Common entrance test in April for UG students, Class 12 marks won’t count

There are 45 central universities funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC)

A day after University Grants Commission chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar announced that all central universities will have to admit students in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the current academic year on the basis of Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores, the higher education body issued a notice announcing the entrance exams for UG students from the first week of April.

This means that admissions to varsities like the Delhi University, where seven colleges had already announced a cut-off of 100%, will no longer depend on these cut-off marks. Kumar said that the syllabus of the CUET will be that of the Class 12 syllabus of the NCERT.

Kumar said that it was "ridiculous" to have 100% cut-off marks, and the aim was to have a “one nation, one entrance test”. He said the new method is student-friendly and will bring parity among different marking methods across universities.

Students will be able to sit for the test in 13 languages including Hindi, Marathi, Odia, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Punjabi and English.

The test will have two sections – Section 1A and Section 1B, as well as a general test and tests on domain-specific subjects. Section 1A, which will be compulsory, can be attempted in any of the 13 aforementioned languages.

Section 1B is optional and is meant for those who choose to take the test in an additional language. Languages available include German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Nepali, Persian, Italian, Arabic, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Manipuri, Santhali, Tibetan, Japanese, Russian and Chinese.

Then comes the domain-specific test, and candidates can choose as many as six domains from the 27 domains that are available. These include chemistry, physics, accounts, anthropology, sociology, etc. The third section of the entrance will be a test on current affairs, general knowledge, reasoning, numerical ability, etc.

The CUET will be conducted by the National Testing Agency, and it will be a computerised test spanning three-and-a-half hours. The test will have multiple-choice questions. The application process starts in April, and the test will take place in July.

The education body has asked all state, deemed-to-be, and private universities to use the test scores for admissions, and Kumar had said on Monday that all the 45 UGC-funded institutions will have to comply. While Delhi University has declared it will admit students on the basis of CUET, Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University are yet to make an announcement on the matter.

Kumar said that reserved seats in universities like Jamia and AMU will not be affected, but students will have to sit for the CUET.

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