CUET: A Hurdle Or Catalyst

In a major departure from Class XII marks being the deciding factor in admission to degree courses in universities, the National Testing Agency (NTA) introduced the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), with effect from the 2022-23 academic session. CUET is a standardised test for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses, certification courses, diplomas and research programmes. CUET-UG is for admission to undergraduate courses in 90 universities, incorporating 12 state and 21 private universities.

With around 14.9 lakh registrations in its maiden year, CUET-UG has become country's second-largest examination, outpacing the JEE-Main’s average registration of 9 lakh in the past five years. While CUET removes the limitations of merit-based admissions for students of different boards, but so far it hasn’t been a very smooth ride for students.

NTA offers 33 languages and 27 domain-specific subjects under CUET, from which a student can choose upto nine subjects, as per their choice of course and college. This range of options has created more than 45,000 unique subject combinations.

CUET was conducted in six phases - between July 15 and August 31. But eleventh-hour changes in timings & test centres, technical glitches affecting the time available to students, unclarity on the examination pattern and a looming uncertainty of when and how the admission process will end and the academic year begin.

The Common University Entrance Test opens new avenues of opportunities for offline coaching centres and edtech players to attract a larger student base. Edtech firms have rolled out new courses focussed on CUET preparations and have seen a growth in enrollment of students.

Missed opportunities

The admission processes have been delayed by months due to CUET. Generally, college classes begin from June or July.  

Because of the delay in announcement of CBSE results, issues with the conduct of CUET had added to the woes of students who passed Class XII in 2022 and were looking to enrol in undergraduate courses. Due to the delays, numerous students had to give up on their preferred choice of college.

Earlier, admissions for undergraduate courses used to wrap up between June and first half of July and the academic session used to commence either from the second half of July or from the month of August.

The two-month delay, as per educators would lead to shorter vacations and curtailed academic sessions, along with adding to the pressure students face in completing huge part of their course in less time.