11 students secure ranks in the state's top 200 and 19 in the top 500, delivering one of the region's strongest results
Media Release
Mangaluru, Jun 9: Students of the Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL), Mangaluru, have delivered an exceptional performance in the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) 2026, with six students placing among the top 17 ranks in the engineering stream, including three within the top 8. The results, declared by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), reaffirm Mangaluru's standing as one of Karnataka's leading centres for science and engineering aspirants.
KEA publishes separate rank lists for each professional stream: engineering, pharmacy, agriculture and allied farm sciences, veterinary, nursing, yoga and naturopathy. Of these, the engineering stream draws by far the largest field, with roughly 2.83 lac candidates eligible this year out of about 2.93 lac overall. A top rank in engineering is therefore measured against the deepest and most competitive pool of students in the state, which makes the depth of CFAL's results especially notable.
All seven top-rank holders are students of CFAL's JEE Advanced track, a reflection of how a foundation built for the country's toughest engineering examination also translates into elite performance at the state level.
Strength in Depth
Beyond the headline ranks, the results show remarkable consistency across the cohort. In the engineering stream, CFAL students secured:
This breadth, not a handful of standout ranks alone but strong outcomes across the whole group, is what CFAL regards as the truest measure of its teaching.
Strong Results in Other Streams
BPharma & Pharm-D: As in Engineering, the results in the pharmacy streams were just as striking. Five students secured ranks within the top 100 — Rishon Fernandes (10), Mrinal D Bhat (28), A Aditya Rao (36), Ira Jain (44), and Abhhi Sannayya (45) — with a total of 19 students placed within the top 1,500.
BPO: In BPO, Princilla Cardoza delivered a standout performance with a state rank 17. A total of seven students from CFAL placed within the top 1,500 in this stream.
Allied & Life Sciences: Across the allied and life science streams, too, the students delivered a strong collective performance. In food science, agriculture (BSc), and sericulture, seven students secured ranks within top 1,500. While nursing and naturopathy & yoga saw three students place within the top 1,500, veterinary science (theory) saw two.
A Word from the CFAL Academic Team
“These results reflect the discipline, curiosity and quiet hard work of our students. To place six students within the state's top 17, with strong results running right through the cohort, is a moment of real pride for the whole teaching team. We do not prepare students for ranks alone; we work to build clear, capable young minds.”— The Academic Team, CFAL
A Proud Year for Mangaluru
CFAL's achievement adds to a strong overall showing by Mangaluru's students in KCET 2026. The coastal city has long been recognised for its culture of academic seriousness, and this year's results continue that tradition. KCET remains one of the most important admission pathways for Karnataka students, opening doors to government-quota seats in the state's top professional colleges at regulated, accessible fee structures.
CFAL has congratulated all students from Mangaluru and across Karnataka on their results, and wished them clarity and confidence as they enter the counselling and college-selection process.
About CFAL
Founded in 2004, the Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL) is a STEM institute under The Learning Centre Trust, Mangaluru, preparing students for JEE, NEET, KCET and Olympiad-level examinations. CFAL is part of a wider educational ecosystem that includes early learning, Cambridge IGCSE schooling, and a research centre, with a mission to develop students who are rigorous, curious, and rich in every dimension of life.