More than 75 per cent attendance was recorded on the first day of Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG on Wednesday as the National Testing Agency (NTA) concluded exams for over 25 lakh subject combinations at hundreds of centre across the country, official said.
However, the tests in four papers scheduled at 258 centres in Delhi were postponed to May 29 due to logistical issues beyond the control of NTA, it said.
The NTA also asked the candidates who are scheduled to appear in the examination in Delhi on May 16, 17 and 18 to download revised admit cards saying that the centers were changed due "unforeseen administrative" reasons.
The third edition of the country's largest test is being conducted in hybrid mode for the first time. The exams of four subjects -- including Chemistry, Biology, English and General Test -- were scheduled on Wednesday.
The offline tests will be conducted between May 15 and May 19, followed by computer-based tests for other subjects between May 21 and May 24.
Several students from across the country reported hiccups at the examination centers. At some centers in Faridabad, the exams scheduled on Wednesday were also postponed to May 29.
"On Day one, the NTA successfully concluded tests for 25,91,014 combinations, completing 44.71 pc of the CUET (UG) examination. Meticulous planning went into this year's examination, ensuring that candidates who opted for multiple subjects were scheduled at the same centre.
"To avoid any inconvenience, the first two shifts were held in the same examination room. Additionally, sufficient breaks were provided between shifts to facilitate candidates with multiple subject selections," said Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director, NTA.
According to the NTA, a total of 11.4 lakh candidates were scheduled to take the exam at 2,157 centres in 379 cities on day one.
While 6,43,752 candidates appeared at 1,640 centres for Chemistry exam, 3,63,067 candidates took Biology exam at 1,368 centres, 8,62,209 candidates took English paper at 2,077 centres, and 8,62,209 candidates took General Test paper at in 2,077 centres.
University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar, who is handling CUET along with NTA, said, "This is a landmark achievement by NTA in conducting CUET-UG in such large numbers on a single day, and NTA deserves kudos for their meticulous planning and for making sure that the test went off well today at such a large scale in pen-and-paper mode."
Hours before the exam was scheduled to begin, the NTA on Tuesday postponed the exam in Delhi to May 29, citing "unavoidable reasons"
Responding to queries about cancellations at Faridabad centres, a senior NTA official said, "This had only happened for the students who had Delhi as the first choice of exam center but were allotted Faridabad as the exam center. These students will be given a chance on May 29 now, along with other Delhi candidates. The exam was conducted for all other students who selected Faridabad without any issue."
The NTA had last month announced that the third edition of the CUET-UG will be completed in seven days and there will be no normalisation of scores as all exams will be conducted in a single shift.
For 15 subjects, the tests will be in the pen-paper mode and for the other 48 subjects, the exam will be computer-based.
This year, over 13.4 lakh candidates have registered for the common entrance test for admission to undergraduate courses in 261 central, state, deemed and private universities.
In the first edition of the exam in 2022, the test was plagued by technical glitches. Also, as a result of tests for a subject being conducted over multiple shifts, scores had to be normalised during the announcement of results.
