The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to organise the 2026-27 academic session admission tests for public universities from February next year. However, despite the UGC's decision, Dhaka University (DU) will hold its undergraduate admission tests according to its previously announced schedule.
The university has also relaxed admission requirements for several departments under different faculties and institutes while keeping the minimum eligibility criteria for application unchanged.
The decisions were taken at an emergency meeting of the university's General Admission Committee held on Monday.
According to the decisions, online applications for admission to DU's undergraduate programs for the 2026-27 academic session will begin at 12 noon on November 11 and continue until 11:59pm on November 25. Admission tests will be held through five units as in previous years.
As per the unit-wise schedule, the IBA Unit admission test will be held on December 5, the Science Unit on December 12, the Arts, Law and Social Sciences Unit on December 19, the Fine Arts Unit on December 22 and the Business Studies Unit on December 26.
The university authorities said the minimum eligibility criteria for admission applications would remain unchanged. However, requirements for admission to several departments under different faculties and institutes have been relaxed. Under the revised conditions, the minimum marks required in specific subjects in admission tests and the minimum grades required in certain subjects at the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) level have been lowered for some departments.
Students who passed the HSC and equivalent examinations, the results of which were published on October 31, and meet the minimum eligibility criteria set by Dhaka University will be able to apply for admission this academic year.
Students who have applied for re-evaluation of their examination results will also be eligible to apply for the admission tests. The re-evaluation results are scheduled to be published on November 23.
The DU General Admission Committee has also decided to retain November 25 as the application deadline.
Meanwhile, earlier on Monday, the UGC held a meeting with vice-chancellors of public universities across the country to discuss admission-related issues. However, no representative from Dhaka University attended the meeting, said DU Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Dr Abdus Salam.
At a press conference following the meeting, UGC Chairman Professor Dr Mamun Ahmed said discussions focused on students' interests, admission test schedules, publication of results of supplementary HSC examinations and coordination of the admission process.
He said a unanimous and coordinated decision had been taken to begin receiving applications for public university admissions from January 2027, with admission tests planned to start in February.
The universities will determine and announce their respective examination schedules through mutual coordination, he added.
This year, supplementary examinations are being introduced for the first time. The government is working towards publishing the results of the supplementary examinations by December 31.
"After that, the public university admission process will begin. Students who pass through the re-evaluation of HSC examination scripts and supplementary examinations will be given the opportunity to sit for admission tests," Mamun said.
He said universities that had already announced their admission test schedules had been requested to reconsider them in the national interest and for the convenience of students.
However, Dhaka University has decided to proceed with its previously announced schedule. As a result, students who pass the supplementary examinations will not get the opportunity to sit for DU's admission tests this academic year.
Professor Mamun said vice-chancellors had also been requested to give due consideration to GPA requirements when determining eligibility for admission tests.
"Considering the number of students who passed this year's HSC examinations and the available seats in higher education institutions, the admission process needs to be conducted accordingly," he said.
The UGC chairman said the commission had taken the initiative to coordinate the admission process while respecting the autonomy and legal authority of the universities.
Universities will conduct their admission processes in accordance with their respective laws and regulations. The UGC will play a facilitating and coordinating role, and no decision will be imposed on any university, he added.