MHT CET syllabus: Class 11 and Class 12 chapters and the 20:80 question split
The MHT CET syllabus is the whole Class 12 (Std XII) syllabus of the Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), plus a fixed list of Class 11 (Std XI) chapters. The State CET Cell gives about 20% weightage to Class 11 and 80% to Class 12: in each paper, 10 of the 50 Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics questions come from Class 11 and 40 from Class 12, and in Biology 20 of 100 come from Class 11 and 80 from Class 12. This is from the CET Cell's syllabus and marking scheme for the academic year 2026–27 (dated 21 November 2025, the one used for MHT CET 2026), read on 21 October 2026. The CET Cell had not yet published a syllabus for MHT CET 2027; check its syllabus and marking scheme page before you plan.
What the State CET Cell publishes
Plainly, the CET Cell publishes three things about the syllabus:
- The share: "Approximately 20% weightage will be given to Std. XI curriculum and 80% weightage will be given to Std. XII curriculum while setting the question paper."
- The Class 12 part: the whole Std XII syllabus of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics prescribed by SCERT Maharashtra for 2025–26. It does not list Class 12 chapters separately; the Class 12 syllabus is your full Maharashtra board textbook.
- The Class 11 part: only the chapters it names (below), from the Std XI syllabus of 2024–25. Class 11 chapters not on the list are not part of MHT CET.
The 2026 information brochure itself does not print the share. It says (clause 3.4) that the syllabus, weightage and pattern are published on the CET Cell's website, which is the document above.
The CET Cell also says there is no negative marking, that the difficulty is at the level of JEE (Main) for Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and of NEET for Biology, and that the questions are "mainly application based".
Questions from Class 11 and Class 12
| Paper | Subject | Class 11 questions | Class 12 questions | Marks per question | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I | Mathematics | 10 | 40 | 2 | 100 | 90 minutes |
| Paper II | Physics | 10 | 40 | 1 | 50 | 90 minutes, shared with Chemistry |
| Paper II | Chemistry | 10 | 40 | 1 | 50 | |
| Paper III | Biology | 20 | 80 | 1 | 100 | 90 minutes |
PCM candidates sit Papers I and II (200 marks); PCB candidates sit Papers II and III (300 marks). Physics and Chemistry come first for 90 minutes; then that part is submitted automatically and Mathematics or Biology opens for its own 90 minutes.
Class 11 chapters in the MHT CET syllabus
These are the Class 11 chapters exactly as the CET Cell lists them:
| Subject | Class 11 chapters |
|---|---|
| Physics | Vectors; Error Analysis; Motion in a Plane; Laws of Motion; Gravitation; Thermal Properties of Matter; Sound; Optics; Electrostatics; Semiconductors |
| Chemistry | Some Basic Concepts of Chemistry; Structure of Atom; Chemical Bonding; Redox Reactions; Elements of Group 1 and 2; States of Matter (Gaseous and Liquids); Adsorption and Colloids (Surface Chemistry); Hydrocarbons; Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry; Chemistry in Everyday Life |
| Mathematics | Trigonometry II; Straight Line; Circle; Probability; Complex Numbers; Permutations and Combinations; Functions; Limits; Continuity; Conic Section |
| Biology | Biomolecules; Respiration and Energy Transfer; Human Nutrition; Excretion and Osmoregulation |
With 10 questions spread over 10 chapters in each of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, Class 11 works out to roughly one question per listed chapter; the CET Cell does not give a chapter-wise count, so treat that only as a guide. In Biology, 20 questions fall on just four Class 11 chapters, which makes those four chapters some of the best-value pages in the PCB syllabus.
Class 12: the whole Maharashtra textbook
For Class 12 the CET Cell names no chapter list: every chapter of the SCERT Maharashtra Std XII textbook in each subject is in the syllabus. The main areas, as our practice tests group them:
- Physics: rotational dynamics; fluids; kinetic theory and radiation; thermodynamics; oscillations and waves; wave optics; electrostatics and current electricity; magnetism, electromagnetic induction and AC circuits; dual nature of radiation, atoms, nuclei and semiconductor devices.
- Chemistry: solid state and solutions; ionic equilibria; chemical thermodynamics; electrochemistry and kinetics; p-block, d- and f-block elements and coordination compounds; halogen derivatives; alcohols, phenols and ethers; aldehydes, ketones and acids; amines; biomolecules and polymers.
- Mathematics: mathematical logic; matrices; trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions; pairs of lines; vectors, lines and planes; linear programming; differentiation and its applications; indefinite and definite integration and area; differential equations; probability distributions.
- Biology: the whole Std XII botany and zoology textbook, from reproduction, genetics and evolution to physiology, human health, biotechnology and ecology.
Use the chapter list printed in your own Std XII textbook as the checklist; it is the official Class 12 syllabus for MHT CET.
How to plan with the 20:80 split
- Put Class 12 first. Eighty per cent of the marks are there, and Class 12 is also your board exam, so one round of study serves both.
- Do only the listed Class 11 chapters. Make a one-page checklist from the table above and skip the rest of the Class 11 book for MHT CET.
- In PCM, give Mathematics its due. Each Mathematics question is worth 2 marks, so 50 Mathematics questions carry as much as all 100 Physics and Chemistry questions together.
- Answer every question. There is no negative marking, so a blank can never score and a guess sometimes does.
- Practise at JEE (Main) and NEET level. The CET Cell sets the difficulty there, and the questions are mainly application based; textbook exercises alone are not enough.
- Practise the two-part clock. Time left over in Physics and Chemistry is lost when the paper moves to Mathematics or Biology, so plan about 45 minutes each for Physics and Chemistry.
Results are percentiles within your session, not marks, so a mock can show raw marks only. Our article on how to use mock tests explains how to space them out over the months.
Free MHT CET practice test
Take a free MHT CET PCM mock test in the 2026 pattern: 150 questions, the two 90-minute parts and no negative marking. For dates, eligibility and how to apply, read MHT CET 2027: exam date, pattern, syllabus and how to apply, and see the topic list on the MHT CET syllabus page.