Delhi University is set to open its undergraduate admission portal for the 2026-27 academic session by the end of this week. The university aims to commence the new academic year on July 21, as stated by university officials on Wednesday, following the announcement of the CUET-UG 2026 results.The Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) serves as the single-window entrance examination for admission to undergraduate programmes in most central universities, including Delhi University. DU Registrar Vikas Gupta informed that the university is in the final stages of preparing to launch the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) portal.“We want to start the academic session tentatively on July 21,” Gupta said. “We are just doing a final check of the portal and the required details. The portal will tentatively open by this week itself,” he added.The undergraduate admission process at Delhi University attracts lakhs of applicants each year for more than 71,000 seats across approximately 79 undergraduate programmes offered by over 70 colleges.Read | CUET UG 2026: BJP leader’s daughter Devina Gehlot bags AIR 1, says discipline beats long study hoursWhen the CSAS portal opens, candidates must first register themselves. After the registration phase, students will fill in their preferred programs and colleges. Based on their CUET scores and the preferences they submit, the university will announce seat allocations in multiple rounds.After each allocation round, candidates who accept their allotted seats can choose to either freeze their admission or opt for an upgrade, which allows them to be considered for higher preferences in subsequent rounds. In recent years, delays in the CUET admission cycle have drawn criticism from some members of the teaching community, who argue that reliance on the CUET has disrupted academic calendars.Story continues below this adIn 2025, Delhi University began classes on August 1 as scheduled, but several admission and mop-up rounds continued until late September, resulting in many students joining courses weeks after teaching had commenced. A similar situation occurred in 2024, when the academic session started only on August 29, due to delays in the announcement of CUET-UG results. Mop-up rounds that year extended into October.However, highlighting the importance of CUET, Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh stated that CUET has helped address disparities arising from varying evaluation standards used by different school education boards across the country.“Earlier, admissions were based on Class 12 marks and some boards were considered more liberal while others were stricter in awarding marks. CUET provides a common benchmark for all students, which has been implemented and has been giving us good results,” he told PTI.Ahead of the opening of the admission process, Singh urged students to remain calm and to carefully fill out their preferences on the CSAS portal. “There is no need to panic. Admissions will be based on CUET scores. If there are any changes in Class 12 marks after re-evaluation, students can submit the updated documents by September 30. If necessary, the deadline may be extended further into October,” Singh said. He also advised applicants to select as many preferences as possible while completing the form.