41% rise in number of students registered for CUET-UG, over 13.99L students to take exam this year

Of the 13.99 lakh students who registered, 6.51 lakh are female and 7.48 lakh are male students

There has been a 41 per cent increase in the number of students who have registered for the CUET-UG, the University Grants Commission said. Over 13.99 lakh students will take the exam this year, UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said, up from the 9.9 lakh students who applied for the exam in 2022. This includes a 50 per cent rise in the number of female students.

UGC Chairman Prof Kumar said that, while in 2022, 12.50 lakh students registered, and 9.9 lakh students submitted their applications, in 2023, over 16.85 lakh students registered and 13.995 lakhs paid the application fee and submitted the application form — which marks an increase of 4 lakh students.

“In 2023, there is a 41 per cent increase in the total number of students who will sit for CUET-UG. We have also seen an increase in the number of participating universities. In 2022, it was 90, but in 2023 it rose to 242. This significant rise indicates that CUET-UG is becoming a popular option for admissions in UG programmes,” Kumar said. “In addition to that, compared to 2022, this year, the increase in female students is 50 per cent compared to 34 per cent in male students.”

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Of the 13.99 lakh students who registered in 2023, 6.51 lakh are female students and 7.48 lakh are male. In 2022, out of 9.9 lakh who submitted their applications for CUET-UG, 4.34 lakhs were female students, and 5.56 lakhs were male students.

Kumar said that there is a substantial growth in the number of applicants of students from the Scheduled Tribes category – it rose from 58,881 in 2022 to 95,119 in 2023, which is a hike of 61.5 per cent from last year. There has been an increase among Scheduled Castes students (35.5 per cent), OBC (45.2 per cent), and EWS (20.5 per cent) category students, too.

Like in 2022, the University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University, University of Allahabad, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, and Jamia Millia Islamia were the five central universities which have received the largest number of applications for CUET-UG in 2023. Similar to 2022, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Bihar had the largest number of students. In the South, Kerala with 56,111 applicants, had the highest number of applicants, registering an increase of 51 per cent.

Kumar said that Jammu and Kashmir registered “a considerable jump” in applications – in 2022, 13,021 students took CUET-UG which rose to 82,655 in 2023, a 6.3-time jump. Applications from the north-eastern region also increased by 31 per cent, rising from 59,208 applications in 2022 to 77,365 this year.

Students from over 74 countries, including over 1,000 students from across Europe, Asia, America, and Gulf countries, have applied this year.

The CUET-UG was rolled out for the first time last year. The National Testing Agency started the process of CUET exams for admissions to undergraduate courses on February 9, with the last date of registration being extended from March 12 to March 30.

Kumar said that the CUET-UG score, while designed for admissions in BA, BCom, and BSc disciplines, has been used for admissions in various other disciplines such as Integrated Dual Degree BBA LLB, Bachelor of Design, Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor in Computer Application, Bachelor of Physiotherapy, etc.

“What is interesting is that the CUET-UG score is also used for admissions in B.Tech. in various engineering disciplines by a large number of Universities. It is also used for lateral entry of diploma holders in the second year of B.Tech,” Kumar said.