New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has allowed the central universities to conduct their own entrance exams or admit students on the “basis of marks in the qualifying examination” if seats remain vacant in undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses after admissions through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

The UGC on Thursday released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for central universities to fill their vacant seats. “Keeping the seats vacant for an entire academic year is not only a waste of resources but also results in denial of quality higher education to many students who aspire to pursue higher studies in central universities,” the notice read.

UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said, “We should not leave any seats vacant. Every seat is valuable in our universities. The universities must make all efforts to ensure that students are offered admission in your university so that no seat is left unfilled.”

He said that the CUET scores will remain the “primary criteria” for admitting students and that UGC has already written to all central universities to admit students through CUET.

“It has come to the notice of UGC that seats remain vacant in some of the Central Universities even after three or found rounds of counselling. To keep the seats vacant for an entire academic year is not only a waste of resources but also results in denial of quality higher education to many students who aspire to pursue higher education in central universities…,” the notice further read.

While CUET scores will remain the primary criterion for admissions, with flexibility for universities to relax subject-specific criteria if seats remain unfilled after considering CUET applicants. If vacancies persist, universities may conduct their own entrance exams or “the concerned department of the university may conduct a screening test.” The university can also admit based on qualifying exam marks.

Additionally, “students who appeared in CUET but may or may not have applied to the respective university for the courses/programmes earlier may also be considered,” according to the order.

The Commission said that the “entire admission process has to be based on merit and transparency” and that “the reservation roster shall apply for admission to courses/programmes in all cases.” 

Universities are required to ensure the “timely completion of the entire admission process so that no student faces any kind of academic loss.”

This UGC in June had also announced bi-annual admissions, asking the universities to conduct two cycles of admissions in a year. The two admission cycles will be July-August and January-February in 2024-25.