Every year around 40,000 candidates appear in ECAT while there are around 3,045 fully subsidized (A1 & A1-M) and partially subsidized (A2 and A2-M) seats available in UET Lahore and its campuses, making a selection ratio of 7.6% in ECAT based disciplines.

Founded on 1 January 1921 in Mughalpura, a suburban area of Lahore, as Mughalpura Technical College, it later became the MacLagan Engineering College, a name given to it in 1923 after Sir Edward Douglas MacLagan, the then Governor of Punjab, who laid the foundation stone of the main building, now called the Main Block.

In 1929, it was affiliated with the University of Punjab for the award of bachelor's degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering.

In 1962, it was granted a charter and was named the West Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore.

By the 1970s, it had established a score of master's degree programs in engineering, architecture, city and regional planning and allied disciplines.

[6] Today, it is widely considered one of the best and most prestigious engineering universities in Pakistan.

[11] As of 2023,[update] Computer Science is the highest-merit and most sought-after discipline at UET Lahore (at the undergraduate level).

Apart from sports-related facilities, there are societies to promote co-curricular activities and seminars.