With nearly 15 lakh students applying for CUET-UG, the second edition of the common entrance test has seen an exponential surge in the number of applications received as compared to its debut edition last year, making it the second-largest entrance exam in the country in terms of applicants after NEET-UG.
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Jharkhand have seen the number of applications go up by 6.7 times than the previous year, making it a challenge for the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the tests, to identify enough exam centres. The shortage of centres prompted the agency to cancel the first phase of exam schedule in J&K and look for a temporary centre in Srinagar while many students still may have to take the exam in a neighbouring state or city.
Ahead of the exam scheduled to start from May 21 to June 6, University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson Prof M Jagadesh Kumar elaborates on the numbers, the challenges while addressing concerns of students and how this year’s test will be different from the one rolled out last year.
Edited excerpts:
The second edition of CUET-UG saw an unprecedented number of overall applicants with an enormous surge in those from J&K and Jharkhand. Which are the other states that have seen a surge?
This year, we have received a total of 14.99 lakh applications for CUET-UG, which is 41 per cent more than the count of 9.9 lakh last year. Of this, two states — J&K and Jharkhand — have recorded a phenomenal rise in the number of applications which is 6.7 times higher than the number of applications received last year. While 87,309 students have applied from J&K this year as compared to 13,021, we received 1,78,630 applications from Jharkhand, the count for which last year stood at 26,497. When combined, it means that 17.74 per cent of all students who have applied for the exam are from these two states alone.
The top five states in number of applicants are — Uttar Pradesh (UP), Jharkhand, Delhi, Bihar and J&K. Then, the other regions that have also recorded a notable surge include the Northeast (all eight states), which has seen a 31 per cent increase in overall applicants from last year’s debut edition. This is followed by southern states, where Kerala and Tamil Nadu have recorded a major surge of 51 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively.
What do you think are the reasons behind the exponential surge in applications?
The surge can be attributed mainly to two factors — one is the growing popularity of the common entrance test while the second is the increase in the number of participating universities from 99 to 250 this year. It stands true for J&K and Jharkhand as well where students know that now through one entrance test, they can directly apply to 45 central universities instead of applying multiple times. Also, this is an important indicator for southern states where there were several reservations raised on the implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which underlined the need for a common entrance test for entry to UG courses in universities.
There is also an increase in the number of applicants from reserved categories from last year. The highest surge of 61.50 per cent is in Scheduled Tribes (ST) category, followed by 45.20 per cent in Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 33.50 per cent in Scheduled Caste (SC). This surge shows that it can lead to increased diversity at educational institutions, which will eventually help students evolve better.
CUET-UG debut last year saw both technical and administrative glitches. Given that the numbers are much higher this time, how are you preparing for conducting this huge exercise across the country?
In terms of the number of slots, CUET-UG will surpass even NEET and JEE, which so far used to be the largest entrance exams conducted across the country. The test has been scheduled for 14,99,778 candidates who have opted for 64,35,050 test papers. This means we have prepared for 64.35 lakh slots over the scheduled days of examination. These candidates have applied for 48,779 unique combinations of subjects across 250 central, state, and other participating universities.
Due to very large number of applicants, we are facing shortage of exam centres in J&K and Jharkhand, as centres have to be in institutions that have computer compatibility and a robust internet connection. We are trying to allot students centres within their city, but it just might be the case that some students still may have to take the exam in a neighbouring state/city such as Punjab and Chandigarh in case of J&K and Bhubaneshwar for those in Jharkhand.
All other logistics are in place as this year preparations started much in advance with the schedule being announced much earlier. The entire process of identifying examination centres started early on and is a decentralised exercise depending upon centre size in each state. We have already taken dummy tests on all computers designated at the centres and checked the internet connectivity at each of the centres to avoid any uploading/downloading hassles leading to delays. Also, we have kept extra computers ready on standby.
What will be the test slots? Some students are raising concerns such as issuance of admit cards and exam centres being allotted far-off?
The test will be conducted in three slots between 8.30am and 6.30pm on each scheduled day — the first slot will be 8.30am-10.30am, second would be 12 noon to 2pm while the third would be 3.30pm-6.30pm. Concerning admit cards, for those to appear in the first phase of the schedule (May 21-24), these were issued on Friday morning. For the next phase (May 25-28), admit cards will be issued on May 23. Typically, admit cards are issued three days before the exam.
Regarding allotment of centres, we are trying to allocate students their preferred city and nearest centre, but there still may be some cases where students have been given a centre outside their city limits. Since the number of applications is too large and because students writing multiple test papers depending on subject choices, which means each student is roughly writing four tests, allotting centres nearby becomes a challenge. In case of Delhi, there were reports of several students by chance being allotted centres in Meerut. We are contacting these students and re-allotting them centres within NCR itself. If any student still feels the need for change of exam city, they can contact the NTA, where a team is looking into resolving such issues.
What would you advise students going to take the test?
In terms of preparation, students must revise what they studied in Class XII and have their concepts clear. They must practise applying these concepts more. Also, students should go to the exam with a calm mind and not sit up too late in the night before the exam. It is advisable to reach the exam centre at least two hours in advance to avoid any kind of delays.
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