Nearly 14 lakh students will take part in the Common University Entrance Test for Undergraduate Admissions (CUET-UG) this academic session, a 41% increase from last year – with a 50% increase in the number of female students and a significant surge in those applications from Jammu and Kashmir, the northeastern and southern regions – as the test was introduced in central universities across the country for admission to UG courses, a top official said.
This year, during the second edition of the entrance examination, out of a total of 16.85 lakh students who applied for it, 13,995 lakh have applied. Last year, in the debut edition, 9.9 lakh students submitted their application out of 12.50 lakh registered.
“In 2023 CUET-UG, a total of 16.85 lakh students registered. Out of 16.85 lakh, 13.995 lakh paid the application fee and submitted the application form – an increase of 4 lakh students from the debut edition when 9.90 lakh students applied. By 2023, there will be a 41% increase in the total number of students taking the exam,” said M Jagadesh Kumar, Chair of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The National Testing Agency (NTA) announced the CUET-UG 2023 schedule on December 15, 2022. The application process began on February 9 and the form submission date was extended from March 12 to March 30. The test will be conducted from May 21.
The debut edition of CUET, held in July and August last year, was marred by chaos and confusion with both technical and administrative problems. At some centers, the testing office even had to cancel the exams on some days.
Compared to last year, the application process this year has increased by 50% for female students and only 34% for male students. Of the 13.99 lakh who will sit for CUET-UG in 2023, 6.51 lakh are women and 7.48 lakh are men. While in 2022, of the 9.90 lakh students who applied, according to officials, 4.34 lakh were female and 5.56 lakh were male.
Kumar also said that the number of participating universities has increased, from 90 in 2022 to 242 in 2023. “The extension of the application deadline allowed more universities and students to adopt CUET. This significant increase indicates that CUET-UG is becoming a popular option for admission to UG programs,” he said.
The five central universities that received the largest number of applications for CUET-UG in 2023 are in the following order: Delhi University (DU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), University of Allahabad, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University and Jamia Millia Islamia. The same order was maintained in 2022 as well, UGC officials said.
Increase in applications from J&K, NE, southern regions
As in the debut edition, the top three states from which the largest number of students will emerge in the second edition of CUET are Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Bihar. However, the number of students applying from Jammu and Kashmir has increased significantly. “There has been a significant jump in the number of students from the Jammu and Kashmir region. In 2022, a total of 13,021 students from this region followed CUET-UG. But in 2023, this number will be 82,655, representing an increase of 6.3 times,” said Kumar.
Similarly, the number of students taking the exam this year from the North East region (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim) has increased by 31% compared to 2022. While 59,208 students took CUET-UG in 2022, this figure 77,365 in 2023.
Of the five states in the south – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu – the largest number of students attempting the exam will come from Kerala. “This year, 56,111 students from Kerala have registered for the exam, compared to 37,303 in 2022, which is an increase of 51%. The second largest number of applications submitted in 2023 will come from Tamil Nadu, which stands at 24,462 – a 45% increase from 2022,” said the president of the UGC.
Jump into applications from reserved categories
According to the application data, the number of applications submitted by ST category students among the different categories of students (ST, SC, OBC-NCL, General-unrestricted, EWS) has increased significantly. A total of 95,119 ST students have registered for the exam this year compared to 58,881 in 2022, an increase of 61.5%.
A similar increase can also be observed in other categories. For SC students, the applications submitted in 2023 will be 1,40,307, a 35.5% increase from 2022. The number of applications for OBC-NCL, General-unreserved, and EWS students this year is 4.61. 022, 6,42,443 and 60,611, respectively. This indicates an increase of 45.2%, 39.6% and 20.5% respectively compared to 2022.
Meanwhile, last year students from 59 countries applied for CUET-UG, which has increased to 74 countries by 2023, with 1,000 students spread across Europe, Asia, America and the Gulf States.
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