With delays in releasing seat matrices for several professional courses, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) is considering conducting a preliminary counselling round to accommodate students who are certain about the undergraduate course they wish to pursue.
Seat matrices for courses in engineering, veterinary sciences, agriculture, bachelor of physiotherapy, and allied health sciences have already been released. Option entry has been enabled for these streams, and students can now submit their preferences through the official KEA portal.
However, seat matrices for other courses — including medical, dental, Ayurveda, homeopathy, Unani, BSc nursing, architecture, and yoga & naturopathy — are still awaiting approval from the respective departments.
Compounding the delay, the KEA website continued to face technical issues, with the ‘option entry’ portal displaying maintenance messages for the second day in a row on Friday. The time of resumption was revised throughout the day, leaving many students anxious.
KEA executive director H Prasanna said a preliminary round is being considered for students who are firm about their choice of course. He explained that about 20 per cent of students fall into this category, and the idea is to conduct a round exclusively for them in which only Choice 1 will be enabled.
In the counselling process, once a seat is allotted, students can either accept the seat and confirm their admission, hold the seat and participate in the next round, give up the seat and continue the process, or exit from it entirely. The special round would be restricted to those who intend to immediately accept and join the allotted seat.
While server-related issues are gradually stabilising, KEA has extended the ‘option entry’ deadline from July 15 to July 18 to ensure candidates are not disadvantaged. Prasanna advised students not to panic and to use this additional time wisely. He urged them to prepare a rough list of their preferred colleges and courses with corresponding codes on paper before logging into the system. This, he said, would reduce the load on the portal by preventing prolonged logins and improve access for all users.
Story continues below this ad
KEA has stated that candidates will receive notifications once the ‘option entry’ portal is fully operational again. Students have been asked to regularly check the official website for updates regarding the revised schedule for the first round of seat allotment. According to the latest announcement, the mock allotment results will be declared on July 21, and the final allotment results will be published on July 28.
NEET-UG 2025 document verification from July 17
Candidates who registered for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG 2025 and paid the application fee after July 7, especially those claiming seats under categories from ‘A’ to ‘O’ and under the ‘Z’ class, must appear in person for document verification at the KEA office in Bengaluru between July 17 and 19. This verification is mandatory for those seeking admission to medical, dental, Ayurveda, homeopathy, and Unani courses.
Special category candidates, including differently abled applicants, and those under categories ‘A’ to ‘O’ and ‘Z’, must follow the document verification schedule published on the KEA website. The list of original documents required has already been made available during the Undergraduate Common Entrance Test (UGCET) process and must be carefully reviewed by the candidates.