HYDERABAD: As many as 81.25% of candidates qualified the Telangana Polytechnic Common Entrance Test (POLYCET)-2026 conducted by the State Board of Technical Education and Training (SBTET), the results of which were announced on Saturday.
Commissioner of Collegiate and Technical Education A Sridevasena said a total of 98,029 candidates appeared in the MPC stream, of whom 81,307 qualified, recording a pass percentage of 82.94. In the MBiPC stream, 79,652 candidates qualified, recording a pass percentage of 81.25. Girls continued to outperform boys for the third consecutive year, with 86.38% qualifying compared to 79.92% boys. However, the number of qualified candidates saw a slight decline from last year’s 83,364.
For the second consecutive year, Hyderabad recorded the highest number of qualifiers, followed by Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts.
Top rank in the MPC stream was jointly secured by Namala Lokesh (Warangal), Banothu Hemanth (Suryapet), Alwiya Shifali (Mancherial), Mohammad Mahaboob Arfaaz Ali (Khammam), Kotla Apoorva (Mahbubnagar), Annam Hari Krishna (Sangareddy), Jangala Avinash Goud (Nalgonda), Chilaka Nanda Vardhan Reddy (Suryapet), Kanduri Aditya Souri (Khammam), Rudroju Sajan (Siddipet) and Dureddy Vanmay Reddy (Nagarkurnool). Kotla Apoorva and Rudroju Sajan also shared the top rank in the MBiPC stream.
‘Self-study is king’
Many toppers said disciplined self-study played a key role in their success. Namala Lokesh said he prepared independently for two to three hours daily and hopes to pursue engineering to develop useful electrical gadgets. Banothu Hemanth said he was confident of scoring full marks after checking the answer key and plans to pursue Computer Science Engineering.
Kotla Apoorva said she initially feared losing marks due to a disputed question, but the revised answer key worked in her favour. She too relied entirely on self-study. Another topper, Sheik Farman Shah from Warangal, credited regular revision and solving previous question papers for improving speed and accuracy.