NEW DELHI: For the third consecutive year since the introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), the University of Delhi (DU) has failed to fill all its undergraduate seats, even after multiple mop-up rounds conducted by colleges.
As of September 2025, over 7,000 out of the total 71,624 undergraduate seats on offer remained vacant, prompting the university to seek detailed, course-wise vacancy data from its colleges on Wednesday.
Responding to criticism, vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh strongly defended the CUET-based Centralised Seat Allocation System (CSAS), asserting that the current admissions process is more logical, transparent, and accountable than the earlier cut-off-based system.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Singh said that the centralised system ensures complete visibility of seat allocation, with every admission made public through a scientific, algorithm-driven process based strictly on CUET scores and candidates’ preferences.
Addressing concerns that CUET has led to widespread vacancies, the vice-chancellor clarified that unfilled seats were not a new phenomenon.
Citing data from the university’s admission branch, he pointed out that in 2019, a pre-CUET and pre-Covid year, only 68,213 seats were filled against a sanctioned strength of 70,735, leaving 3.56% of seats vacant. In contrast, in 2025, under the CUET-based CSAS, 72,229 admissions were made against 71,642 available seats, amounting to admissions 0.65% above the sanctioned strength.
Singh highlighted that under the earlier cut-off system, admissions were difficult to regulate, often leading to massive over-admissions. He cited instances where colleges admitted over 200 students against a sanctioned strength of just 11 seats, representing an over-admission of nearly 1,745%.
Such discrepancies, he said, made it nearly impossible to accurately track enrolments or ensure compliance with sanctioned limits.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, the CSAS has brought predictability and control to the admissions process. Colleges now decide in advance the extent of extra allocations they wish to offer to minimise allocation rounds, and this data is fed into the system’s algorithm. The centralised mechanism also allows the university to conduct predictive analysis on programme popularity, aiding future policy decisions.
Addressing fears that prolonged vacancies could lead to the closure of courses, Singh assured that no course will be shut down. Instead, colleges have been advised to revisit their seat matrices, explore the reshuffling of BA programme combinations, and propose measures to fill persistent vacancies. The exercise, he said, aims to optimise seat utilisation while completing admissions in fewest possible rounds, reinforcing DU’s commitment to a transparent and efficient admissions framework.
