Overview
- State officials and the chief minister said the first round of WBJEE counselling reached nearly 100 percent occupancy in government and government‑aided engineering colleges, a result announced on July 9.
- Registrations for the first round rose to 36,431 this year, a 34.26 percent increase from last year, with male applicants up from 20,417 to 26,902.
- Female participation climbed sharply from 6,718 to 9,528 applicants, a 41.85 percent increase that officials highlighted as a sign of broader access.
- The first counselling round is open until July 11 across 87 institutions, with two more rounds scheduled and the full admission cycle expected to finish in July.
- Officials say the turnout reflects administrative changes such as moving up the counselling schedule and greater transparency, and the government frames the outcome as an early step toward modernizing colleges and stemming the state's prior ‘brain drain.’