The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced that a retest for CUET UG candidates will be held from July 15 to 19 if any grievances regarding the conduct of the exam are found to be valid. This announcement was made on Sunday.
Additionally, the NTA has released the answer key for the undergraduate entrance exam, although the results will be delayed. According to a senior NTA official, candidates can submit challenges to the answer key until 6 pm on July 9.
"The NTA is also addressing public grievances regarding the exam conducted for CUET UG that was received up to June 30. If a grievance is found genuine, the NTA is committed to redoing the exam for these candidates at selected centers any day between July 15 and 19," a senior NTA official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Although NTA officials did not comment on the grievances received, candidates have reported issues such as loss of time at certain exam centres and technical difficulties.
Over 13.4 lakh candidates registered for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to undergraduate programmes in 261 central, state, deemed, and private universities this year.
"Challenges made by the candidates will be verified by a panel of subject experts. Based on the revised final answer key, the result will be declared," the official adds.
The delay in the CUET-UG results occurred amidst ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in competitive exams, including NEET and NET. This year, the CUET-UG exam was conducted in a hybrid mode for the first time nationwide. However, the exam scheduled in Delhi was cancelled the night before due to logistical issues and was subsequently rescheduled in the national capital.
The NTA had earlier announced that the third edition of CUET-UG would be completed in seven days and there will be no normalisation of scores as all exams will be conducted in a single shift.
The tests for 15 subjects were conducted in pen-and-paper mode, while the exam for the remaining 48 subjects was computer-based.
In the inaugural edition of the exam in 2022, the test faced significant technical glitches. Due to the exams for a subject being conducted over multiple shifts, scores had to be normalised during the results announcement. Amid allegations of irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET and the PhD entrance exam NET, the Centre replaced NTA Director General Subodh Singh last week.
A high-level panel, led by former Indian Space Research Organisation chief R Radhakrishnan, has been established to ensure the transparent, smooth, and fair conduct of examinations by the NTA.
