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Journalism of Courage
— Vijay Kalyan Jha
The Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG) is conducted every year for undergraduate admissions in the central universities and other participating universities. In 2023, CUET UG scores were accepted by 45 central universities, 37 state universities, 32 deemed universities and more than 130 private universities.
As per the CUET exam pattern, the test comprises of three sections. While section 1 is held for languages, sections 2 and 3 are held for the domain-specific subjects and general test.
Section 1 of CUET has 33 languages and is further divided into two subsections 1A (with 13 languages) and 1B (with 20 languages other than the ones in 1A). It is mandatory to take one language test from Section 1 for almost all the courses or admission to the universities.
English Language Test has been the most taken test of the CUET UG right from the time the test was introduced in 2022.
In the first edition of CUET UG, as many as 4,85,894 candidates took this test and 8,236 of them scored 100 percentile. CUET UG 2023, however, saw a massive 48 per cent rise in the number of candidates who took the English Language Test and the number of test takers became 7,19,878 and 5,685 candidates scored 100 percentile this time.
| CUET UG Test Takers | Total number of students taking English | No of 100 percentile scorers |
| CUET UG 2022 | 4,85,894 | 8,236 |
| CUET UG 2023 | 7,19,878 | 5,685 |
The English Language Test — like any other test of the CUET UG — is conducted in multiple slots every year. The difficulty level of the CUET UG English test is almost the same in all these slots. To make it a level playing field, normalization of scores in different slots is done.
English Language test is mandatory for admission to only two courses at the University of Delhi – BA English (Hons) and BA Journalism (Hons). For the rest of the programmes, one may take any of the 33 languages from Section 1. The language test carries 25 per cent weightage, meaning thereby, 200 marks out of 800 for most of the courses in arts, humanities and commerce at DU.
However, for most of the courses in science, one just needs to get 30 per cent in a language test as it is just qualifying in nature and its marks are not added to the aggregate.
Also, for most of the popular programs – BCom (Hons), BA Political Science (Hons), BA English (Hons) in some top colleges including St Stephen’s, Hindu, SRCC and Miranda House, it is very important to get around 100 per cent in English as the cut-offs for these courses are mostly above 780 out of 800 (200 marks for each of the 4 subjects) for the candidates belonging to the General category.
It is not very difficult to score 100 per cent in CUET UG English test if one works consistently and with a plan. Also, one needs to attempt only 40 of the given 50 questions and thus by attempting 80 per cent of the questions, one can score 100 per cent marks.
English Language Test is mandatory for all undergraduate courses offered universities including JNU and TISS. In JNU and TISS, the English Language Test carries almost 44 per cent (200 out of 450) weightage.
One is supposed to attempt 40 out of 50 questions in 45 minutes. All questions carry equal marks. A correct response rewards you with five marks and an incorrect one penalises you by one mark. If you do not attempt a question, it does not impact your score. It is a computer-based-test (CBT).
Questions in CUET UG English are asked from three broad areas: reading comprehension, vocabulary and English grammar.
In 2022, a lot of emphasis was on reading comprehension and vocabulary. In 2023 however, reading comprehension and English grammar were the two most prominent areas.
| Vocabulary Topics | Antonyms, Synonyms, Analogies, Idioms and Phrases, Spelling Check, Homophones, Foreign Words etc |
| Grammar Topics | Parts of Speech, Active and Passive Voice, Articles, Tenses, Question Tags, Sentences (Assertive, Imperative, Exclamatory, etc.), Phrasal Verbs, Sentence Correction, Modals etc |
Although the CUET 2023 pattern saw a difference in the format of the questions asked in all other sections as compared to the exam pattern of 2022, there was no change in the syllabus of the English language test in 2023. Also, the test in 2023 was more difficult than what it was in 2022 as the number of 100 percentiles dropped from about 1.7 per cent in 2022 to about 0.8 v of the total test takers in 2023.
One should work on vocabulary as well as grammar. These are the only areas for which you need to prepare. The reading comprehension is mostly elementary and no specific preparation is needed for it. Once these two areas are covered, one needs to practice from the actual questions asked in the exam.
Also, one needs to factor in two more points including the Class 12 exams which are starting in February and the CUET UG dates which have been scheduled to be conducted between May 15 and 31.
(Vijay Kalyan Jha is an author in Pearson India)
