No more “skyrocketing cut-offs” and “rat-race” from this year, as NTA is all set to conduct CUCET (CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES – COMMON ENTRANCE TEST) for the first time in 13 languages between June to July. Dates will be released after the end of this week as UGC (UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION) is coordinating with 42 universities.
Although CUCET was supposed to start last year, couldn’t be conducted because of the pandemic. It will provide equitable opportunities for students seeking admission to central universities, as it is student-friendly & focuses on developing critical thinking rather than rote learning. As students have faced the severe loss of missing full-fledged schooling in the pandemic, considering board examinations results for college admissions was unfair. As the regions with lenient marking usually take the cut-offs of DU up to 99%!
Key pointers about CU-CET
Duration → 3 hours
Mode → CBT (Computer-based test), Online Objective Examination
Sections → 2 (Common Aptitude Test + Domain-specific test)
Medium → 13 languages ( Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telegu, Urdu, and so on )
Syllabus → existing class 11th & 12th syllabus
Common Aptitude Test: 50 Questions (1 hour)
Reading comprehension → 15 Q
Verbal ability → 10 Q
Quantitative reasoning → 10 Q
Logical analytics → 10 Q
General awareness → 5 Q
Domain-specific Test: 30 Questions (2 hours)
It will have questions from the chosen subject (i.e. stream specific) that will be presented in different formats of multiple-choice.
For every correct attempt → 4 marks, incorrect → -1 (negative marking)
There is no gap between the aptitude & the domain-specific.
The questions will be in randomized order and will be presented in different formats of MCQs
But that doesn’t mean boards marks are useless now, the Central University – Common Entrance Test (CUCET) for 2022-23 is likely to bring in a 70% – 75% board exam score as eligibility criteria. The CU-CET score is likely to become an eligibility factor in admissions to private and state universities too, as is the case with JEE. The attempt to create a streamlined national undergraduate entrance exam framework is part of a series of reforms expected to roll out in higher education this year. The UGC will also soon roll out guidelines allowing multiple entries and exit options from courses to allow students flexibility.
