Hansraj College under the University of Delhi became the first major college under the varsity to issue a 100 per cent cut off. The cut-off for Computer Science (Hons) has been set at 100 per cent this year, followed closely by Economics (Hons) and BCom (Hons) at 99.75 per cent. But this should not come as a surprise and most of the blame falls on the CBSE, said professors.

The students who graduated high school this year under the CBSE board were marked tremendously well, this is one reason that pushes the cut-off up. But there's more to it. "Since there are a lot of students within just one percentage point, the colleges keep the cut-offs high. Firstly, they do not have the confirmation to provide a reasonable cut-off based on that year's scores. Only after the cut-offs are set, can the students apply. So, the initial cut-off is set very high," said Dr Abha Dev Habib, who teaches Physics at Miranda House, another top college of the varsity. "Once the cut-offs are set, the students apply and we can't be taking in more students than we can handle. We have to admit anyone who clears the cut-off. The bar is set high so that there is a restriction on the number of students who can apply," she added.

But there are a series of cut-off lists that come out but since the scores are high this year, the probability of the cut-off coming down is low. "But the CBSE is marking the students in excess to cover up the failures of the system. Instead of mending a broken system, what they are doing is giving the students a lot of marks to keep the parents from worrying," said another teacher. The trend of very high cut-offs at DU has become a norm over the years.