CUET 2024: Exam Revision Underway, Normalization Of Scores Likely To Be Done Away With For CUET-UG: UGC Head

CUET UG 2024 Exam: For admission to undergraduate programs at all Central Universities (CUs) and participating universities in India for the 2024–2025 academic year, the Common University Entrance Test (CUET (UG)) will be held in 13 different languages across the country.

Speaking of the NTA CUET scores, senior officials have stated in a new agency PTI report that the National Testing Agency (NTA) is planning to rewrite the important exam for its third edition, meaning that the normalization of scores for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG is probably going to end this year. The exam is scheduled for one month, but it will probably take less time since the agency is thinking of using a hybrid mode that combines computer-based testing with OMR sheets. The majority of students will be able to take the test in the city of their choosing thanks to this decision.

Using a computer-based exam for papers with a smaller registration and a pen and paper method for topics with a larger registration: UGC Head

“The NTA is investigating the feasibility of holding large-scale OMR registration exams. This will enable us to choose a sizable number of schools to serve as test sites. UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar told news agency PTI, “This will ensure that the students will get a center within their town or city and do not have to travel to faraway places.” Unlike the previous two years, the CUET-UG will be performed in a shorter amount of time by using a computer-based exam for papers with a smaller registration and a pen-and-paper mode for topics with a big registration. The chairman said, “The hybrid mode ensures that geographical limitations do not impede the students’ educational aspirations in rural and remote areas and promotes equal opportunities for all.” Moreover, he said that holding a subject’s test on a single day would do away with the need for score normalization.

In an effort to give students as many opportunities to choose their first option as feasible, we have been required to administer the same paper over the course of two or three days for the last two years. However, this year’s adoption of the OMR mode will make a significant number of centers accessible at universities and schools, allowing us to administer the exam nationwide on the same day. “Normalization is necessary if the test is administered on multiple days for the same paper, and it is a scientific method,” the UGC chairman said. Concerns have been raised by students about how their test performance may be “unfairly” impacted by the normalization of results.

One further component of the CUET-UG’s restructuring strategy is limiting students to a maximum of six papers.This year, students will be allowed to write a maximum of six papers rather than trying ten. This choice was made since, in the previous year’s exam, a very small fraction of students chose to take 10 papers. But because of how complicated the paper schedule is, the exam has to be spread out across many days.

“The CUET-UG may be scheduled over fewer days, which is helpful for the students,” Kumar added. “Students can write six papers in numerous combinations, such as four domain papers, one language paper, one general test paper, or three domain papers, two language papers, and one general test paper.

According to the UGC chairman, students are more likely to see the CUET-UG as a fair and reasonable challenge, therefore the questions will have a moderate degree of difficulty.

“Most university entrance exams have a reasonable difficulty level, which might help students become less dependent on tutoring services. Because students are likely to see the CUET-UG as a fair and manageable challenge, we wish to keep the difficulty level of the questions reasonable.

“Students’ intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy may be enhanced by answering questions with a relatively demanding level since they will have more confidence in their abilities to study and do well on the exam without excessive outside assistance. According to him, the pupils’ favorable experience spreads from batch to batch and lessens their need on coaching.

In terms of applications, the CUET-UG is the second-largest admission test in the nation. Up to 11.11 lakh applicants took the test in its second round.

“The hybrid mode recognizes that it is crucial to adapt to various testing conditions in order to maximize student comfort. By doing this, we can make sure that the findings are ready for public consumption by the third week of June. The academic season may therefore begin at HEIs (higher educational institutions) by the end of July or the beginning of August, according to Kumar.