Entrance test mandatory for all Central Universities; Class 12 marks won't count

Guwahati, March 22: In an effort to do away with the pressure of obtaining high college cut-offs - often as much as 100%, the University Grants Commission (UGC) decided that class 12 board marks will not be counted anymore. Henceforth, a common entrance test will be held from this academic year to decide the admission to undergraduate courses in all 45 central universities of the country.

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is mandatory from now on and the first one will be held in the first week of July.

With the motto of one nation, one exam, the commission has made the decision to replace multiple entrance tests with a single one to reduce the burden on higher education aspirants.

The announcement comes under the New Education Policy (NEP), hence CUET is compulsory for all 45 central universities to adopt it.

The exam will be a computer-based multiple-choice test based on the content of NCERT textbooks which will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The application window for the examination will open in the first week of April.

UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar while speaking to the media said that admission to the undergraduate courses in the central universities will be based on the CUET marks. Class 12 Board marks will not carry any weightage. However, the Central Universities can use the Board exam marks as an eligibility criterion for the test.