Blitz Bureau
STUDENTS will be allowed to appear for any subject in the Common University Entrance Test-UG from 2025 irrespective of the subjects studied in Class 12. UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that this will allow candidates to cross over the rigid disciplinary boundaries in higher education.
CUET-UG will only be conducted in Computer- Based Test mode from next year. It will be conducted in 63 subjects instead of 37 from 2025 session. The UGC Chairman said an expert panel set up by the Commission conducted a review of the exam and proposed several changes.
All CUET-UG exams will have uniform duration of 60 minutes. The concept of optional questions in the exam has been done away with and all questions will be compulsory now. Students will be able to appear for maximum of five subjects from 2025, as against six previously.
The UGC had constituted an expert committee to review the conduct of CUET-UG and PG. The first edition of the exam was held in 2022. The exam was conducted in hybrid mode for the first time this year. By encouraging universities to adopt a single, national-level entrance test, CUET has streamlined admissions. This has reduced the reliance on varying cutoffs, and made the admission process transparent and technology-driven.
Meanwhile, the UGC on December 10 released a ‘Draft Guidelines for Implementation of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in Higher Education’ which will provide access to higher education and enable individuals who have acquired competencies through non-formal and informal learning methods to access higher education programs. The UGC said that the guidelines create diverse and flexible pathways for individuals with various educational backgrounds and learning experiences to access higher education based on their demonstrated competencies. The guidelines have also been made public for further feedback.