The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) saw a massive 169% increase in the participating universities and a rise of 41% in the number of students who will sit for the Undergraduate courses examinations that are scheduled for May.
This positive response to the CUET has been attributed to the University Grants Commission (UGC) allowing extended time to the universities and the students to prepare for the exam which will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the schedule for which was announced way back in mid December last year. The application process for the same was started on 9 February 2023. Initially, the last date for submitting the application form was 12 March 2023 which was then extended to 30 March 2023 in consultation with the top officials of the Education Ministry including Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, who after being appointed in February last year, has been at the forefront of introducing a series of reforms at the higher education level, one of the reasons for the increased number of students and universities participating in the CUET is because the extension of the last date allowed more universities and students to opt for CUET-UG.
“In 2022, when UGC introduced CUET-UG, 12.50 lakh students registered for it and 9.9 lakh students submitted their applications. This year, a total of 16.85 lakh students have registered. Out of this, 13.995 lakhs have paid the application fee and submitted the application form—an increase of 4.0 lakh students. Compared to 2022, there is a 41% increase in the total number of students who will sit for CUET-UG,” Kumar told the Daily Guardian.
Elaborating further, Kumar said that the CUET has received a positive response from the universities too.
“We have seen an increase in the number of participating universities. In 2022, the participating university was 90, but in 2023, it rose to 242. This significant rise indicates that CUET-UG is becoming a popular option for admissions in UG programmes across the country,” he said.
As per the data shared by the body, out of the 13.99 lakh students who will sit for CUET-UG, 6.51 lakhs are females and 7.48 lakhs are males. In 2022, out of 9.90 lakhs who submitted applications for CUET-UG, 4.34 lakhs were female, and 5.56 lakhs male.
Compared to 2022, this year, the increase in female students is 50% compared to 34% in male students.
Among the different categories of students (ST, SC, OBC-NCL, General-unreserved, EWS), there is a substantial growth in the number of submitted applications of ST category students. In 2022, it was 58,881. But in 2023, it is 95,119, indicating a rise of 61.5% compared to 2022. A similar increase is observed in other categories too. For SC category students, the submitted applications in 2023 are 14,0307, an increase of 35.5% compared to 2022.
The number of submitted applications in 2023 for OBC-NCL, General-unreserved, and EWS category students is 46,1022, 64,2443, and 60,611, respectively. This indicates a rise of 45.2%, 39.6%, and 20.5% in the OBC-NCL, General-unreserved, and EWS category applications respectively as compared to 2022.
As per officials, the five central universities which have received the largest number of applications for CUET-UG in 2023 are: the University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University, University of Allahabad, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, and Jamia Millia Islamia.
The top three states from which the largest number of students will appear in CUET-UG 2023 are Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Bihar. The same three states were the top three states in 2022 too.
There is a considerable jump in the number of students from the Jammu and Kashmir region. In 2022, a total of 13,021 students took CUET-UG from this region. But in 2023, this number is 82,655 representing an increase of 6.3 times.
From the north-eastern region (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim), the number of students who will take CUET-UG has increased by 31% as compared to 2022. While 59,208 students took CUET-UG in 2022, it is 77,365 in 2023.
Among the five states in South – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, the largest number of students from Kerala will attempt CUET-UG. In 2022, 37,303 students from Kerala applied for CUET-UG. In 2023, this number reached 56,111, indicating an increase of 51% compared to 2022. The second largest number of submitted applications in 2023 is from Tamil Nadu, which stands at 24,462 – an increase of 45% compared to 2022.
Last year, students from 59 countries submitted their applications for CUET-UG. In 2023, this number has increased to 74 countries, with 1,000 students from countries spread across Europe, Asia, America and the Gulf are likely to appear for the exams.