Mumbai, Nov. 22 -- The State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has released the tentative schedule for entrance examinations to 17 higher education courses across streams of arts, medicine, agriculture, and technology. For the academic year 2026-27, the entrance exams will begin on March 24 with the CET for a masters in physical education. For the first time, the CET cell will also conduct a second round of entrance tests for engineering, pharmacy, and MBA courses. Last year, 650,000 students appeared for the engineering and pharmacy CETs. This year, the first CET for engineering (physics, chemistry, mathematics) will be conducted from April 11 to April 19 in multiple slots and the first tests for pharmacy courses are scheduled between April 21 and April 26. The second round of entrance exams for these courses are tentatively planned in mid May. Officials said these dates are tentative and may be revised if they clash with other major examinations. Final dates are expected to be announced in the third week of November. Following the pattern of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), the Higher and Technical Education Department decided to offer candidates two opportunities per year for the engineering, pharmacy, and MBA courses. The CET cell has issued the tentative schedule early on to give students enough time to prepare for the exams. CET cell officials said that they kept in mind national-level exam dates for the JEE and NEET while drawing up the tentative timetable....