Delhi University (DU) Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh Tuesday launched the admission policy of the university under the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), outlining what subjects students will need to sit for at the entrance in order to gain admission to various courses.

Singh also said since the university was moving from a cut-off-based system to a merit list, colleges would be given 30 per cent additional students according to their seats, in case of dropouts or withdrawals. Sports and Extracurricular Activities (ECA) for which trials had stopped due to the Covid pandemic, will also be restarted, he said. However, certificates will also be considered for the same along with the CUET score.

Dean Admissions Haneet Gandhi said there would be three sections of CUET 2022 in which the first section is divided into two parts. It consists of 13 languages in the first part and 20 languages in the second part. “It is mandatory for the candidates to appear in at least one language for admission to Delhi University, out of both these parts combined,” she said.

“The second section of the entrance exam consists of 27 domain-specific topics. The third section is based on General Knowledge which will be for admission to BA Program only,” she said.

For admission to most UG programs, a candidate has to choose at least three subjects from the second section, which has been divided into two parts.

Gandhi said most B.Sc programs would be calculated on the basis of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Biology. However, 30 per cent marks in any one language in CUET, would also have to be obtained as qualifying criteria.

“For admission to Bachelor of Arts, a candidate will have to appear in the entrance test in any one language from section one and in any three subjects from the other section. Merit will be calculated on the basis of marks obtained by the candidate in the same subject and language,” said Gandhi.

“For BA (Hons) Economics, it is mandatory for the candidates to take the test in Mathematics for CUET. Merit for this will be calculated on the basis of marks obtained in the chosen language, Mathematics and any two subjects,” she said.

For admission to language programmes, candidates can choose a particular language at CUET or take a test in any other language. However, preference will be given to those appearing in the particular language.

Yogesh Singh said a candidate can appear for CUET in a maximum of six subjects, out of which one must be a language subject. The best score will be considered for admission.

“For admission through Sports and Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA), a candidate will have to appear for a performance-based test along with the CUET. Merit for this will be made on the basis of the combined score of CUET (25%) and performance-based test (75%),” he said.

Singh said as of now applicants will only need to register on the National Testing Agency website which conducts CUET, after which they may need to register on the DU website for centralized e-counselling. The DU admission portal – www.admission.uod.ac.in – will go live tomorrow with all the Bulletin of Information and chatbots for help.

Asked what the admission process is once the exam is given, Singh said, “Students will get the option of filling their preference of colleges on the DU website, on the basis of which colleges will be allocated. Colleges will have no say; it will be determined by students. In the second round of counselling, we will give students the option to revise their preferences depending on their score in case they don’t get their preferred colleges,” he said.

In the case of several students with the same CUET score vying for seats, Singh there is a tie-breaker formula that has been devised to decide which student will get admission.

Singh said the admission process would take 2-3 months, and unlike previous years when admission was significantly delayed due to Covid, this year the delay would not be more than 7-10 days.