UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday said the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG will be conducted between May 15 and May 31, 2024, as announced earlier, and there will be no change in view of the Lok Sabha election schedule. Kumar had earlier this month said the exam dates could change depending on the schedule of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The Election Commission on Saturday announced that polling for the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in seven phases, starting with 102 seats in the first phase on April 19. The votes will be counted on June 4.

“The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct CUET-UG, as announced earlier, between May 15 and May 31, 2024. In this period, two dates overlap with the election dates on the 20th and 25th of May. After the last date for filling out applications on March 26, 2024, we will know the number of students registered for CUET-UG and their geographical distribution. Based on this data and the election dates, NTA will announce the date sheet for CUET-UG. But the dates will not change,” said Kumar.

Prospective candidates have until March 26 to complete the application process for CUET-UG, which was introduced in 2022. This standardised test streamlines admission processes across central, state, deemed and private universities nationwide.

A notable departure from tradition, the NTA has outlined a hybrid examination format for CUET-UG 2024, including both Computer Based Testing and pen-and-paper modes for different subjects.

Officials have indicated that subjects witnessing high registration volumes will adopt a pen-and-paper format using optical mark recognition (OMR), while others will remain computer-based. In the previous cycle, approximately 14.9 lakh registrations were recorded for CUET-UG, highlighting its significance in the higher education landscape.