Summary: The CET Cell's 2026 syllabus document says questions are based on the Maharashtra SCERT syllabus, with approximately 20% weightage to Class 11 and 80% to Class 12. The whole Class 12 syllabus is included, but only a named list of Class 11 chapters. In numbers, that is 10 of 50 questions each in Physics, Chemistry and Maths, and 20 of 100 in Biology.Every year some students hear "CET is mostly Class 12" and conclude that Class 11 can be skipped. Others try to study the entire Class 11 book for CET and waste weeks on chapters that are not asked. The official document settles both questions, and it is short enough that every CET aspirant should read it once.
What the official document says
The document is titled "CET Syllabus and its Marking Scheme" and appears as an appendix to the MHT‑CET 2026 information brochure on cetcell.mahacet.org. In summary, it says:
- Questions are based on the syllabus of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Maharashtra.
- Approximately 20% weightage goes to the Class 11 curriculum and 80% to Class 12 while setting the paper.
- Questions are set on the whole Class 12 syllabus of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics, plus specified Class 11 chapters.
- Difficulty is at par with JEE (Main) for Maths, Physics and Chemistry and with NEET for Biology, and questions are mainly application based.
The same document gives the question split, so the 20:80 statement is not left vague:
| Subject | Class 11 questions | Class 12 questions | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 10 | 40 | 50 (2 marks each) |
| Physics | 10 | 40 | 50 |
| Chemistry | 10 | 40 | 50 |
| Biology | 20 | 80 | 100 |
These numbers are from the 2026 document. The next year's syllabus is published with the new brochure, and the Class 11 list has changed in the past. Check it before you finalise your plan.
The Class 11 chapters that are included
The 2026 document names these Class 11 chapters from the State Board syllabus:
| Subject | Class 11 chapters listed for MHT‑CET 2026 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
Two things stand out. The list is selective: in Physics some entries are single topics such as Vectors and Error Analysis rather than whole units, and in Biology only four Class 11 chapters are named. And several listed chapters are foundations for Class 12, so a student who skips them pays twice. Chemical Bonding and Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry sit under half of Class 12 Chemistry. Functions, Limits and Continuity lead straight into Class 12 differentiation.
Why "80% Class 12" does not mean Class 11 is light
Ten questions out of fifty sounds small. In Maths those ten questions are worth 20 marks out of 100. In a competition where lakhs of students write the paper and percentiles are decided to seven decimal places, 20 marks is the difference between very different colleges. And the Class 11 chapters listed are some of the most question-friendly ones: Straight Line, Circle, Complex Numbers and Probability give quick, direct questions to a student who has practised them.
The larger point is that Class 12 itself depends on Class 11. A student who never understood Laws of Motion will struggle with Rotational Dynamics in the Class 12 State Board book. Our experience is that the students who "save time" by skipping Class 11 end up relearning it in a hurry in December of Class 12, when they should be revising.
A sensible way to plan the two years
| Period | Main focus | CET-specific work |
|---|---|---|
| Class 11, June to March | Full Class 11 syllabus for boards and, if applicable, JEE or NEET | Mark the chapters on the CET list; keep short notes and formula sheets for them |
| Class 12, June to December | Full Class 12 syllabus, textbook first | One timed CET-style chapter test after each Class 12 chapter |
| Class 12, January to boards | Board revision and practicals | Revise the listed Class 11 chapters once, quickly |
| After boards, until the exam | Full-length CET mocks | Every mock analysed for chapter-wise errors, Class 11 included |
For a student preparing only for MHT‑CET, this means Class 11 can be studied with a lighter hand in chapters that are not on the list, as long as board requirements are met. For a JEE or NEET student, the whole Class 11 syllabus has to be done anyway, and CET becomes a subset of it.
Which textbook is "the syllabus"
The syllabus is the Maharashtra SCERT syllabus, and the State Board (Balbharati) textbooks follow it. Students from CBSE or other boards will find most of it familiar through NCERT, with some chapters missing or placed in a different year. We have a separate post on MHT‑CET for CBSE students covering those gaps, and another on what to read for Physics and Chemistry.
If you want to test yourself chapter by chapter while you study, our free daily mini tests and the previous year papers section are good places to start.
Common questions
What is the weightage of Class 11 in MHT‑CET?
The official 2026 syllabus document says approximately 20% to Class 11 and 80% to Class 12. That works out to 10 of 50 questions in Physics, Chemistry and Maths, and 20 of 100 in Biology.
Is the full Class 11 syllabus included in MHT‑CET?
No. Only the chapters named in the CET Cell's syllabus document are included. The full Class 12 syllabus is included.
Does MHT‑CET follow NCERT or the State Board syllabus?
The official document says questions are based on the Maharashtra SCERT syllabus. NCERT covers most of the same ground, but there are differences in chapters and in which year a topic is taught.