No re-test for students who missed CUET, says University Grants Commission
Many students had said they missed the test due to sudden changes in their exam centre for the Central University Entrance Test.
The University Grants Commission has said that no re-test will be conducted for students who missed the Central University Entrance Test, or CUET, after reaching the exam centres late on Friday, The Indian Express reported.
CUET is an all-India entrance test introduced from this year for admission to various courses and programmes offered by central and other participating universities and institutes across the country.
The test has been made mandatory for undergraduate courses at central universities. It is conducted by the National Testing Agency.
“Students had been advised to reach [at the exam centres] two hours in advance,” UGC chairperson Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said on Friday, according to NDTV. “There is a grace period of 30 minutes after the start of the exam, but no one is allowed to enter after that. There is no way we can hold a re-test for them.”
Kumar’s response came amid media reports that several students had missed the test due to sudden changes in their exam centre. Kumar, however, added that students who had reached on time at a centre other than the one assigned were allowed to appear for the exam.
According to The Indian Express, the National Testing Agency had changed about 15 centres, including one in Delhi, a day before the exam.
On Friday, Bhoomi Khanna, a student of Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Laxmi Nagar, said she could not appear for the test as she arrived at her exam centre only to discover it was changed.
“When I reached the NSUT centre, the guard told me the centre had been changed to Delhi University,” she told The Indian Express. “In the confusion and panic of the moment, my mother and I took an auto to DU’s South Campus. There we realised that we had to go to North Campus and took another auto. When I reached, I was told that it’s too late.”
Another student, Aanchal, also said she missed her test due to the change in the exam centre.
“My centre was earlier in Dwarka but when I reached there, I was informed that my centre has been changed,” she told PTI. “I panicked. After a two-hour journey, when we finally reached DU North Campus, they told us that the time for entering has passed.”
Some students, however, said they were informed about the change in the centre through calls and emails.
“My brother was assigned a centre in Dwarka. But it was changed to Delhi University. We saw that on email last night and were able to reach on time,” a man named Sanchit told PTI.
National Testing Agency Director-General Vineet Joshi told The Indian Express that the agency carries mock tests at a centre before every exam.
“If there is the slightest problem, we have to change the exam centre,” he said. “There is no other way.”