Entrance test for 42 central universities, CUCET, will comprise 3 sections

NEW DELHI: Till 2021 most doors for example in BSc (honours) in chemistry in sought after higher education institutions would have been shut for those with scores of 80 in physics, chemistry and mathematics at class XII boards. But not any more as the Combined Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) 2022 now places candidates with a score of even 60 marks in senior secondary on an equal footing with those with 90 marks for admission to central universities and their affiliated colleges.

According to details exclusively accessed by the TOI on the first CUCET 2022, which the ministry of education (MoE) has finalised, the entrance test for the 42 central universities’ integrated masters, undergraduate, diploma and certificate programmes will comprise of three sections, which include language tests, 27 domain specific tests and a general aptitude test.

According to MoE sources, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is likely to announce the detailed structure of the test and eligibility criteria by next week, to be followed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) notifying the registration process and exam dates for the 2022-23 academic session.

The test will be computer based and will have three sections — Section A (the language test), Section B (the domain specific test) and Section C, which is optional, is a general test for vocational/ open eligibility/ cross stream test. For Section A, which is a compulsory test for all aspirants, a candidate will have to take the exam of any one of the 13 languages on offer which include English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

This is followed by Section B where the test will offer 27 subjects of which a candidate is allowed to take a maximum of six domains which he/ she desires to pursue at undergraduate level. The subjects include accountancy, biology, computer science, entrepreneurship, knowledge tradition – practices of India, physics, teaching aptitude, agriculture, fine arts and performing arts, among others.

“Section A is compulsory for all the candidates. He/ she has to opt for one paper. In Section B a candidate can take the test for the course he/ she desires to pursue at undergraduate level. A candidate can appear for as many as six domain tests. Also there are universities/ higher education institutions which may offer courses for which a candidate need not have studied the subjects in school. The domain specific test will indicate whether the candidate has the aptitude for the subject,” said a senior official at the ministry of education.

The optional Section C is divided into two subsections – General Test and Language Test. Sub-section 1 will be a general aptitude test, while sub-section 2 will be a language test where 19 languages are being offered which include Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nepali, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Tibetan, Bodo, Dogri, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Manipuri, Santhali and Sindhi. “Section C is optional as there are many programmes in universities which will require only the scores of general aptitudes. For example, Banaras Hindu University for some of its programmes will offer admission based only on the general test.

The sub-section 2 of the Section C too is optional as only those candidates willing to pursue these languages at UG level need to take the test,” said the MoE official.

According to NTA sources it is planning the CUCET after the completion of the NEET-UG 2022. “As per the current preparation the medical entrance is likely to be conducted by June-end or first-week of July and CUCET is likely to be conducted around the first or second week of July. ”