What is Common Entrance Test for Central Universities, all questions answered

National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the first ever mandatory Common Entrance Test for admissions to undergraduate programmes in all the 45 Central Universities. The announcement to this effect was made by the UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar. The Common University Entrance Test will be held in the first week of July, this year.

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is a computerised exam and will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which will announce the test pattern, Jagadesh Kumar said. The application filing process from the entrance test will begin in the first week of April.

This means, from now on admission to the undergraduate courses in the central universities will be based on the Common University Entrance Test marks. Class 12 Board marks will not carry any weightage from henceforth, Jagadesh Kumar said.

However, the Central Universities can use the Board exam marks as an eligibility criterion for the test.

Read | DNA Explainer: Common entrance test for central varsities, reasons and criticism

What this means 

The performance in the Class 12 Board examination will no longer be a factor in admissions across Central Universities.

Candidates need to only pass the Class 12 exams or equivalent thereto from a single recognised Board to sit for CUET.

This means from now on the sky-high cut-off marks demanded by the likes of Delhi University will no longer remain legitimate.

In 2021, seven DU colleges had asked for 100% marks in the first list to admit students to a total of 10 programmes.

The Government did not favour using Board marks for admission because of the 'diversity' applied in the evaluation process.

Some Boards are more generous than others in marking and this gives their students an unfair advantage over others.

With CUET, each university will admit students based on a merit list prepared by NTA, and there will be no common counselling.

Will this affect quota system?

The CUET will not affect the quota of reserved seats, but will have to mandatorily admit all students through the common test. The students coming through quota will also have to come through CUET, like students to be admitted on general seats. 

The reservation policies and ordinances of the universities will remain unchanged, UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said.

How the exam will be conducted?

CUET will carry multiple choice questions based on NCERT textbooks, students will be marked negatively for incorrect answers. 

It will be conducted in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Punjabi, Odia, English.

The exam will be conducted in two shifts. First shift will have Section I (languages), two chosen domain subjects and the general test.

In the second shift, the candidates will appear for the other four domain subjects and an additional language test, if opted for.

International students are exempted from CUET, their admissions will be carried out on the existing supernumerary basis.

If the subject studied in Class 12 is not mentioned in CUET, candidates must appear in one that is similar to the subject they have studied.

Merit will be calculated on the basis of a combination of subjects appeared in CUET as mentioned in the programme-specific eligibility.

As per the recommendations, merit will be calculated based only on the combination of subjects in which a candidate has appeared in CUET.

Structure of CUET

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) will have three sections - Section I, II, III.

Section I - Reading comprehension, verbal ability, synonyms and antonyms. Candidates can opt for one out of 13 languages.

Section II - Will be subject-specific. 27 subjects have been listed so far under CUET.

Section III - Will have two sub-sections, comprising general tests for vocational and open eligibility programmes.

Which universities will come under CUET?

Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Indira Gandhi National Open University in the national capital.

Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University in Uttar Pradesh will now be covered by Common University Entrance Test.