UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar with chair Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor of SASTRA University
UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar with chair Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor of SASTRA University

UGC Chairman Advocates Single National Exam at ThinkEdu Conclave 2025

Prof Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) speaks to Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam on the National Education Policy 2020, coaching centres, and building an exam system that inspires confidence
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As the number of students aspiring for higher education surges, the need for a robust, error-free, and student-centric national-level entrance examination has become paramount. Highlighting its potential to bolster public confidence in the system’s transparency and fairness, Prof Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), shared this vision during his address at the ThinkEdu Conclave 2025 on 27 January.

Speaking during the session titled “Testing Times: Rebuilding Exams in India”, chaired by Prof S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor of SASTRA University, Prof Kumar highlighted the highlighted the challenges posed by the multitude of examinations in India, including JEE, NEET, CUET, and UGC-NET, which are primarily conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) following its establishment in 2018.

“The number of students appearing for these examinations, which was just over 60 lakh in 2018, has grown to 1.20 crore,” he noted, adding that this number will rise further due to increasing competition, emphasising the need to make them student-friendly.


An Exam for All

 Answering a question by Prof Vaidhyasubramanian on the need for multiple national-level entrance examinations for a limited number of seats, Prof Kumar described the act of conducting a national-level exam — or any exam — as a “logistical nightmare”. He proposed to strengthen the NTA to allow universities to utilise its tests for admissions.

“Students could choose the appropriate subject based on the course, be it engineering, medical, or general sciences, social sciences or the humanities using technology,” he explained.
He pointed out that 280 Indian universities use the CUET for admissions, with more expected to join. 


Terming these national-level entrance exams as “national assets”, Prof Vaidhyasubramanian proposed mandating a single exam for all universities and states, allowing them to customise it as per their requirements. Prof Kumar responded by saying that an ideal testing model would have a huge question bank, with a “computer-based adaptive testing mechanism.” 


“The difficulty levels of today’s standardised tests leave students with unanswered questions. Are we testing their ignorance or are we testing what they learned?” he questioned.


Instead, he proposed a system where each student receives a different question paper, with difficulty levels adjusted based on their responses. This approach, he argued, would enable examiners to assess student aptitude more effectively while allowing students to answer more questions.

Building a Dependable Exam

 On the “undue importance of coaching centres”, Prof Kumar attributed this phenomenon to a mismatch in the difficulty levels of entrance exams and the school curricula. He noted that CUET-Undergraduate (CUET-UG) was designed to align the difficulty of the Class 12 board exam, enabling aspirants to clear it without additional coaching. 


He also stressed building public confidence in the examination system by strengthening test-conducting agencies, leveraging advanced technologies to prevent malpractices, and ensuring that testing agencies are staffed by professionals with a sense of ownership. Additionally, he highlighted the importance of teaching students resilience and overcoming the fear of failure, starting at the school level. “Success in academics is based on discipline, not just intellectual capabilities,” he remarked.

As for parents, Prof Kumar quipped that they were the ones who needed to be coached not to pressurise their children into pursuing only engineering and medicine. 


NEP 2020 — An Inclusive Policy

Reflecting on the progress of the National Education Policy, 2020, Prof Kumar said that the policy is rooted in ensuring equity, access to higher education, and social justice, and is bringing widespread reforms in education. 

Sharing an anecdote about a university in a tribal-dominated district, he highlighted efforts where the faculty worked with the local communities and integrated local resources into start-ups and technological solutions. “This needs to be scaled up; more universities need to work with their local communities to understand their aspirants and challenges so that students can build solutions that address them,” he said. 


He also addressed the aspirations of first-generation learners from disadvantaged communities, noting their dual goals of supporting their families and building strong careers. “Universities must help these students so that they could also ‘rise to the top’ and contribute to emerging technologies,” he added.

Prof Kumar concluded by asserting that providing high-quality education doesn’t just mean building universities that rank high. “There are many universities that provide capacity building of students; we must recognise and emulate them,” he concluded. 

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