CUET results declared: what are the next steps for students?

After a month of anxiety among students due to unexpected marks in CBSE, glitches in the re-evaluation portal and technical difficulties at some examination centers conducting the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG), CUET results have been declared; This means admissions to central universities will start in the next few days.

Participating universities and institutions will soon announce the counseling/admission schedule and merit list based on CUET scores and other criteria of the respective university.

This year, NTA announced results sooner than expected, noting that the timeline has been streamlined, allowing results to be released 14 days earlier than in previous cycles.

Since 2022, central universities have been conducting admissions based on CUET scores, instead of the previous process of admitting students based on CBSE results.

Where can students apply for admission with their CUET results?

The names of participating universities are listed in NTA. cuet.nta.nic.in/participating-universities/. The list includes 49 central universities, 41 state universities, 27 deemed universities, 120 private universities and 7 other government institutions.

NTA’s role is limited to registering, conducting tests, hosting answer keys, inviting competitions, preparing and announcing results. Merit lists will be prepared by the relevant university or institute.

What should students do after receiving their results?

NTA said it would share the results with universities and advised students to follow up with the universities of their choice for more details. Many central universities have their own admission portals where they will soon start the registration process.

Some universities had published their admission brochures earlier in the year where they had mentioned the programs they offered as well as programme-specific suitability from which they could choose the subjects they wanted to appear for in CUET accordingly.

Further details regarding the programmes, along with the seat matrix and timetables, are yet to be uploaded by the universities and can be expected in the next few days.

How was the process last year?

CUET will be assessed across central universities in the country and each university has its own processes. Candidates can visit their websites for detailed information.

Universities are likely to follow a similar process as in the past three years. For example, Delhi University starts by announcing the opening of the registration window on the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) portal, followed by subject mapping, program eligibility and preference selection. After that, the university allocates quotas.

Will board exams be taken into account?

While central university admissions largely depend on CUET results, the role of board result differs from one institute to another.

While some universities require a minimum score of 45%-50% in Class 12 exams, others have in the past relied on board results to break the tie in cases where two students have exactly the same score. Further details, such as whether the board result will be used to break the tie this year, have not yet been announced by the universities.