The University Grants Commission (UGC) announced that admissions in central universities will be on the basis of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for students seeking admission in the academic session 2022-23.
The UGC in its latest notification clarified that Class 12 marks will not be taken into consideration during admission to central universities.
The CUET will be conducted during the first week of July this year for both the undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The exam will be taken by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
M Jagadesh Kumar, chairman of the UGC said that it is mandatory for all 45 universities to adopt this system at the undergraduate level.
The University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University are some of the major central universities that will incorporate the CUET system from the upcoming academic session.
He also pointed out that universities that are offering post-graduate degrees will have the freedom to decide whether they want to be a part of this system or continue the process they have had in the past.
Kumar also pointed out that the initiative will help students to ensure equal opportunities. It will also ensure that the poor students from the rural parts appear for several courses free of cost.
- What will be the Exam Pattern for CUET?
UGC clarified that students appearing for the test will get a total of three and a half hours to complete the examination. The question paper will be divided into two sections. Section A will include questions in 13 languages. Section B will have questions from 27 different subjects and students are required to answer a total of six questions from this section.
- Will the exams be conducted in regional languages?
A circular issued by the UGC mentioned that the examinations will be conducted in 13 languages namely Bengali, Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Assamese, Urdu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Odia, and English.
- How can students prepare for the examination?
The questions for the examination will be from Class 12 CBSE textbooks so students need to put emphasis on the NCERT syllabus.
- Will the new guidelines lead to a change in the reservation of seats at the central universities?
UGC clarified that there will be no change in the reservation policies. Students will just have to appear for CUET like the general students.