divyang | OBC / OBC-Divyang | SCST / SCST-Divyang |
| Biology | 8.83 / 8.39 | 7.95 / 7.50 | 4.41 / 3.97 |
| Chemistry | 11.26 / 10.70 | 10.14 / 9.57 | 5.63 / 5.07 |
| Mathematics | 9.63 / 9.15 | 8.67 / 8.19 | 4.82 / 4.33 |
| Physics | 9.44 / 8.97 | 8.49 / 8.02 | 4.72 / 4.25 |
Category | Biology | Chemistry | Mathematics | Physics |
General | 4.2170 | 3.4805 | 3.6305 | 2.9345 |
OBC | 3.7953 | 3.1325 | 3.2675 | 2.6411 |
SC/ST/PD/JK | 2.1085 | 1.7403 | 1.8153 | 1.4673 |
Category | Biology | Chemistry | Mathematics | Physics |
General | 3.4599 | 3.3875 | 2.7815 | 2.9620 |
OBC | 3.1140 | 3.0488 | 2.5034 | 2.6658 |
SC/ST/PD/JK | 1.7300 | 1.6938 | 1.3908 | 1.4810 |
Category | Biology | Chemistry | Mathematics | Physics |
General | 8.43 | 6.96 | 7.26 | 5.87 |
OBC | 7.59 | 6.26 | 6.53 | 5.28 |
SC/ST/PD/JK | 4.22 | 3.48 | 3.63 | 2.93 |
Category | Biology | Chemistry | Mathematics | Physics |
General | 6.92 | 6.78 | 5.56 | 5.92 |
OBC | 6.23 | 6.10 | 5.01 | 5.33 |
SC/ST/PD/JK | 3.46 | 3.39 | 2.78 | 2.96 |
Category | Overall Cut Off |
ST/ SC/ Divyangjan | 75% |
OBC | 90% |
General | 95% |
Category | Reservation (%) |
OBC-NCL | 27% |
SC | 15% |
ST | 7.5% |
PD | 3% |
J&K Candidates | 2 seats in each institution |
Read more -
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The NEST counselling 2026 for NISER Bhubaneswar has started from June 24, and from July 1 for UM DAE CEBS.
NISER Bhubaneswar and CEBS Mumbai will accept admissions through the NEST 2026 exam.
Candidates appearing for the NEST 2026 should have completed Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics as mandatory subjects in Class 12.
No, there won’t be any reservation for the OBC Creamy Layer category in NEST exam 2026.
Yes, the NISER and the CEBS will each publish their own merit lists.
No, only candidates from the non-creamy layer will be given preference under the OBC category.
Qualified candidates from the EWS category will only be given a seat reservation at the CEBS under the General-EWS category. The NISER does not accept such reservations.
NEST counselling process is typically done in three rounds.
No, there is no reservation for the OBC Creamy Layer category.
The University of Mumbai, Department of Atomic Energy will release the UM-DAE CEBS 2026 first merit list on July 17.
On Question asked by student community
Hello Dear Student,
You can check, find and access more information here:
Hello Student,
Can you please tell what your interests are and what are your career aspirations?
Hello,
CEBS has started the NEST 2026 registration process on January 5 at nestexam.in. Candidates can fill and submit the NEST 2026 application form till April 6. The last date to pay the NEST application fee 2026 is April 12.
For NEST Exam Eligibility 2026, Age Limit, Qualification, Marks Required,
Hi, the exact data for 2025 is not available. However, in 2024, over 45,000 students registered for the exam and more than 27,000 appeared. The NEST 2026 exam is scheduled to be held on June 6.
If any candidate has lost their NEST exam certificate, they can visit the official website, nestexam.in to request another copy of the certificate.
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