Delhi University (DU) has made over 21,000 additional seat allocations in the first round of undergraduate admissions this year, with officials saying the move, based on data from previous admission cycles, is aimed at ensuring optimal seat occupancy.
The university had on Thursday announced the first allocation list under the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS), offering seats to 93,033 candidates against a total of 71,624 undergraduate seats for the 2026-27 academic session.
A total of 21,409 extra allocations have been done, as per the data.
Explaining the rationale behind the over-allocation, Dean of Admissions Haneet Gandhi said the university had adopted a data-driven approach after analysing admission trends over the past several years.
“This is a very data-driven decision we have taken after analysing data from the last four-five years. Over-allocations are done only in peripheral colleges and in those colleges and courses where seats generally remain vacant even after the final round of admissions,” Gandhi said.
She said no extra allocations were made in highly sought-after colleges or programmes that consistently fill all available seats.
“For example, there are no extra allocations in Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), or in courses like Economics (Honours) and Psychology (Honours), because these seats get filled completely. However, in courses such as Sanskrit (Honours) or Hindi (Honours), where there is historically lower retention, extra allocations have been made,” she said.
Gandhi said the university would follow a similar strategy in the second round of admissions, depending on the number of students who retain their allotted seats after the first round.
“Depending on the rate of retention, the same formula of extra allocations will be used in the second round as well. In the third and subsequent rounds, allocations will be made based on the number of seats that remain vacant as students shuffle between colleges and courses in the first two rounds more,” she said.
According to the university, 93,033 candidates, including 42,019 male and 51,014 female applicants, were allotted seats in the first round, reflecting an overall allocation rate of 86.1 per cent.
The allocations were made from among 2,08,043 candidates who completed Phase II of the admission process by submitting their programme and college preferences. Overall, 2,18,284 candidates completed registration on the CSAS portal.
Candidates allotted seats in the first round have to accept their allocation by 11.59 pm on July 18, after which colleges will verify applications and approve admissions. Fee payment will complete the admission process.
The second allocation list is scheduled to be released on July 25, while the new academic session will commence on July 28.
