CUET-UG offers each candidate appearing in nine subjects, a common platform to apply to any of the participating institutes and multiple courses. The cumulative university-wise application number is 47.69 lakh with an average of one candidate for the five universities.
According to Application Trends accessed exclusively by TOI, Delhi University leads the way with over 6 lakh applications, followed by Banaras Hindu University (3.9 lakh) and Allahabad University (2.3 lakh). Nine universities including Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia (1,22,478) have received over one lakh applications. Some other popular universities that have received more than 1,000 applications are Central University of Haryana (92,588), Mahatma Gandhi Central University (81,068), Central University of Karnataka (80,402) Visva-Bharati University (79,179), North-Eastern Hill Universities are included. (68,998), Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (65,464), and University of Hyderabad (56,231). A total of 31 universities received over 50,000 applications. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi which is primarily a postgraduate university, has also received 56,620.
Category-wise, unreserved is followed by OBC candidates comprising 31.6% of the total applicants, followed by SC category with 10.3%. A total of 4.6% candidates have applied under Economically Weaker Section.
State wise Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Bihar are the top three in the number of applications. However, some are also coming in large numbers from comparatively less populated states. For example, 15,122 applications from states like Arunachal Pradesh which has a population of around 15.5 lakhs and 15,601 applications from Meghalaya which has a population of around 33 lakhs. 58,953 applications have been received from Haryana, which ranks 18th among the states in terms of population.
“It is a good sign that students from remote areas are also seeing this as an opportunity, which is a positive development. They will not have to depend any more on the board exam marks and since the CUET syllabus is of class XII, the candidates appearing for the exam will be at home. I see that CUET will become more popular in the coming years, as more universities including state and private universities have come to the board and also because it will be conducted twice a year,” said M Jagadesh Kumar, President, University Grants Commission said.
Candidates are allowed to choose from 13 languages as the medium for the exam and English tops with over 6.9 lakhs, followed by Hindi with around 2 lakhs and Bengali with 7,817.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will open the correction window from May 25 and will continue till the end of the month. This editing feature is limited to the chosen “test” and does not extend to cover other areas. Candidates can also select more Universities/PIs or more courses.