UGC says no normalisation of scores for CUET-UG, NET this year. What does this mean?

University Grant Commission Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar on Monday announced that the normalisation of scores for the Common University Entrance Test-UG (CUET-UG) and the National Eligibility Test (NET) is being done away with from this year, news agency PTI reported.

Speaking to PTI the UGC chairman said, "No normalisation of scores will be required this year since both exams will be conducted in a single shift for a subject.”

It is important to note that students have been raising concerns about the normalisation of scores as it was "unfairly" impacting their performance in the examination.

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What is the normalization process?

Normalisation is a process used to revise the score of a candidate in a way so that it becomes comparable with the scores across different test sessions. The process becomes necessary when an examination in the same subject is held over numerous days and sessions with different sets of questions. The procedure is adopted to maintain a level-playing field for all candidates.

The equipercentile approach, which is useful in modifying scores while taking into account the variable difficulty levels of different test sessions, lies at the centre of the normalisation process.

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"Earlier, we had to conduct the test for the same paper for two or three days in our endeavour to provide the first-choice centre to the students as much as possible. But this year, by adopting the OMR mode, a large number of centres will be available at schools and colleges, enabling us to conduct the test across the country on the same day.

"If the test is conducted on multiple days for the same paper, normalisation is required and it is a scientific method," the UGC chairman told PTI.

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Speaking about permitting undergraduate students into PhD programmes, the UGC chairman said “one of the objectives of NEP2020 is to strengthen the research ecosystem of universities. When we permit undergraduate students into PhD programmes, there will be a lot of young people getting into research at a very young age. We believe that permitting undergraduate students to PhD will open up many opportunities for them...keeping that in mind, UGC has decided to permit students with undergraduate qualifications to write UGC net, qualify for JRF and get admitted to the PhD programmes".

CUET-UG 2024

Earlier on Sunday, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced the exam schedule and date sheet for the Common University Entrance Test - Under Graduate 2024 (CUET UG) 2024. As per the schedule, the CUET UG 2024 exams will be held between May 15 and May 24. This year about 13.48 lakh candidates will be appearing for the CUT UG 2024 exams.

The CUET-UG exams 2024 for 15 subjects will be conducted in pen-and-paper mode, while 48 subjects will be conducted in online mode.

Similarly, the UGC-NET, which was earlier conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode, will be held in pen-and-paper mode on June 16.