ICAR Opens Final UG Counselling Round for Vacant Seats

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research's mop-up and final undergraduate counselling round opens at 5 pm on August 18, bringing the display of vacant seats, counselling-fee payment and fresh choice filling into one short closing phase of the 2026 admission cycle.

Eligible candidates have until 11.50 pm on August 20 to complete their choices under the published schedule. Seat allotment is due on August 22, followed by university response, document re-submission where required, payment of the seat-acceptance fee and generation of a provisional admission letter.

This round is not simply an extension of the previous four. ICAR's official brochure contains tighter rules that candidates should read before paying or changing preferences.

Fresh choices are compulsory for eligible candidates

Candidates who registered earlier but were not allotted a preferred seat, failed to upload documents or pay the acceptance fee, or paid the counselling fee without filling choices may be allowed to participate under the conditions in the brochure. Their earlier choices do not remain active. They must select again from the vacancies displayed for the final round.

Leftover eligible candidates who did not register for the first round may also participate by paying the prescribed ₹500 counselling registration fee. Those who already paid it in the earlier process and fall within the permitted categories are exempt from paying it again.

The exclusions are equally important. Candidates with zero or negative CUET-ICAR UG marks cannot enter the round. Students who already stand admitted, withdrew after allotment or were denied admission for failing eligibility checks in earlier rounds are not allowed to return through the mop-up process.

No upgradation and no routine withdrawal

ICAR states that upgradation is not permitted in the mop-up round. The applicant-login option for withdrawal or cancellation will also be unavailable, and the seat-acceptance fee will not be refunded by ICAR or the university in this round.

That makes casual choice filling risky. A candidate should verify the university, degree discipline, campus, eligibility conditions and practical cost of joining before adding an option. Agriculture and allied-science programmes can have similar names while differing in curriculum, professional pathway and state-specific requirements.

The vacant-seat matrix is the operative list. Old screenshots and coaching spreadsheets may include seats that are no longer available. Candidates should build the preference order from the live portal and save the completed selection.

Documents still decide admission

The central online process does not remove university-level eligibility checks. Applicants must be able to support category and qualification claims, and an agricultural university may reject a candidate whose school, board or subject combination does not meet its rules.

Online document verification continues in the 2026 process. The brochure advises candidates to retain copies of uploaded documents, fee records, allotment letters and provisional admission letters because the portal may not make them available after counselling closes.

For students who have waited through four rounds, the final window may be their last practical route into the ICAR-AU system this year. It deserves a slower decision than the word “mop-up” sometimes suggests. Check each vacancy, rebuild choices from scratch, understand that there is no upgradation, and submit only those seats that the student is prepared to accept.