The CUET conundrum: How shifting exam pattern fuels uncertainty, questions stability of national-level exam

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) was introduced to bring uniformity, equal opportunity, and a level playing field for students with diverse educational backgrounds. However, the frequent changes in the exam pattern and continuing mismanagement over the past four years have stoked doubts about the fairness and stability of a national-level test.

Since its inception in 2022, the exam pattern of CUET has been changed every year, with major rejigs in the number of subject choices, mode of exam, test duration, and subject pools — all of which impact the admission chances.

Students usually start preparing for national-level entrance exams months in advance and, in some cases, for years. Many also opt for repeating and retaking the exam the next year. But such frequent overhauls of the CUET exam make it nearly impossible to prepare for or predict the selection process.

Let’s see how the CUET UG exam has changed in just four years.

CUET: Debut edition

CUET UG was introduced to standardize and ensure a fair admission process; that clearly was not the outcome.

Despite being a newly introduced exam, the CUET UG exam saw a record number of 14.9 lakh registrations, making it the second-largest entrance exam in India. However, last-minute exam centre changes, delays, and technical glitches marred the debut edition, with over 65,000 complaints filed by students, as per the data shared by the Ministry of Education in the Rajya Sabha.

The ministry said that the majority of these grievances were requests to postpone the exam, and the remaining — just 1.1% — reported “disruption.”

Around 90 universities — 44 central universities, 24 other institutes, and other participating colleges — offered admission based on CUET scores. The CUET exam pattern was broadly divided into four sections:

• Section IA – 13 Languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Odiya, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi, English, Hindi, and Urdu
• Section IB – 19 Languages: French, Spanish, German, Nepali, Persian, Italian, Arabic, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Manipuri, Santhali, Tibetan, Japanese, Russian, Chinese.
• Section II – 27 domain-specific subjects
• Section III – General Test

Candidates were allowed to opt for six papers from domain subjects and nine in total. Students were given 45 minutes each to attempt the language and domain-specific subjects and 60 minutes to attempt the general aptitude test.

Also read CUET UG Result 2025: ‘Answers changed, questions ignored’, final answer key triggers student outcry

Tuning CUET

Addressing the concerns raised by students, the National Testing Agency (NTA) introduced several changes to the CUET UG exam the next year, in 2023.

Since several students reportedly faced difficulties reaching the exam centres — in addition to last-minute reallotments — the NTA increased the number of exam cities to 547 within India, and 24 in foreign cities including Australia, the USA, Russia, Canada, UAE, Singapore, South Africa, Vietnam, Nigeria, Hong Kong, and Brazil.

With the addition of Sanskrit in Section IB, the total number of languages increased from 19 to 20. Students were allowed to choose 10 subjects in total. The number of shifts was increased from two to three. Additionally, the number of questions to be attempted was reduced to 35 out of 45 and 40 out of 50.

The number of participating universities increased to 116, including central, state, and private universities.

Also read CUET is ‘not fair’, might force states to opt for centralised syllabi: Educationists

CUET 2024: A hybrid approach

Increasing the number of exam cities did not yield the expected results. To encourage more students from rural and interior areas of the country to participate in the centralized national-level undergraduate entrance exam, the former University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman M Jagadesh Kumar announced that the NTA would hold the exam in hybrid mode.

The number of subjects was again reduced — this time from 10 to 6. Students were allowed to choose 4 or 5 domain subjects with 1 or 2 languages.

“In 2024, more structural changes were introduced. The number of subjects was capped at 6. The number of questions was reduced to 35–40 for practical subjects and 40–50 for others. Exam duration varied from 45 to 60 minutes for non-practical and practical subjects respectively,” Keshav Agarwal, director of Coaching Federation of India said.

“The mode became hybrid, and subjects with over 1.5 lakh applicants were conducted in pen-paper mode with no normalization,” he said.

CUET 2025 simplified

The exam pattern was changed yet again this year. Candidates are now allowed to choose only 5 subjects. Each paper has 50 compulsory questions to be completed in one hour, and no internal choice is offered in any section — even the general test follows the same structure.

The mode of the exam was again changed to CBT-only, with a uniform duration of 60 minutes allotted for all three sections.

CUET: Changes in 4 years

Take a look at the changes introduced in the last 4 years.

Also read NTA owes school principals lakhs in NEET, CUET bills despite Rs 449-crore profit

CUET suffers from fundamental flaws

The NTA has made a profit of Rs 449 crore as of 2023–24. However, it still owes principals and exam city coordinators — who help conduct CUET, NEET, and JEE — unpaid dues, some dating back to 2023.

“Despite its scale, CUET continues to suffer from fundamental flaws in its execution. Students have reported poor centre conditions, even after paying a good amount to NTA. In extreme summer weather, they face a lack of adequate test locations, long travel, hotel stays, and insufficient technical preparedness — especially in remote or tribal regions,” Agarwal said.

“The frequent errors in answer keys, last-minute cancellations, and lack of transparency in communication and evaluation have significantly impacted student morale.”

UG admission delays

What’s deeply concerning is that students and parents are bearing the brunt of these unpredictable changes. Even university admission cycles are getting delayed, forcing many students to settle for private college seats in panic.

Teachers from Delhi University (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) have been continuously voicing concerns over delays in the admission process, with several recommending a return to separate entrance exams and opting out of CUET.

Despite increasing delays year after year, more than 280 universities are currently accepting CUET scores for UG admissions.

Also read Allahabad University forced to join CUET UG, ‘did not get permission’ from education ministry for own exam

CUET far from achieving its aim

The frequent pattern changes, unreliable systems, and flawed implementation have not only made CUET a logistical headache but have also led to a devaluation of school education.

“Students no longer see value in board exam preparation, given that CUET has become the sole deciding factor. This is especially worrisome for subjects like History or Journalism, where evaluating writing and analytical skills is critical — but CUET reduces the process to MCQs only,” Agarwal said.

“If CUET is to serve as a fair and robust national-level entrance system, the NTA must prioritize consistency, transparency, infrastructure readiness, and fairness. The current situation is far from a level playing field and needs immediate and serious reform,” he said.