CUET Result 2022: ‘Normalisation ruined everything,’ complain students

NEW DELHI: Vasundhara Singh Tomar’s score in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) came as a surprise and not of the pleasant kind. Tomar, from Delhi and aspiring to a political science seat in a Delhi University college, found that her scores in the CUET result were significantly lower than what she had been expecting based on the CUET 2022 answer key released by the exam body, National Testing Agency (NTA). The NTA declared the CUET result 2022 on cuet.samarth.ac.in very early on September 16.

“My earlier score [raw score, based on CUET answer key] was more than 500 out of 800. But today, in the answer sheet, it’s 460. My raw score was 137 in political science, 142 in geography and 106 in sociology and 132 English but my normalised score is 129 in geography, 124 in political science and 82 in sociology and in English is 143,” said Tomar. She wasn’t alone in complaining about the scores.

Many students have claimed that their marks have dropped considerably, some even by 50 marks, from their original score after the “normalisation procedure”. Normalisation in any exam is the process by which the exam body tries to create a level playing field for candidates writing exams across centres, on different days and answering different questions.

My General test raw score was 220
now 159
Economics 182 now 128
Business 134 now 100
Well done NTA
Need more normalisation like these???#CUET #CUETUG2022 #NTA

— Abhinav Kalra (@AbhinavKalra17) September 16, 2022

The CUET 2022 result involved a “normalisation procedure based on the student's percentile” and it has been devised by academics from Indian Statistical Institute Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Delhi University, said University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson, M Jagadesh Kumar. “Scores are normalised to provide a level playing field to students since they wrote tests in the same subject on different days,” Kumar told the Press Trust of India. He also said that rank lists will be prepared by universities using normalised scores and not percentile.

That has not placated students who have noticed their marks varying considerably from what they calculated through NTA’s CUET UG 2022 answer key.

CUET Result 2022: Lost 24 marks

Palak Sinha, a student from Haryana, found their scores trimmed down by 24 marks. Sinha, who will apply for the BA programme in DU admission, had a raw score of 752 but ended up with 728 marks after normalisation.

Some distraught students took to social media to express their concern.

“This normalisation has ruined everything for me. Scored full in two subjects and only three-four mistakes in others but my percentile is not even 90. I worked so hard,” wrote a student on Twitter.

What a shitty normalisation it was I scored 156 in eco and now it is showing as 106 jab itta difference lana tha to answer key kyu di #CUET #CUETUG2022

— Whatever! (@Yeahohkayfine_) September 16, 2022

Another student on social media claimed that their raw score in the general test was normalised from 220 to 159 and their score in economics was normalised from 182 to 128 – drop of over 50 marks in each case.

The variation between their original score and normalised score in the CUET result was less drastic for some. Anurag Meena from West Delhi, for instance, found his score trimmed down to 761, nine marks less than what he had calculated for himself in the answer key.

Students were concerned that in the ultra-competitive CUET, which is the second largest centralised exam in the country, a deviation of even one mark can wildly alter their future.

Students also questioned the logic of providing answer keys when the final marks in CUET 2022 result are so starkly different from their original score.

CUET Result: Normalisation helped some

The normalisation process seems to have also favoured some students.

“While there is not much difference in marks in psychology, history and political science, my marks in English is 35 more than earlier. So, obviously, I'm pretty happy with the score.

Just hoping that DU releases its merit list soon so that I get to know my chances of getting psychology at the North Campus as it's already too late for the semester to start,” Anshika Yadav from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, told Careers360.

Meanwhile, students also reported some discrepancies between what they marked in their answer sheets to what was shown by the NTA.

“Also, there is an issue of answers of questions I marked and the answers we received. There are at least three-four questions that I marked a different option and in the CUET answer key, it shows different,” said Tomar.

By Atul Krishna, Sanjay, Sheena Sachdeva