Bengaluru, August 24, 2026: The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has released the Round 1 provisional seat allotment for Karnataka UG NEET 2026, giving MBBS and BDS aspirants the first major indication of the ranks required for medical and dental colleges in the state.

A total of 11,874 MBBS seats and 2,689 BDS seats have been allotted in the Round 1 provisional allotment. Candidates who have received a provisional seat have been advised to wait for the final allotment before reporting to their allotted college.

The latest allotment data also provides useful information for students comparing their NEET rank with the admission possibilities at Karnataka medical colleges.

Karnataka NEET 2026 cut-offs: Why the quota matters

Students should be careful when comparing NEET cut-off ranks because Karnataka has different counselling routes and quotas.

The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) handles the 15% All India Quota (AIQ) seats, while KEA handles the Karnataka state counselling process for the applicable state-quota seats. Consequently, the closing rank for the same college can be very different depending on the quota, category and seat type.

The cut-off also varies according to:

• College
• MBBS or BDS course
• Category
• State quota or All India Quota
• Rural/HK and other applicable reservations
• Round of counselling
• Number of available seats
• Candidate preferences

Karnataka NEET 2026 Round 1: AIQ closing ranks

The latest Round 1 data available for Karnataka colleges through the 15% AIQ counselling shows how competitive the leading institutions remain.

Karnataka college	Category	Round 1 closing rank
Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute	General/Open	1,299
Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College	General	3,487
Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore	General	3,558
Mysore Medical College and Research Institute	General	4,053
ESI Medical College, Bengaluru	General	6,404

These figures are from the Round 1 counselling data reported for Karnataka colleges and should be read specifically as AIQ/category-wise closing ranks, not as Karnataka state-quota cut-offs.

For example, the Round 1 General-category closing rank for Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute was reported as 1,299, while Mysore Medical College closed at 4,053 under the cited AIQ data.

Category-wise cut-offs can vary substantially

The Karnataka counselling data also demonstrates why students should not judge their chances using the General-category closing rank alone.

For Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, reported Round 1 closing ranks included:

Category	Closing rank
General	1,299
General – HK Border	3,128
OBC 3A	3,328
OBC 3B	3,790
General – Rural	3,948
General – HK + Rural	4,270
OBC 3B Rural	4,340
OBC 3A Rural	4,623
OBC 2B	5,244
OBC 2A	5,626

The figures underline the importance of checking the correct category and seat type when assessing admission chances.

Karnataka NEET 2026: Highest Round 1 closing ranks

The Round 1 AIQ data also shows that some Karnataka government medical colleges admitted candidates at substantially higher All India ranks.

For the General/Open category, the highest closing rank reported for Karnataka in Round 1 was 18,415, at Yadgiri Institute of Medical Sciences.

For other categories, the highest reported closing ranks were:

• EWS: 25,025 — Chitradurga Medical College
• OBC: 20,327 — Yadgiri Institute of Medical Sciences
• SC: 97,968 — Yadgiri Institute of Medical Sciences
• ST: 1,13,617 — Yadgiri Institute of Medical Sciences

These figures demonstrate the wide variation created by category, seat availability and reservation rules.

What about Karnataka state-quota cut-offs?

This is an important distinction for students reading Karnataka NEET cut-off information online.

KEA conducts counselling for the applicable 85% state-quota seats, while MCC handles the 15% AIQ seats. The state-quota cut-off is therefore different from the AIQ cut-off.

The final Karnataka state-quota closing ranks are established through the KEA allotment process and can change from one counselling round to another.

Students should therefore avoid relying on a single “Karnataka NEET cutoff” number when deciding which colleges to include in their choices.

Previous-year cut-offs remain useful for comparison

Until complete 2026 state-quota closing-rank data is available for every college and category, previous-year data can provide useful context.

For example, the reported 2025 General-category MBBS closing ranks included:

College	2025 closing rank
Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute	1,299
Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College	3,487
Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore	3,558
Mysore Medical College and Research Institute	4,053
ESI Medical College, Bengaluru	6,404
MS Ramaiah Medical College	6,905
JSS Medical College, Mysuru	7,669
Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi	8,343
Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences	11,478
Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences	11,641

These are 2025 reference figures, not 2026 final state-quota cut-offs.

BDS cut-offs in Karnataka

BDS admissions also show considerable variation between government and private dental colleges.

Previous Round 1 data gives a useful indication of the range. For example, reported General-category BDS opening and closing ranks included:

Dental college	Opening rank	Closing rank
Government Dental College & Research Institute, Bengaluru	68,966	75,439
Government Dental College & Research Institute, Bellary	77,306	83,839
ESIC Dental College, Gulbarga	86,023	87,653
MS Ramaiah Dental College & Hospital	71,148	89,274
AJ Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru	85,793	95,232
SDM College of Dental Sciences, Dharwad	78,883	1,04,787
Vokkaligara Sangha Dental College, Bengaluru	84,923	1,05,844

These figures are useful as a previous-year benchmark, rather than as confirmed 2026 closing ranks.

How students should use the cut-off data

NEET cut-offs should be treated as a guide rather than a guarantee.

A student with a rank better than last year’s closing rank may have a reasonable chance, but the actual outcome depends on the number of candidates, seat availability, category, choices entered and the movement of seats between counselling rounds.

Students should therefore consider filling a sufficiently broad range of colleges rather than selecting only the most competitive institutions.

What happens after Round 1?

The Karnataka counselling process will continue through subsequent rounds.

Candidates who have received a provisional allotment should carefully check their allotment details and follow KEA’s instructions. In the current Round 1 provisional allotment, KEA has specifically advised candidates not to report to the provisionally allotted college yet while objections are being considered.

Candidates who identify a genuine discrepancy in their provisional allotment can submit an objection with appropriate justification within the deadline specified by KEA.

Key Karnataka NEET 2026 figures

Particular	Current status
MBBS seats allotted in Round 1	11,874
BDS seats allotted in Round 1	2,689
Karnataka counselling authority	KEA
AIQ counselling authority	MCC
Karnataka state-quota seats	Applicable seats through KEA
Round 1 status	Provisional allotment released
Important	Cut-offs vary by college, category, quota and round

Check official KEA cut-offs before making your next choice

NEET 2026 aspirants should always check the official KEA allotment and counselling information before making admission decisions. Third-party websites can be useful for analysing trends, but the official allotment list and counselling notifications should be treated as authoritative.

Candidates should particularly check whether a published cut-off relates to AIQ, Karnataka state quota, government quota, private quota, minority quota or another seat category.

Karnataka NEET 2026: Key takeaway

The first round of Karnataka NEET UG 2026 counselling shows that competition remains extremely high for the state’s leading medical colleges. Bangalore Medical College, Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College, Kasturba Medical College and Mysore Medical College were among the institutions with highly competitive Round 1 AIQ closing ranks.

At the same time, the large variation across categories and colleges means that students with a wide range of NEET ranks can still have opportunities in subsequent counselling rounds.

For the latest Karnataka MBBS and BDS allotments, college-wise cut-offs and counselling notifications, candidates should check the official KEA portal regularly.