According to the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) M Jagadesh Kumar, the performance of candidates in the Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG) is assessed using the equi-percentile method and the scores reflected in the scorecard are normalised scores, reports PTI.
The results for CUTE UG, which serves as the gateway for undergraduate admissions to over 200 universities across the country, were announced on Saturday, July 15.
"What is important to note is that CUET UG has been conducted over a period of six weeks with tests in a given subject held on different days. So naturally, the question that arises is how are we going to compare the performance of different students on a common scale since they have written the test in the same subject but on different days? We need to ensure that the admissions are made based on a score that accurately compares the performance of the students," Kumar said to PTI.
When asked why normalisation is specifically done for CUET UG, he said because other entrance exams typically focus on fewer subjects.
"In single session entrance tests, one common statistically established method is to transform the raw marks into a common uniform scale using the percentile method so that the performance of students can be compared to each other. But in entrance tests such CUET UG, since the test is conducted on different days and in multiple sessions for the same subject, it will give rise to multiple percentiles for each group of students. In addition to the above difficulty, another problem with using only percentiles is that in subjects such as Sports or Fine Arts, some weightage is given to the skill component by some universities," said the UGC Chairman.
He further added, “But, the addition of raw marks in the skill component and the remaining weightage (75 per cent) of percentile cannot be done to prepare the rank list because it would be similar to adding oranges to apples.”
The equi-percentile method
In the equi-percentile method, each candidate's percentile is calculated by comparing their raw marks with the raw marks of others in the same session. This process is repeated for every session conducted over multiple days for the same subject. The percentiles are then equated and converted into normalised marks. Sessions with a smaller number of candidates are combined with larger sessions to ensure comparability across sessions.
"In which session they have appeared in a given subject making their performance comparable across sessions. These normalised marks of the candidates, obtained using equipercentile method, in different sessions in a given subject can be used in the same way we use the raw marks of a conventional single session examination. Therefore, in a particular university, if the raw marks of the skill component has a certain weightage, it can be added to the remaining weightage of the normalised marks to prepare the rank list," Kumar said.
CUET-UG is the second-largest entrance exam in the country in terms of the number of applicants. In the first edition, 12.5 lakh students registered for the exam, with 9.9 lakh submitting their applications. The second edition witnessed a remarkable increase, with over 14 lakh students applying for CUET-UG, marking a 41% rise compared to the previous year. Unlike the previous year, this year's examination was conducted in three shifts.
