Good News For Students: Delhi University Reveals Its Plan To Fill Vacant Seats

NEW DELHI: Delhi University (DU) will use Class XII marks to fill any remaining vacant seats after the regular admission rounds are completed, Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh said on Thursday. The announcement comes as the University Grants Commission issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for Central Universities to ensure all seats in UG and PG courses are filled.

The UGC noted that keeping the seats vacant for an entire academic year is not only a waste of resources but also results in the denial of quality higher education to many students. Reacting to the directive, Yogesh Singh told ANI, "We welcome the directive by UGC. We are equally sensitive to the fact that seats in any course should not remain vacant. We will use Class XII marks to fill the vacant seats in UG programs."

Last year, around 5000 seats remained vacant at DU, despite university employing multiple methods to fill all seats. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by UGC, universities can conduct their entrance exams for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses if seats remain vacant after the regular admission rounds.

When asked about holding an entrance exam to fill vacant seats, Singh said, "We will not hold an entrance exam but will ensure all seats are filled in the university." The admission process for the academic year 2024-25 is underway. Delhi University is offering over 71,000 seats across more than 65 colleges through the Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG).

The university's current admissions process began on May 28 with the first phase, which saw around 270,000 students registering on the Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) portal. However, the start of phase two of the admission process has been delayed due to the postponement of the CUET UG results. The university aims to proceed swiftly once the results are announced, ensuring that all available seats are filled.

The UGC in the guidelines said that the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores will remain the primary criteria for admitting students in the central universities. However, students who appeared in CUET, but may or may not have applied to the respective university for the courses or programs earlier may also be considered.

Also, the universities may consider conducting an entrance examination at its level or the concerned department of the university may conduct a screening test to fill the vacant seats in the university in case seats remain vacant even after exhausting the list of applicants who appeared in CUET.

Further, students who appeared in CUET may be considered irrespective of the domain subject papers in which they appeared, the SOP said adding that the universities can relax the domain subject-specific criteria for admission to a particular course or program.