The University Grants Commission (UGC) is now making an attempt to roll out a common entrance examination for admission towards Central Universities all over India in their undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The proposal is likely to be in effect from the academic year 2022-23.
Following a meeting on November 22, the UGC on November 26 asked the vice-chancellors of Central Universities to take appropriate measures to conduct the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) that is to be organised by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Earlier this year, the UGC had notified that it was delaying the idea to implement the CUET by one year due to COVID-19.
In a letter to all the vice-chancellors of 45 Central Universities, UGC joint secretary Jitendra K Tripathi wrote that it "was resolved that the common entrance for UG and PG may be conducted from the academic session 2022-23" and that for PhD admissions, NET scores will be used "wherever feasible."
The commission informed the universities that the tests "would be conducted in a minimum of 13 languages in which the NTA is conducting the JEE and NEET." Other state universities, private universities and deemed-to-be universities may also adopt the CUET for their admission processes. The test format details have not been made clear by the UGC so far but as per a report in the Indian Express, it is likely that the test would consist of an aptitude test as well as a subject-specific paper.
According to the UGC, the test would be conducted for students seeking admissions in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts and vocational subjects.