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2026

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College Predictor

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9 Branches · Real Vacancy Data

CSAB 2026 Branch-Wise Vacant Seats

CSE leads with 3,189 vacant seats — more than any other branch — followed by ECE, Mechanical, and Civil. Real, aggregated counts from CSAB's official tentative vacancy document, broken down by branch and institute type.

Which Branch Has the Most Vacant Seats?

CSE tops every other branch with 3,189 vacant seats — a genuinely counterintuitive result for a branch widely assumed to fill up first. The explanation is scale, not weak demand: CSE runs at nearly every CSAB-participating institute (NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs alike), so even a modest vacancy rate per institute compounds into the largest absolute total once you sum across 100+ institutes.

ECE follows at 2,274, then a meaningful gap down to the core branches — Mechanical (1,313), Civil (1,059), and Electrical (781). Chemical Engineering, EEE, Mathematics and Computing, and IT round out the list, each under 550 seats, largely because fewer institutes offer these programs at all.

Use the table below to see the institute-type split for each branch, then click through to the dedicated page for detailed top-college breakdowns.

Vacant Seats by Branch and Institute Type

BranchNITIIITGFTITotal
Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)533142612303,189
Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE)5208339212,274
Mechanical Engineering645606081,313
Civil Engineering61704421,059
Electrical Engineering3080473781
Chemical Engineering2770265542
Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE)20013171384
Mathematics and Computing6396170329
Information Technology (IT)76147105328

Sourced from CSAB's official tentative seat vacancy document, aggregated across all quotas, categories, and seat pools.

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How to Use Branch-Wise Data

  • High aggregate vacancy doesn't mean low competition at any specific institute — CSE's large total is spread across 100+ institutes of very different demand levels.
  • Click into a branch page for institute-type breakdown and the actual top-vacancy colleges for that branch.
  • This is a tentative snapshot — verify the live figure on csab.nic.in before finalizing choices.

Related Pages

CSAB 2026 Vacant Seats (All Data)CSE Vacant SeatsECE Vacant SeatsMechanical Vacant SeatsCivil Vacant SeatsNIT Vacant SeatsIIIT Vacant SeatsCSAB College Predictor

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CSAB 2026 Branch-Wise Vacant Seats – FAQs

Common questions about branch-wise vacant seat data in CSAB 2026

1
Which branch has the most vacant seats in CSAB 2026?
Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) has the most vacant seats of any branch at 3,189 — more than any other single branch, and roughly 40% higher than the second-place branch, ECE (2,274). This surprises many candidates who assume CSE is always fully subscribed early. In reality, CSE is offered at far more institutes than any other branch (nearly every NIT, IIIT, and GFTI runs a CSE program), so even a small per-institute vacancy adds up to the largest absolute total across the system.
2
Why does CSE have more vacant seats than core branches like Mechanical or Civil?
It's a scale effect, not a demand effect. CSE is taught at nearly every CSAB-participating institute, so its total seat count (filled + vacant) is much larger than a branch like Chemical Engineering, which only a subset of institutes offer. Even though CSE's fill rate is generally higher than most core branches, its much larger base means its absolute vacant count still comes out on top. Core branches like Mechanical (1,313) and Civil (1,059) have smaller total seat pools, so their vacancy numbers, while proportionally significant, land lower in absolute terms.
3
Which branch has the fewest vacant seats in CSAB 2026?
Among the major branches tracked here, Information Technology (IT) and Mathematics and Computing are the smallest, at 328 and 329 vacant seats respectively — both are offered at fewer institutes than CSE, ECE, or Mechanical, which caps their absolute vacancy count even if per-institute demand patterns are similar.
4
Do IIITs or GFTIs have more vacant CSE seats?
IIITs lead for CSE specifically, with 1,426 vacant CSE seats versus 1,230 at GFTIs and 533 at NITs. This is somewhat unexpected since IIITs are CS-focused institutes by design — but IIITs are also numerous (25+) and vary widely in reputation, so newer or less-established IIITs contribute a large share of this vacancy even while top IIITs like Hyderabad or Allahabad remain fully subscribed.
5
Does branch-wise vacancy predict CSAB cutoff drops accurately?
It's a useful directional signal but not a precise predictor. A branch with high aggregate vacancy (like CSE) still varies enormously institute by institute — a top IIIT's CSE program can close at a very competitive rank even while a lesser-known GFTI's CSE seats sit unfilled. Use branch-wise totals to understand system-wide patterns, then check institute-specific vacancy and your rank through the CSAB college predictor for an accurate, personalized estimate.

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Top 3 Branches by Vacancy

Computer Science and Engineering3,189
Electronics and Communication Engineering2,274
Mechanical Engineering1,313

CSAB 2026 Round Dates

Registration opensJuly 28, 2026
Choice lockingAugust 5, 2026
SR1 reporting (concluded)August 6–11, 2026
SR2 reporting (concluded)August 12–17, 2026
→ Full CSAB 2026 schedule

Important Links

CSAB College PredictorAll Vacant Seats DataNIT Vacant SeatsIIIT Vacant SeatsCSAB Seat Matrix

Data Source & Disclaimer

Figures on this page are aggregated from CSAB's official "Tentative Seat Vacancy for CSAB Special Rounds 2026" document. CSAB explicitly labels these numbers tentative — candidates may fill choices not listed, and the list updates as rounds progress. Always verify the live figure on csab.nic.in before finalizing your choices.