CUET application process to begin on April 2, check requirement to get admission to Delhi University

The rat race for securing higher and more higher marks in Board exams will soon become a thing of the past. In the recent years, we became use to reading headlines, "100 per cent cut-offs for college admissions in Delhi University." 

From this year the government is starting the Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate programmes and students who qualify it will be eligible to enter any Central Universities. The Narendra Modi government had made the announcement in this regard in the new National Education Policy in 2020.

This year, application forms for the Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate programmes will be available from April 2. The National Testing Agency (NTA) of the Ministry of Higher Education has made the announcement to this effect. The application window will remain open till April 30. 

The government has finally decided to implement a common entrance test for admission to all 45 central universities, including Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu University, Allahabad University and such others.

Read | What is Common Entrance Test for Central Universities, all questions answered

Things to keep in mind

Application forms for the Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate programmes will be available from April 2 and will remain open till April 30.

The NTA has advised candidates to go through the details, including the eligibility criteria, of the programmes on offer by visiting the websites of the universities.

Once the candidates pick their courses and universities, they can visit the CUET website - https://cuet.samarth.ac.in and submit their filled application forms.

The entire process is digitised, including the exam which will be a multiple-choice question paper. The entrance exam is likely to be held in the first week of July.

Format of the test

Central Universities Entrance Test will be broadly divided into four sections and will be based on NCERT's Class-XII syllabus.

Under Sections IA and IB, applicants have to sit for papers on languages. Each section will contain 50 questions of which one has to attempt 40. 

The papers on languages will test a candidate's language skills through comprehensions based on factual, literary, and narrative passages.

Candidates appearing for CUET will be expected to answer questions set in the MCQ format based on their understanding of the passages.

Section IA will be compulsory for all. It will test a candidate’s command over English or an Indian language to be chosen from a basket of 12.

Basket will contain Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Punjabi and Odia besides English.

The duration of the Central Universities Entrance Test (CUET) under Sections IA will be of 45 minutes.

Section IB is for those students who are looking to pursue undergraduate degree programmes in foreign languages for the central universities.

Students can chose from a list of 19 languages including French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Russian, Persian, Italian, Arabic and Chinese.

Other languages a candidate can chose from include Nepali, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Manipuri, Santhali and Tibetan. 

CUET Section-2 test pattern

Central Universities Entrance Test, Section-2 will test candidate's command over core subjects they wish to pursue at the undergraduate level.

Candidates can pick up to six subjects from a list of 27 subjects offered to them in all the three streams namely Science, Commerce and Arts.

A candidate appearing for Central Universities Entrance Test, Section-2 exams will have to attempt 40 out of 50 questions given in 45 minutes.

Subjects offered

Accountancy/ Book Keeping; Biology/ Biological Studies/Biotechnology/Biochemistry; Business Studies; Chemistry; Computer Science/ Informatics Practices; Economics/ Business Economics; Engineering Graphics; Entrepreneurship; Geography/Geology; History; Home Science; Knowledge Tradition and Practices of India; Legal Studies; Environmental Science; Mathematics; Physical Education/ NCC /Yoga; Physics; Political Science; Psychology; Sociology; Teaching Aptitude; Agriculture; Mass Media/ Mass Communication; Anthropology; Fine Arts/Visual Arts (Sculpture/ Painting)/Commercial Arts; Performing Arts – (i) Dance (Kathak/ Bharatnatyam/Odissi/ Kathakali/Kuchipudi/ Manipuri (ii) Drama- Theatre (iii) Music General (Hindustani/ Carnatic/ Rabindra Sangeet/ Percussion/ Non-Percussion); Sanskrit.

CUET Section-3 test pattern

It will be based on general knowledge for any such undergraduate programmes that require admission based on a General Test.

The paper has been designed to assess their general knowledge, current affairs, general mental ability, and numerical ability. 

This will be taken by candidates who want to sign up for such courses only. For the paper, an hour will be given to candidates.

It will also test quantitative reasoning through simple application of basic mathematical concepts of arithmetic/algebra, geometry/mensuration taught till Class VIII.

In the CUET Section-3 paper, there will be 75 questions of which 60 will have to be attempted by candidates who sit for the exams.

DU admission criteria 2022

Students planning to take admissions in various Delhi University colleges have to appear for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). 

Those who wish to take admission in Delhi University will also have to clear the Class 12 Board exams to be eligible for appearing in CUET.

For the first time, there will be no cutoffs to get admission in Delhi University, only CUET marks will be given importance for admission in DU.

As per Delhi University's guidelines, candidates must take CUET in only those subjects which they have cleared in Class 12 Board exams.

If the subject studied in Class 12 does not figure in CUET, the candidate will have to appear in a subject that is similar or closely related to it.

Merit will be calculated based on a combination of subjects appeared for in CUET as mentioned in the programme-specific eligibility criteria.

Admissions to minority institutions such as St Stephen's College and Jesus and Mary College, will also be carried out through CUET.

Delhi University has also accepted the proposal to set up the Delhi School of Analytics (DSA) under the Institutes of Eminence.

DSA will offer short and long-term certificate courses, diploma, and degree programmes that will enhance the business analytical skills of students.