<br>Last year, CUET was conducted for the first time. A total of 14.9 lakh students had registered themselves for the exam, which took place in five weeks in 450 centres.
This year, more than 15 lakh students are expected to appear in this examination, due to which the National Testing Agency (NTA), which will be conducting the exam, has doubled the centres as compared to last time to around 1,000.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) estimates that more than 200 universities will offer admission to undergraduate courses on the basis of CUET score this year.
A total of 89 universities had implemented the CUET last year and 168 universities so far have given their approval to CUET.
UGC believes that where CUET students will not have to appear for different entrance exams for different universities, universities can also avoid the hassle of conducting separate admission procedures at their level.
According to UGC Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar, with the implementation of CUET, the representation of students from rural areas is increasing in universities, as they are no longer worried of scoring 90 per cent in Class 12 examinations to get admitted in colleges.
Students. who secure only 60 per cent marks in Class 12 exams, can also ensure admission in universities by giving CUET.
Regarding the exam syllabus, UGC said that the syllabus of CUET UG is being restricted to Class 12 only. In such a situation, students will not face any problems related to it.
Kumar said that if students concentrate on board exams and perform well in them, then the same is enough to score well in CUET.
The Union Ministry of Education and the UGC have prioritised the timely beginning of the academic session of first year in universities without any delays.
As per the UGC, the academic session of the first year in all Central universities across the country will start from the first week of August.
Significantly, last year students had to face technical glitches in many CUET exams. Many exams were also cancelled due to such glitches and were re-conducted later, which considerably delayed the entire process.
Kumar said that this time, the CUET announcement was done much earlier and the students were duly informed that exams would be held from May 21 to May 31.
The UGC Chairman added that there would be no delays in the programme this year.
The last date of application for CUET UG this year was March 12, which has now been extended to March 30.
After the completion of the application process, students will be informed of their examination centres on April 30. Similarly, students will be able to make corrections in their applications submitted till March 30, if required, between April 1 and 3.
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