KCET College Predictor – 7.5% Reservation Category 2026

The 7.5% reservation in Tamil Nadu's engineering admissions (not KCET/Karnataka) is a Tamil Nadu state-specific reservation for government school students. Tamil Nadu government, since 2020, reserves 7.5% of engineering seats for students who studied Class 6–12 in government schools. This is a Tamil Nadu policy — it applies to Tamil Nadu engineering colleges (through TNEA), not Karnataka KCET. Karnataka has its own separate reservation system.

The 7.5% government school reservation is a Tamil Nadu state policy (TNEA admissions) and does not apply to Karnataka KCET. Tamil Nadu students who appear for KCET (Karnataka CET) compete under the same merit rules as other states. The 7.5% category is applicable only in Tamil Nadu engineering admissions through TNEA — not in Karnataka, Maharashtra, or any other state.

Karnataka KCET reservation categories are: GM (General Merit — no reservation), 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B (OBC categories specific to Karnataka), SC (Scheduled Castes), ST (Scheduled Tribes), and Category-1 (economically backward classes specific to Karnataka). There is no 7.5% government school reservation in Karnataka KCET. Each category has a specific percentage of seats reserved in Karnataka government and aided colleges.

Tamil Nadu students appearing for KCET 2026 will be considered under their relevant Karnataka category (usually GM if no Karnataka-specific reservation certificate is held). Tamil Nadu students can use our KCET college predictor by entering their KCET rank and selecting 'GM' (General Merit) category. Competition from Tamil Nadu students is primarily in the GM merit pool.

Under Tamil Nadu's TNEA 7.5% government school reservation, cutoff marks for top colleges like Anna University (CEG Chennai, MIT Chennai) have been significantly lower than the open merit cutoff — sometimes by 10–30 marks. For government school students aspiring to Tamil Nadu engineering via TNEA, this reservation provides a meaningful advantage. However, this has no connection to KCET Karnataka admissions.