The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) 2023 application process is coming to an end on March 12 and there is a lot of anticipation among students on how the whole process will be that is set to begin on May 21st. Speaking to CNN News18, UGC Chairperson Jagdish Kumar assured that the exam pattern will be similar to last time and efforts are being made to make it a much smoother process this time.

“This year, the pattern will be the same. It is an online multi-choice-based examination. It has sections 1 A and 1B. Section 1A contains 13 languages. Students can opt for any of these languages and write in any of these languages as the medium of the test. Section 1B has 20 languages, it has Indian languages as well as foreign languages such as French, German, and Chinese. Students can pick up papers from here also. Then there is section 2 which has 27 domain subjects starting from accounting, zoology, etc. All kinds of subjects. Section 3 is a general test that any student who wishes to write can write,” said Kumar.

Also read| ‘CUET Will Be Smoother This Year, We Have Learned From Our Mistakes’: Delhi University VC

The changes in CUET this time to ensure a smooth process include:

— Last year students could choose only 9 subjects while this time they can choose 10 subjects.

— This time, the UGC is planning that the students get their first choice of exam centre as much as possible. There are also plans to ensure that the exam centres are within a 100 KM of radius their place of residence.

— Students coming from rural areas will have the option to apply through exam help centres. The UGC has opened 25 help centres across India so that students can go there and take help applying online.

The UGC chairperson also added that this time there is a plan to ensure no delay and that the academic session begins by August first week. “Last time the admission process got delayed due to technical glitches because we were recovering from Covid. This time we announced the date of CUET in December last year itself so that the students know well in advance that the exams will be held from May 21 to 31. Now the exams will be held earlier the result will be out in June the admission process can take place in July the academic session can begin on August 1 so there will be no delay at all this year,” said Kumar.

“Issues were there last year, but you should see the scale at which the test was conducted. There were close to 14.9 lakh registration of students, and the exam was conducted in 5 weeks in 450 centres the majority of the exams went smoothly but in some centres there were complaints which are why this time we are looking into each centre for the availability of computer and proper infrastructure we are identifying these centres well in advance, especially with our past experience we know which are good centre which centre had issues and need to be avoided and which can be added. The exercise has already started. It is our wish that students need not be worried about the test,” Kumar added.

Around 200 universities likely to register under CUET

CEUT UG is mandatory in all 45 central universities and all universities have joined it. The exam is open to other universities around 89 universities participated last time. The number had already crossed 150 now we are hoping around 200 universities will register this time, Kumar said.

“A lot of universities may not have registered with NTA but once the test is conducted they can use the score for admission my guess is close to 200 universities will use the CUET score this time because it is a transparent process, it is level playing field for students and the universities can keep away from the hassle of conduction such exams all over the country,” the UGC chairman added.

Like last year, admission will be solely based on CUET scores. The same pattern will be followed this year as well except for some courses like sports and performing art where some percentage could be given to practical tests. Jamia university and Aligarh Muslim university adopted CUET. This time both universities planning to include more courses under CUET.

Will CUET lead to coaching business?

Jagdish Kumar said “Coaching business is an apprehension raised by some but one should look at the diversity, how it has gone up since CUET. Students from rural areas which were never represented are now joining universities. Students do not have to now worry about scoring 90 per cent someone who got 60 per cent in the 12th exam can also apply and can get admission.”

“We are restricting our syllabus to 12 std and students are anyway appearing for board exam it is fresh in their minds. if students can focus on the board exam and do well then that is enough and sufficient to score well in CUET apart from that IIT Kanpur is coming up with new a portal called Sathi which is an online platform where students can practice questions and answers in subjects which are more science-based but there are plans to expand to more subjects,” he further added.

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