DU UG admission schedule uncertain again as university awaits CUET results

Delhi University might once again face a delayed undergraduate admission cycle as it waits for the declaration of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) results before opening registrations, officials said on Friday.

This has renewed concerns among teachers over disruptions to the academic calendar that have persisted since the entrance examination was introduced.

The development comes despite university officials earlier indicating that the registration for admission would begin by the third week of May.

According to Dean of Admissions Haneet Gandhi, the undergraduate admission process is expected to begin after the CUET-UG results are announced.

“The UG admission process will tentatively start after the CUET-UG results are declared. While we will be taking precautions to avoid any unnecessary delay in the start of the academic session, at least four lists are expected to be released leading up to the admission,” Gandhi told PTI.

The delay follows fresh disruptions in the conduct of CUET-UG this year. On May 30, the examination was affected by a technical glitch, forcing the National Testing Agency (NTA) to revise schedules and organise a one-time re-examination for more than 3,700 students who had left examination centres before the test could resume.

The revised examination dates have been fixed for June 6 and 7, the NTA said in a post on X.

CUET-UG serves as the single-window entrance examination for admission to undergraduate programmes in most central universities, including Delhi University.

For many teachers, however, the latest delay is part of a larger pattern that has repeatedly affected the university’s academic calendar since CUET was introduced in 2022.

In 2025, Delhi University commenced classes on August 1 as per schedule, but multiple admission and mop-up rounds continued until late September, resulting in several students joining courses weeks after teaching had begun.

A similar situation prevailed in 2024 when the academic session itself began on August 29 following delays in the declaration of CUET-UG results. Mop-up rounds also extended into October that year.

Faculty members have raised concerns that the prolonged admission process has created uncertainty for both students and teachers while affecting classroom learning.

“Students have lost faith in the NTA at this point. But a bigger issue remains the delay in admissions and the impact it has on the academic calendar,” said Abha Dev Habib, Associate Professor of Physics at Miranda House.

“We should seriously consider reverting to the earlier system of admissions based on Class 12 results. One of the main arguments for CUET was that it would provide a level playing field for students from different boards,” she said, adding that the objective can be achieved through a percentile-based system as well, where toppers from different boards are treated equivalently while ensuring admissions are completed on time.

Habib also raised concerns about the growing coaching culture surrounding the examination.

“Exams like CUET shift the focus towards multiple-choice preparation and have led to a mushrooming coaching industry. The emphasis moves away from actual academic learning,” she added.

At the same time, if mop-up rounds continue for months, many students join classes much later, creating difficulties both for them and for teachers, she said.

Similar concerns were echoed by Rudrashish Chakraborty, Associate Professor of English at Kirori Mal College, who said the university had lost control over its academic schedule.

“CUET has taken away the autonomy of the university. Earlier, we had a fixed academic calendar, admissions were completed on time and examinations followed a predictable schedule and DU was considered a model university in that regard,” Chakraborty said.

“Now every year begins with uncertainty. The entire calendar depends on when the CUET process concludes, and that process has witnessed disruptions almost every year,” he said.

Chakraborty also pointed to what he described as unintended consequences of the entrance test system.

“An increasing number of students are enrolling in dummy schools for Classes 11 and 12 so that they can focus exclusively on coaching and preparing for the MCQ-based CUET pattern. This has adversely affected broader academic engagement and student aptitude,” he said.

The concerns emerge amid wider scrutiny of national entrance and recruitment examinations, with controversies surrounding NEET-UG, delays in various competitive examinations and complaints regarding examination management placing the NTA under renewed public attention.

While Delhi University officials maintain that efforts are being made to avoid major disruptions to the upcoming academic session, teachers argue that recurring delays have exposed structural weaknesses in a system that was introduced to streamline admissions but has instead tied the university’s calendar to the functioning of a centralised examination process.