‘Remove negative marking’: Students on changes in CUET exam

NEW DELHI: As the University Grant Commission (UGC) announces changes for the 2025 Common University Entrance Test (CUET), Delhi students opine that the modifications have some benefits.

A student from Delhi says that the changes enable students who had History or related subjects in school to pursue Psychology and Economics as their subjects of choice for undergraduate. Speaking on the UGC’s decision to attempt all questions as a mandatory condition, the student said negative marking should be removed.

“If they have made some modifications, there are a few benefits. If someone has History, Geography and Political Science as their subjects, they can have Psychology and Economics as well…If they are making all the questions compulsory, negative marking should be removed,” the student said.

#WATCH | Delhi: UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar says, “CUET will remain as 13 languages as it was last year. But the separate test for languages will be conducted only in these 13 languages. We are discontinuing the 20 language papers from last year but in one programme,… pic.twitter.com/YZPyrXjCp7

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2024

Another student named Rehan said that the UGC’s decision to revise the timings for the examination to 60 minutes for all subjects was a “good” move because it was difficult to finish 40 questions within 45 minutes.

Speaking on the UGC’s decision to allow students to choose any subject from any stream, Rehan welcomed the decision, saying that this is good because students can choose their area of interest.

#WATCH | UGC announces major changes in CUET-UG 2025.

A student from Delhi says, “…If they have made some modifications, there are a few benefits. If someone has History, Geography and Political Science as their subjects, they can have Psychology and Economics as well…” pic.twitter.com/neADXjpK1G

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2024

“The timing (for the exam) has been revised to 60 minutes, it is good because it was not possible to finish 40 questions within 45 minutes…It is good that now anyone from any stream can write the exam for any stream. They can choose subjects of their interest…” Rehan said.

Happy Yadav, a student of Dayal Singh College in Delhi, appreciated the decision by the UGC to revise the timings for writing the exam to 60 minutes. He said that the students would be able to attempt a maximum number of questions.

“We had given the exam and the time duration was only 45 minutes. It is good that the time (to write the exam) has been extended now. It is good for students to attempt a maximum number of questions. Students can now study subjects from different streams. It is good for those whose perception changes after the 12th,” Yadav added.

Earlier, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Tuesday announced changes in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), saying that all papers will carry 250 marks in total and there will be negative marking for every incorrect answer. He further stated that all 50 questions will be compulsory in the CUET as opposed to last year when the students could choose to answer 40 questions only. Moreover, the UGC chairman announced a uniform time limit of 1 hour (60 minutes) to conclude the examination for all subjects.

“Last year, a few subjects had 60 minutes of test duration and a few subjects had 45 minutes. But this year, we are allowing 1 hour (60 minutes) of duration for all subjects. Last year, there were 50 questions out of which students could opt for 40. But this year, all 50 questions would be compulsory. Because all subjects will have 50 questions…the correct answer will get five marks each while the incorrect answer will be marked minus one. All papers will have 250 marks,” Kumar told ANI.

The UGC Chairman informed that the total number of subjects has been reduced to 37 from 60 since nearly 20 language subjects have been discontinued. The domain-specific subjects were 29 earlier, but the UGC has decided to discontinue six subjects, bringing the number down to 23, Kumar added. (ANI)