CHENNAI: General counselling for admission to government arts and science colleges across the state began on Monday for the 2026-27 academic year.

Across the 159 courses offered by 181 government arts and science colleges, 1,26,959 seats are available. Of these, 1,01,022 seats are available in Shift I and 25,937 seats in Shift II. Admissions will be based on marks obtained by students in the Class 12 examinations. Online applications were accepted from May 7 to May 29, and over 2 lakh students have applied for admission this year.

On the first day of general counselling, students who secured more than 400 marks were called for seat allocation. Counselling for students under special reservation categories was conducted college-wise on June 5 and 6. Following its completion, general counselling commenced on Monday and will continue till June 18.

Classes for first-year students admitted for the 2026-27 academic year will begin on July 1. Classes for second and third-year students are scheduled to commence on June 15.

Officials said the number of applications submitted by girls was higher than that of boys this year.

They also noted that arts courses continue to attract more applicants than science courses in government colleges. According to officials, many students prefer arts subjects as they are considered useful for preparing for government competitive examinations while pursuing higher education.