Following the recommendations of the expert panel, the CUET-UG computer-based test (CBT) from next year, will see a shift from the earlier hybrid mode, and students will be allowed to appear in subjects irrespective of the subjects studied in Class 12. University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman M Jagdesh Kumar said on Tuesday.
The UGC has also announced that the number of subjects will be reduced from 63 to 37 and admissions to programs in the dropped subjects will be based on General Aptitude Test (GAT) scores.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kumar said, “Based on the feedback from previous years, we are constantly working to improve the examination process and provide a better, more efficient and friendly environment for students taking CUET. In this spirit, UGC has constituted an expert committee to review the conduct of CUET-UG 2025. The committee is responsible for various aspects of the examination such as its structure, number of papers, duration of examination papers, syllabus alignment, and operational logistics. The Commission considered these recommendations in its meeting held on 13 November 2024.
“Candidates will also be allowed to opt for subjects in CUET-UG which they have not studied in class 12 which will allow students to cross the rigid disciplinary boundaries in higher education,” the UGC chief said.
He said the decision to adopt CBT instead of the OMR-based test was to “reduce the scope for human errors in assessment”.
“CBT allows faster processing of results and provides enhanced security, ensuring the integrity of the examination process…Making all questions compulsory provides a level playing field for all candidates, and their overall proficiency is tested. The compulsory-answer format tests their knowledge and provides a more comprehensive and uniform assessment of abilities as all candidates are assessed on the same set of questions. It also motivates students to prepare well as they have to tackle all the topics covered in the exam,” said Kumar.
Instead of separate exams for 33 languages, exams will be offered for only 13 languages - Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Domain-specific topics have been reduced from 29 to 23. Domain-specific subjects are entrepreneurship, teaching qualification, fashion studies, tourism, legal studies and engineering graphics.
The duration of the exam has also been standardized for all the papers and 60 minutes, he said, ‘The same number of questions have been made for all the papers. Kumar said that the concept of optional questions in the exam has also been removed and now all questions will be made compulsory.
CUET-UG, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), serves as a single gateway for UG admissions to 46 central universities, including Delhi University, BHU, and Allahabad University.
In 2024, the exam was held from May 15-31 in multiple shifts in online and pen-and-paper modes, but the declaration of results, which was scheduled for June 30, was delayed.
When the exam was conducted for the first time in 2022, due to technical glitches and logistical problems, the results were delayed till September. Last year, the results were postponed till mid-July to accommodate candidates from Manipur amid communal tensions. –With PTI input