Common test for all UGC-funded central varsities

New Delhi, March 22

From this year, the UGC-funded central universities will consider the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores to admit students to undergraduate courses.

Editorial: Common entrance test

No sky-high Class XII cut-offs

• Common University Entrance Test for UG courses in July
• Applications for CUET-UG available in April first week
• Class XII marks won’t have bearing on college admissions

“The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to hold the entrance test for admission to undergraduate courses in all 45 central universities,” UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said, adding the test would be mandatory and likely to be conducted in the first week of July.

This means that marks secured in Class XII board examinations will no longer have a bearing on college admissions. This, experts say, is being done to “reduce pressure” on students and to do away with the practice of sky-high cut-offs in institutions such as Delhi University.

“From the 2022-23, the National Testing Agency will conduct the CUET for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. All central universities will have to consider CUET scores for admissions,” the UGC chairman said.

The application for the CUET-UG will be available in the first week of April. The detailed structure of the test is available on the NTA’s website. State/private/deemed universities can also adopt the CUET.

A large number of central universities have also confirmed participation in the CUET-2022 (PG). The syllabus for the CUET will be according to the Class XII syllabus of the NCERT.

Kumar said the test was compulsory for all 45 UGC-funded central universities. “The CUET will not affect the quota at institutions that reserve seats for minorities,” he said.