CUET: Anxious students seek detailed schedule, sample papers

While the National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the computer-based Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to undergraduate courses starting July 15, aspirants said they are still awaiting sample papers and a detailed schedule of the examination days and timings

While the National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the computer-based Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to undergraduate courses starting July 15, aspirants said they are still awaiting sample papers and a detailed schedule of the examination days and timings.

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Last month, the testing agency said the computer-based exam will be conducted over 10 days between July 15 and August 10. The dates of examination are July 15, 16, 19, and 20, and August 4, 5,6, 7,8 and 10. However, a detailed schedule outlining the dates on which students need to appear for the exams for their respective subjects is still awaited.

Additionally, students are also waiting for sample papers. While mock papers have been uploaded on the NTA website, the testing agency itself said the mock papers do not necessarily represent the pattern or spread of questions or their difficulty level. This has led to confusion among students, who now believe that sample papers would help them prepare for the exams better.

Sudha Acharya, chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) that has over 120 Delhi schools as members, including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Bal Bharati Public School, Springdales School, Sanskriti School, Delhi Public Schools, Ahlcon International School, and Amity International School, said students were yet to receive sample papers even though CUET exams are scheduled to take place from next week.

“Sample papers have not been released so far. Students are appearing for the exam for the first time but they don’t have any material for reference that could aid them in their preparations,” said Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka.

Anisha Srivastava, a class 12 student, said there was a lot of uncertainty regarding sample papers. Srivastava said while mock question papers for different subjects have been uploaded on the CUET website, a caveat added that the “questions did not match CUET questions”.

“What is the point of releasing mock question papers if the questions do not match the pattern of CUET or the difficulty level? Only a few questions in the mock paper would qualify as entrance-level questions. Most of the questions are very basic and not of national entrance examination level,” said Srivastava.

A student of ITL Public School, Dwarka, Srivastava is taking special coaching in mathematics. She said even the coaching centres are unsure about the kind of questions that might come in the CUET paper. “I am taking coaching for maths. The school is also helping us with resources but no one is certain when it comes to the sample paper,” said Srivastava.

Deepali Sharma, 18, a student of Government Co-ed Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 21, Rohini, said, “The NTA should give us an idea about the kind of questions we can expect. We are the first batch appearing for the exam and we have no clear idea about the questions. We wonder whether the syllabus we are studying will suffice for scoring well in the entrance. The testing agency should put in place a mechanism through which student queries can be addressed,” said Sharma.

“While a large window for the examination has been released, we don’t know by when the admit card will come or the shifts in which we need to appear for the exam,” she said.

An NTA official said the agency has already announced that the exam will be “strictly” based on NCERT syllabus. Nothing that is not part of the NCERT textbooks will be asked in the paper, the official stressed.