Admission to 45 central universities through CUET 2022 scores only; exam in July

NEW DELHI: Undergraduate admission to all 45 central universities will be via an entrance test alone, the University Grants Commission chairman M Jagadesh Kumar announced on Monday. Class 12 board exam results will no longer be a factor in college admissions.

National Testing Agency (NTA) which will conduct the Common University Entrance Test (CUET 2022) will issue the official notice tomorrow and the first exam will be conducted in July with the application process beginning in April.

The official notice will provide detailed information on the structure of the CUET 2022 exam. For the first time, the NTA will conduct this common entrance test for admission to 45 central universities. The universities, however, will have some liberty in deciding their respective admission processes. The exam scores are mandatory for undergraduate admissions in these 45 central universities.

Explaining the exam modalities, Kumar said that the aim is to reduce the burden of the admission process on students while increasing their choices. The exam, scheduled to be conducted in the first week of July, will have three main components including a compulsory language test, domain-specific exam, and a general test. For postgraduate admission, the CUET scores will be given weightage as decided by the respective university, Kumar said. The exam schedule will be notified later in the week.

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NTA will conduct tests for 27 domain-specific exams, 13 language tests out of which one is compulsory, and another additional 19 languages which are optional for the students. These domains include accountancy, biology, biotechnology, economics, history, performing arts like dance, theatre, music, arts, and more.

To maintain uniformity, Kumar said, the CUET 2022 syllabus will be entirely based on Class 12 NCERT textbooks.

CUCET exam 2022

Out of the 27 domain-specific tests, NTA will allow students to choose up to six subjects of their choice along with one compulsory language exam. Students can choose to write Hindi, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Urdu and English that are part of Section 1A in the paper.

In addition, there are 19 other languages like French, German, Japanese, Russian, Bodo, Santhali which can be opted if the candidate desires a language undergraduate degree.

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The exam will be conducted in two shifts in a day, each running for a duration of approximately three hours. In the first shift, students will attempt the compulsory language test, two domain-specific tests, and the general test.

Students will have to apply for a domain based on the university admission policy they wish to take admission in. Each university will follow its own admission criteria. “We want all the universities to take admission based on CUET scores, however, this exam will not affect the specific admission criteria followed in a university. For instance, the reservation policy for seats and how to conduct counseling will remain a university’s decision,” said Kumar.

CUET 2022: No common counselling

This year, the NTA and UGC have decided not to conduct a common counseling but rather provide the scores based on which a merit list will be prepared. Universities will be required to use the merit list and CUET score to admit students in different courses.

Talking about the plans to extend the ambit of CUET, Kumar said: “We are planning to contact the head of state universities so that they also join the CUET system. We will be more than welcoming if private universities, deemed universities and state universities wish to use CUET scores in their admission process.”

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For the performing arts courses like theater, music, art, etc, the universities will have to include a practical exam along with CUET scores for admissions. Admission to professional courses like BTech, B.Arc, MTech will continue to be done through JEE Main and GATE.

The NTA and UGC will issue a notification on the exam and its details tomorrow.