Which programmes require Anthropology?

5 programmes at 4 universities name Anthropology outright in their CUET requirement. No combination of the other papers reaches them, so a candidate who does not sit Anthropology cannot apply to any of them.

Which universities accept Anthropology?

323 programmes across 32 universities can use Anthropology in their CUET requirement, counted from the admission documents we have read line by line. That figure includes the programmes that merely allow the paper as one option alongside others.

What is the CUET subject code for Anthropology?

Anthropology carries NTA subject code 303. It is a domain paper in the CUET (UG) subject list.

Which papers are most often taken with Anthropology?

Counting the programme rules that accept Anthropology, the papers those same rules accept most often are Sociology, History, Political Science, Economics / Business Economics, Psychology. This is a count of rules, not of what candidates choose.

Are past answer keys available for Anthropology?

NTA has published a final answer key covering Anthropology for 2026, 2025, 2024. Each link opens NTA's own PDF at the page where this paper starts. NTA does not publish the question paper itself.

Anthropology

Subject code 303 · domain paperWhere this paper leads

programmes strictly require Anthropology

universities among them

Each of those rules names Anthropology outright — no combination of the other papers reaches them. That is the whole case for spending one of five slots on it.

The paper at a glance

Anthropology carries the subject code 303. The syllabus described here is the one published for 2026-27.

It is a short document: a cover page and a single page of topics. Even so, it spans the whole discipline, from fossil hominids and blood groups to caste, colonialism and fingerprints, so the breadth is wider than the page count suggests.

How the syllabus is organised

The document is laid out in five units, Unit-1 to Unit-5. Each unit is a numbered list of five topics, and the five units follow the conventional branches of the subject: biological, archaeological, socio-cultural, linguistic and tribal, and applied.

The syllabus itself is a list of topics only. It does not print question counts, marks, negative marking or timing. Read it alongside the exam pattern.

Unit 1: Physical / Biological Anthropology

This is the most science-heavy unit. It expects named theories, named hominid species and the vocabulary of Mendelian genetics.

Unit	What it covers
Unit-1: Physical/Biological Anthropology	Human evolution — theories of evolution (Darwinism, Lamarckism, Neo-Darwinism and Neo-Lamarckism), living primates and their features, hominid evolution (Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and other Homo sapiens); human variation (body size, body shape, skin colour, genetic traits); human genetics — Mendelian genetics (laws of inheritance), dominant, recessive, sex-linked, sex-limited and sex-influenced traits, monogenic, polygenic and multifactorial inheritance, chromosomes and their aberrations; forces of evolution — genetic drift, mutation, natural selection and gene flow; genetic markers — blood groups (ABO, MN, Rh(D) and their distribution), DNA as a genetic marker in population diversity

Unit

What it covers

Unit-1: Physical/Biological Anthropology

Human evolution — theories of evolution (Darwinism, Lamarckism, Neo-Darwinism and Neo-Lamarckism), living primates and their features, hominid evolution (Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and other Homo sapiens); human variation (body size, body shape, skin colour, genetic traits); human genetics — Mendelian genetics (laws of inheritance), dominant, recessive, sex-linked, sex-limited and sex-influenced traits, monogenic, polygenic and multifactorial inheritance, chromosomes and their aberrations; forces of evolution — genetic drift, mutation, natural selection and gene flow; genetic markers — blood groups (ABO, MN, Rh(D) and their distribution), DNA as a genetic marker in population diversity

Unit 2: Archaeological Anthropology

The unit moves from the Stone Age through the Metal Age and asks for specific tool types, two named dating methods and a short list of Indian sites.

Unit	What it covers
Unit-2: Archaeological Anthropology	Stone Age — Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures; development of tool typology and technology, evolution of stone tool technology (choppers, hand axes, scrapers, blade tools, microliths, celts, unifacial and bifacial tools, pottery); Metal Age — discovery and use of bronze and iron; stratigraphy and archaeological dating of sites and materials by relative and absolute methods (carbon-14 and potassium-argon dating); important archaeological sites (Sohan, Burzahom and Nevasa; Indus Valley Civilization)

Unit

What it covers

Unit-2: Archaeological Anthropology

Stone Age — Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures; development of tool typology and technology, evolution of stone tool technology (choppers, hand axes, scrapers, blade tools, microliths, celts, unifacial and bifacial tools, pottery); Metal Age — discovery and use of bronze and iron; stratigraphy and archaeological dating of sites and materials by relative and absolute methods (carbon-14 and potassium-argon dating); important archaeological sites (Sohan, Burzahom and Nevasa; Indus Valley Civilization)

Unit 3: Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Family, marriage, kinship, culture, religion, subsistence and political organisation, each with the classic textbook categories named.

