The National Testing Agency has begun the registration process for the Common University Entrance Test, Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2023, and candidates can register till March 12 after which a four-day correction window will be available from March 15 to March 18. The NTA has also introduced several changes in CUET 2023, including an increase in the application fee, number of subject choices, number of slots etc.
CUET is required for undergraduate and postgraduate admissions at any of the 44 central universities, along with other participating universities, and was introduced in April 2022 since the new National Education Policy (NEP), which supports the requirement of an entrance exam for university admissions, was made public.
According to the official notice, CUET-UG 2023 will be held between May 21 and May 31. It will be conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode in 13 languages—English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
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UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar tweeted on Thursday that the CUET UG registration will conclude on March 12 and the advance city intimation slip will be released on April 30. Candidates would be informed about the allotted city for examination on April 30.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kumar clarified that there would be no changes in this year’s CUET format and the number of exam centres this year would go from 450 to about 1,000 across the country, out of which 450-500 centres will be used on each examination day, following the several complaints of glitches in the conduct of CUET last year.
There is no age limit to appear for CUET. Candidates who have passed Class 12 or an equivalent exam or are appearing in 2023 can appear irrespective of their age. However, candidates will be required to fulfil the age criteria of the university to which they want to take admission.
New changes
This year, CUET will be in three phases in a day. The timings of the slots are yet to be confirmed. In 2022, the exam was conducted in the 9 am-12.15 pm and 3 pm-6.45 pm slots.
Candidates appearing for CUET-UG this year can also choose a maximum of 10 subjects from all three sections. Last year, this choice was limited to 9 subjects.
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The exam will have three sections – languages, domain and general test. The number of questions to be attempted in sections 2 and 3 has been reduced this year. In section 2, candidates now have to attempt 35/40 questions out of 45/50. Similarly in section 3, a total of 50 questions need to be attempted out of 60 questions
Fees will be charged based on the number of subjects chosen by the candidates. Candidates appearing from the unreserved category have to pay a fee of Rs 750 for appearing in three subjects, Rs 1,500 for up to seven subjects, and Rs 1,750 for up to 10 subjects.
The number of foreign centres has been increased to 24. The countries include Nepal, Thailand, Brazil, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Qatar, UAE (Dubai), Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kuwait, Nigeria, Bahrain, Russia, Muscat, Canada, Mauritius, Riyadh, UAE (Sharjah), Singapore, Australia, Austria and the USA.
As per last year’s marking scheme, for each correct answer, the candidate would be awarded 5 marks, while one mark would be deducted for every wrong answer. For unattempted questions, the student will get 0 marks. If more than one option is found to be correct, 5 marks will be awarded to those who have marked any of the correct options. If all options are found to be correct, 5 marks will be awarded to all those who have attempted the question. And, if none of the options is found correct or a question is found to be wrong or a question is dropped, then all candidates who have attempted the dropped question will be given 5 marks.
The notice also said that CUET-PG 2023 is expected to be held in the first or second week of June 2023 and the date will likely be announced next week by the NTA.
The results of CUET-UG are likely to be announced in the third week of June and those of CUET-PG in the first week of July. The aim is to finish the UG/PG admission process by July end so that the academic session can begin by August 1.
