Universities can conduct own entrance exams to fill vacant seats after CUET admissions: UGC

NEW DELHI: In an unexpected turn of events, the University Grants Commission has allowed the universities to conduct their own entrance exams for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, if the seats remain vacant after the regular rounds of admission. UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said on social media that universities have been provided with standard operating procedures (SOPs) to use the CUET scores which include multiple admission rounds. If seats remain unfilled even after several rounds of counselling and relaxation of eligibility criteria, universities can hold their separate entrance tests at their level to fill them, as per the SOPs.

"It has come to the notice of UGC that seats remain vacant in some of the Central Universities even after three or four rounds of counselling. To keep the seats vacant for an entire academic year is not only a waste of resources but also results in denial of quality higher education to many students who aspire to pursue higher studies in Central Universities. Hence, in order to facilitate the Central Universities to fill up their vacant seats, the following SOPs have been formulated with the approval of the Commission," the document read.

CUET will remain the primary eligibility criteria for admitting students, however, universities can hold exams or consider marks in the qualifying exam to admit students to fill seats, the SOPs read.

For three years, the universities across the country have been admitting students to their UG and PG programmes through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) which made its debut in 2022. The move comes amid complaints of universities, such as Allahabad University, about being “forced” to participate in CUET and denied permission to conduct separate test, despite delays in admissions, seats going vacant, year after year.

Before Covid, when the entrance exam was not introduced and students were admitted based on their Class 12 scores, the academic sessions used to begin in the month of July. With this year being in August already, the decision might prove to be a huge blow to college admissions.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) recently announced the CUET UG results 2024 and some participating central, state, and private universities are in the process of conducting admissions.

CUET delay: Universities seeking alternatives

Several universities have flagged issues in the newborn CUET exam. Recently, the academic council members of the Delhi University said that DU should opt out of the test, citing chaos in admissions for the third consecutive year, basically since the exam has been introduced.

The Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) vice chancellor, in a conversation with Careers360, shared the “bitter experience” of filling vacant seats in high-demand courses and suggested revamping the entrance test.

Biannual admissions

In another chaotic move, the UGC recently allowed universities to conduct biannual admissions, offering seats to students twice a year, starting from the academic session 2024-25. The commission said that it is not mandatory for the higher education institutions to offer admissions twice a year, and the policy will help increase student intake and offer new courses.