The National Testing Agency (NTA) will be conducting the Central University Entrance Test (CUET). It will announce the test pattern as soon as possible. There are 45 central universities sponsored by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The syllabus of the CUET will be emulated with the Class 12th model syllabus of the NCERT.
The first of a kind mandatory common entrance test for admission in Undergraduate (UG) programmes in 45 central universities funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) will be organised in the first week of July as announced by the UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on 22 March, 2022. The common entrance test will be named as Central University Entrance Test (CUET).
UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar further said that the 45 central universities will have to use Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores to admit students to undergraduate programmes this year and not the Class 12 board examination marks.
“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 at a press briefing.
The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is a computer-based exam or online exam and will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The universities can, at best, use the Board exam marks as an eligibility criterion for the test. The application window for the examination will open in the first week of April as announced in a public notice.
CUET will be organized in two shifts. In the first shift, candidates are going to be ready to write one language, two domain-specific papers and the general test.
In the second shift, candidates are going to write the remaining four domain-specific subjects and section 1B.
Domain-specific sections offer a total of 27 domains and a candidate can choose to have her knowledge tested in at least one and a maximum of six domains. Each central university will notify which domain-specific test a candidate has to appear in for which programme.
The CUET will consist of Section 1A, Section 1B, general test and domain-specific subjects.
27 domains subjects to choose from in CUET are as follows are Accountancy/ Book Keeping, Biology/ Biological Studies/ Biotechnology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computer Science/ Informatics Practices, Economics/ Business Economics, Engineering Graphics, Entrepreneurship, Geography, History, Home Science, Knowledge Tradition–Practices India, Legal Studies, Commercial Arts, Mathematics, Physical Education/ NCC, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Teaching Aptitude, Agriculture, Mass Media/ Mass Communication, Anthropology, Fine Arts/ Visual Arts (Sculpture/ Painting), Performing Arts and Sanskrit.
Section 1A, which will be obligatory, will be in 13 languages and candidates can choose the language of their choice.
The languages options are English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Section 1B is optional and for candidates who want to opt for another language apart from the ones that are available for Section 1A.
Some of the languages on offer are French, Spanish, German, Nepali, Persian, Italian, Arabic, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Manipuri, Santhali, Tibetan, Japanese, Russian and Chinese. These are additional languages apart from those available in the other section.
Some universities have a general test as eligibility criteria for admission to even domain-specific courses so that is a part of the CUET, UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said.
The UGC chairman said the reservation policy of the universities will not be hampered due to the CUET.
“The universities can enrol candidates for the overall seats also as for the reserved seats on the idea of CUET scores. It will not impact the existing admission and reservation policy that are in accordance with the Ordinances of the varsity,” he said.
Explaining further, he said if a university features a certain percentage of seats reserved for local students, it’ll be ready to retain that.
The universities are going to be allowed to conduct practical and interviews for courses like music, fine arts, theatre, alongside CUET.
There wouldn’t be any centralised counselling after CUET this year. The state universities, private universities and deemed to be universities also can use CUET scores for undergraduate and postgraduate admissions if they need.
The Delhi University and a few other universities have already announced that they’re going to only admit students to undergraduate courses based on scores in CUET.
Central Universities like Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) reserve half their seats for the minority students.
The universities will have the flexibility to choose CUET as of now.
The NTA will soon release the detailed guidelines regarding CUET on their official website.
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