UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Monday said the Central Universities will have to use Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores to admit students to undergraduate programmes. He said the CUET, in all likelihood, will be conducted in the first week of July. This means that apart from the eligibility criterion of different universities, Class 12 board examination marks will not have any bearing on the admission of the students.
"From the 2022-23 academic year, the National Testing Agency will be conducting the CUET for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. All the central universities will have to consider CUET scores for admissions to their programmes," Kumar said in a Press briefing. There are 45 central universities funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The syllabus of the CUET will be mirrored with the Class 12 model syllabus of the NCERT, Kumar said. The CUET will have Section 1A, Section 1B, general test and domain-specific subjects. Section 1A, which will be compulsory, will be in 13 languages and candidates can choose the language of their choice.
Under the domain-specific subjects, a candidate can choose up to a maximum of six domains that they wish to pursue at the undergraduate level, Kumar said. There are some universities that have general test as eligible criteria for admission to even domain-specific courses so that is a part of the CUET, he said.
The CUET will be held in two shifts. In the first shift, candidates will be able to write one language, two domain-specific papers and the general test. In the second shift, candidates can write the remaining four domain-specific subjects and section 1B, Kumar
said.
Talking about the benefits of CUET, he said it will provide equal opportunities to students from across boards, especially to those from the northeast and rural areas. The CUET is also expected to reduce financial burden on parents and students, as candidates will only have to write one exam.
The state universities, private universities and deemed to be universities can also use CUET scores for admissions if they want, he said.