brodidit for students
Home / Guides / NUST Entry Test (NET): papers, subject weights, merit and preparation
NUST Entry Test (NET): papers, subject weights, merit and preparation
The five NET papers, the subject weights of each paper as published by NUST, how merit is built from the test and your board marks, and how to prepare.
Last updated: 31 October 2026
The short answer
The NUST Entry Test, or NET, is the test for admission to the undergraduate programmes of NUST. There is a different NET paper for each group of programmes, and the paper you take depends on your HSSC background and on the programme you want. NUST says that NET is compiled from the textbooks prescribed for HSSC courses.
The test is computer based at Islamabad and Quetta and paper based at Karachi and Gilgit. NUST says that the pattern and the standard of the question papers are the same for both types of test.
The five NET papers and their subject weights
These weights are from the page of NUST on the subjects included in NET. They are shares of the paper.
| NET paper | Who takes it | Subjects and weights |
|---|---|---|
| NET-Engineering | Pre-Engineering, Pre-Medical or ICS candidates for all engineering and computing programmes | Mathematics 50%, Physics 30%, English 20% |
| NET-Applied Sciences | Pre-Medical candidates for programmes such as Biotechnology, Environmental Science and Agriculture | Biology 50%, Chemistry 30%, English 20% |
| NET-Business Studies and Social Sciences | Any HSSC combination, for BBA, Economics, Psychology, Accounting and Finance, LLB and similar programmes | Quantitative Mathematics 50%, English 50% |
| NET-Architecture | HSSC with Mathematics and Physics, for B Architecture and B Industrial Design only | Design Aptitude 50%, Mathematics 30%, English 20% |
| NET-Natural Sciences | Candidates with another background, for BS Mathematics, BS Physics or BS Chemistry only | Mathematics 50%, English 50% |
How merit is built
NUST gives these weights for admission on the basis of NET: NUST Entry Test 75 percent, SSC or O Level 10 percent, and HSSC Part 1, HSSC, A Level or DAE 15 percent. The eligibility rules of NUST ask for a minimum of about 60 percent in SSC and in HSSC, so read the exact rule on its eligibility page.
If you take a NET more than once, the system picks your best score for merit. In one series you can take the test only once for a particular discipline. The result of NET is valid for the current admission cycle only.
A rule for pre-medical candidates
A pre-medical candidate who applies for an engineering programme without taking the additional mathematics exam takes the NET-Engineering paper. NUST then requires that the candidate clears its condensed 8 week Mathematics course before admission. Read the page of NUST on subjects included in NET for the full rule.
How to prepare
- Because NET follows the HSSC textbooks, revise the full FSc textbooks for each subject in your paper.
- For NET-Engineering put the most time into Mathematics, which has half of the marks, then Physics.
- Solve numerical problems by hand and check your units.
- Practise English reading, grammar and vocabulary in short daily sets.
- Take the sample test on the NUST website, so that you know how the computer based test looks.
Good to know
NUST says that it does not run entry test preparation activities and does not provide preparation material. It also advises candidates to avoid organisations that claim to be associated with NUST for preparation. This site is not connected with NUST.
NUST publishes the dates of each series, the number of questions and the instructions for each series on its admissions website. Check those notices for your series.
Where this comes from
- NUST undergraduate admissions pages at nust.edu.pk: Subjects included in NET with weightings, Merit generation criteria, Salient features of the admission policy, and Procedure of admission on the basis of NET.
- The number of questions, the time and the marking rule are published by NUST for each series. Check the notice for your own series.