Unit	What it covers
Unit-3: Socio-Cultural Anthropology	Family types (nuclear, joint, extended) and their functions; marriage — cultural variation in forms of marriage (monogamy, polygamy); kinship — rules of descent (matrilineal, patrilineal); concepts of culture — cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, socialization and cultural change (diffusion, acculturation); functions of religion in society, beliefs — totemism, animism, animatism, magic and shamanism; subsistence strategies — hunting, gathering and agricultural practices; traditional political systems — bands, tribes, chiefdoms; power, authority and social control in traditional societies

Unit

What it covers

Unit-3: Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Family types (nuclear, joint, extended) and their functions; marriage — cultural variation in forms of marriage (monogamy, polygamy); kinship — rules of descent (matrilineal, patrilineal); concepts of culture — cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, socialization and cultural change (diffusion, acculturation); functions of religion in society, beliefs — totemism, animism, animatism, magic and shamanism; subsistence strategies — hunting, gathering and agricultural practices; traditional political systems — bands, tribes, chiefdoms; power, authority and social control in traditional societies

Unit 4: Linguistic and Tribal Anthropology

Language appears only as one topic; the rest of the unit is about India's tribes and social movements.

Unit	What it covers
Unit-4: Linguistic and Tribal Anthropology	Language as a cultural and social phenomenon; linguistic and cultural diversity in India (festivals, house types, rituals and food habits); distribution and characteristics of tribes in India — economic, social and political organization; major Indian tribes (Santhals, Bhils, Gonds, etc.) and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs); social movements — features; ecological, class-based, caste-based and tribal movements

Unit

What it covers

Unit-4: Linguistic and Tribal Anthropology

Language as a cultural and social phenomenon; linguistic and cultural diversity in India (festivals, house types, rituals and food habits); distribution and characteristics of tribes in India — economic, social and political organization; major Indian tribes (Santhals, Bhils, Gonds, etc.) and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs); social movements — features; ecological, class-based, caste-based and tribal movements

The closing unit is about India today: caste, the legacy of colonialism, development, and the practical uses of anthropology in health and identification.

Unit	What it covers
Unit-5: Social Change and Applied Anthropology	Caste system and social stratification in India; impact of colonialism on Indian society; changes in Indian society — modernization and globalization; anthropology and development, tribal development; role of anthropology in public health and personal identification (skeletal material, blood groups and fingerprints); change and development in industrial society; challenges of cultural diversity

What this syllabus does not tell you

The document is a topic list and nothing more. From it you cannot learn:

how many questions come from each unit, or the marks, negative marking and duration — those are on the exam pattern;
the weightage of any unit, so treat every unit as examinable rather than ranking them;
how deep the treatment goes; "Human Genetics" and "Caste System" are single lines that could each be read at very different levels;
which books to use; the syllabus names no textbook;
how much weight a university gives this paper once you qualify — the programmes that accept it are listed below, but the marks or ranking rule each one applies sits in its own admission bulletin.

For anything about attempt rules or numbers of questions, go to the NTA information bulletin and the exam pattern rather than to this list.

Where this paper can take you

Programmes whose rule can use Anthropology, from the 32 universities whose documents we have read. 5 of them cannot be reached any other way.

Anthropology is the only way inAnthropology is one route

See all 323 against my paper setShowing the 12 universities with the most Anthropology programmes, of 32.

Questions

Which programmes require Anthropology?: 5 programmes at 4 universities name Anthropology outright in their CUET requirement. No combination of the other papers reaches them, so a candidate who does not sit Anthropology cannot apply to any of them.
Which universities accept Anthropology?: 323 programmes across 32 universities can use Anthropology in their CUET requirement, counted from the admission documents we have read line by line. That figure includes the programmes that merely allow the paper as one option alongside others.
What is the CUET subject code for Anthropology?: Anthropology carries NTA subject code 303. It is a domain paper in the CUET (UG) subject list.
Which papers are most often taken with Anthropology?: Counting the programme rules that accept Anthropology, the papers those same rules accept most often are Sociology, History, Political Science, Economics / Business Economics, Psychology. This is a count of rules, not of what candidates choose.
Are past answer keys available for Anthropology?: NTA has published a final answer key covering Anthropology for 2026, 2025, 2024. Each link opens NTA's own PDF at the page where this paper starts. NTA does not publish the question paper itself.