DU Opens Spot Round 1 for 13,000+ Vacant UG Seats
The University of Delhi (DU) has released the vacant seat list for Spot Round 1 of the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) for undergraduate admissions 2026-27, inviting candidates who have not yet secured admission to apply. The list shows 13,433 vacant seats across 67 colleges, as reported by The Times of India and Times Now. A related report from The Hindu — World put the figure at 13,344, a slight discrepancy likely due to ongoing reconciliations.
The spot round follows three regular allocation rounds and two upgrade rounds. According to The Times of India, last year DU had around 9,000 vacant seats after all regular rounds, making this year's number notably higher. The university has said that seat figures may change due to reconciliations, withdrawals, cancellations, and redressal of grievances, as quoted in an official notice reported by The Times of India.
Interested candidates can apply through the official DU admission portal at admission.uod.ac.in by clicking on the 'Vacant Seats for Spot Round-I' link. The last date to opt for Spot Round 1 is August 24, 2026, up to 11:59 pm, as stated by The Times of India.
Category-wise Vacancies
As of August 23, 2026, 1 p.m., the category-wise breakdown of vacant seats is as follows, as reported by The Times of India, Times Now, and The Hindu — World:
- General: 2,113
- OBC-NCL: 4,133
- Scheduled Caste: 2,038
- Scheduled Tribe: 2,476
- Economically Weaker Section: 1,791
- Sikh minority: 566
- Christian minority: 316
Times Now noted that these figures were consistent across its reporting, though The Hindu — World's total differed slightly, reflecting the fluid nature of seat availability.
Colleges with Highest Vacancies
Several prominent DU colleges have vacant seats, according to data reported by Times Now and corroborated by The Hindu — World and The Times of India. Among them:
- Indraprastha College for Women: 151 seats
- Gargi College: 108 seats
- Sri Venkateswara College: 99 seats
- Ramjas College: 90 seats
- Hansraj College: 84 seats
- Kirori Mal College: 68 seats
- Miranda House: 49 seats
- St. Stephen's College: 44 seats
- Hindu College: 28 seats
- Lady Shri Ram College for Women: 25 seats
- Shri Ram College of Commerce: 3 seats
These figures, reported by Times Now, highlight that even North Campus institutions are not immune to vacancy, as noted by The Times of India.
Programme-wise Vacancies
Times Now also provided a programme-wise breakdown, showing that language courses are the worst hit. The BA (Hons) Hindi programme has the highest number of vacant seats at 1,455, followed by BCom (937), BA (Hons) Sanskrit (911), BSc (Prog) Physical Science with Chemistry (728), BSc (Hons) Mathematics (560), and BSc (Hons) Physics (406). BCom (Hons) has 369 vacant seats, BA Programme History+Political Science 348, BA (Hons) History 342, BA (Hons) Economics 324, BA (Hons) English 319, BSc (Hons) Chemistry 299, BA Programme Economics+Mathematics 247, BSc (Pass) Home Science 232, BA Programme Economics+Political Science 218, and BSc (Prog) Life Science 212.
Haneet Gandhi, Dean of Admissions at DU, was quoted by multiple outlets as saying that most vacant seats are in BA (Hons) courses in languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, and Bengali.
Eligibility and Rules for Spot Round
Only registered CSAS (UG) applicants who do not hold admission as of August 22, 2026, are eligible for the spot round, as per The Times of India and The Hindu — World. Eligible candidates must opt for 'Spot Admission' through their dashboard, selecting only combinations where seats are available in their category.
Admission to a seat allotted in the spot round is mandatory; candidates will not have the option to upgrade or withdraw after allocation, according to the official notice quoted by The Times of India. Failure to accept a seat forfeits eligibility.
The admission process is set to be completed by August 29, 2026, as reported by The Hindu — World. Applications for the spot round are open until August 31, 2026, according to The Times of India, with the last date to opt for Spot Round 1 being August 24.
Context and Parallel Admission Mechanism
This year, DU introduced a parallel admission mechanism to address vacancies, as reported by The Times of India. Colleges with more than 50% of their seats vacant are allowed to admit students directly based on Class XII scores, alongside the regular CUET-based admission. Initially, a list of 11 such colleges was released on August 20, with four more added on August 21, and the list was expanded further on August 23 to include institutions like Indraprastha College for Women and Gargi College.
Dean Haneet Gandhi told The Times of India that after August 31, there may not be a need to run another round as colleges will fill remaining eligible seats at their own level. This, according to the report, marks a departure from the normal mop-up rounds.
Registration and Response
The vacancies come despite an overwhelming initial response, with over 1.9 lakh students registering for approximately 71,600 undergraduate seats, as reported by The Times of India and The Hindu — World. During the first round, the university issued 93,033 seat allotments, and over 80,000 students accepted their allocated seats, according to The Hindu — World.
However, many students have withdrawn their admissions, a factor contributing to the high vacancy count, as reported by The Hindu — World.
Perspectives
Delhi University (Administration)
Officials, including Dean of Admissions Haneet Gandhi, have framed the spot round as a scheduled measure to fill remaining seats, emphasizing that the process is on track. Gandhi expressed hope that all remaining seats would be filled, and noted that after the spot round, colleges would handle admissions themselves based on Class XII scores. Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh, in a 2025 statement, defended the CSAS process as transparent, according to The Hindu — World.