Nearly 14 lakh students will sit for the Common University Entrance Test for undergraduate admissions (CUET-UG) this academic session, an increase of 41% from last year — with a 50% rise in the number of female students and a significant jump in those applying from Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and southern regions — when the test was introduced in central universities across the country for admission to UG courses, a top official said.

This year, in the second edition of the entrance exam, out of a total of 16.85 lakh students who had registered for it, 13.995 lakh have submitted their applications. Last year, in the debut edition, 9.9 lakh students submitted their applications out of 12.50 lakh who had registered.

“In 2023 CUET-UG, a total of 16.85 lakh students registered. Out of 16.85 lakh, 13.995 lakh paid the application fee and submitted the application form — an increase of 4 lakh students from its debut edition when 9.90 lakh students had applied. In 2023, there is a 41% increase in the total number of students who will sit for the exam,” said University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) announced the schedule of CUET-UG 2023 on December 15, 2022. The application process started on February 9 and the date for submission of forms was extended from March 12 to March 30. The test will be conducted from May 21.

The debut edition of CUET held during July-August last year was marred by chaos and confusion with both technical and administrative glitches. The testing agency had to even cancel the exams at several centres on some days.

Compared to last year, the application process this year has seen a rise of 50% in female students and just 34% in male students. Out of 13.99 lakh who will sit for CUET-UG in 2023, 6.51 lakh are females, and 7.48 lakh are males. While in 2022, out of 9.90 lakh students who had applied, 4.34 lakh were females, and 5.56 lakh were males, according to officials.

Kumar also said that there is an increase in the number of participating universities, from 90 in 2022 to 242 in 2023. “The extension of the last date of submission of applications allowed more universities and students to adopt CUET. This significant rise indicates that CUET-UG is becoming a popular option for admissions in UG programmes,” he said.

The five central universities which have received the largest number of applications for CUET-UG in 2023 are in the following order: Delhi University (DU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), University of Allahabad, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, and Jamia Millia Islamia. The same order was maintained in 2022 as well, said UGC officials.

Increase in applications from J&K, N-E, southern regions

Just like in the debut edition, the top three states from which the largest number of students will appear in the second edition of CUET are Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Bihar. However, the number of students applying from Jammu and Kashmir has seen a significant rise. “There is a considerable jump in the number of students from the Jammu and Kashmir region. In 2022, a total of 13,021 students took CUET-UG from this region. But in 2023, this number is 82,655, representing an increase of 6.3 times,” said Kumar.

Similarly, the number of students taking the exam this year from the north-eastern region (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim) has increased by 31% compared to 2022. While 59,208 students took CUET-UG in 2022, this figure is 77,365 in 2023.

Among the five states in the south — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu — the largest number of students attempting the exam will be from Kerala. “This year 56,111 students from Kerala have applied for the exam, compared to 37,303 in 2022, which is an increase of 51%. The second largest number of submitted applications in 2023 is from Tamil Nadu, which stands at 24,462 — an increase of 45% compared to 2022,” the UGC chairperson said.

Jump in applications from reserved categories

According to application data, among different categories of students (ST, SC, OBC-NCL, General-unreserved, EWS), the number of submitted applications of ST category students has seen a considerable rise. This year, a total of 95,119 ST students have applied for the exam compared to 58,881 in 2022, indicating a rise of 61.5%.

A similar increase is observed in other categories too. For SC category students, the submitted applications in 2023 are 1,40,307, an increase of 35.5% compared to 2022. The number of applications for those in OBC-NCL, General-unreserved, and EWS category students this year is 4,61,022, 6,42,443, and 60,611, respectively. This indicates a rise of 45.2%, 39.6%, and 20.5%, respectively, compared to 2022.

Meanwhile, last year students from 59 countries submitted their applications for CUET-UG, which has increased to 74 countries in 2023, with 1,000 students spread across Europe, Asia, America, and the Gulf countries.

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