As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recorded the highest ever pass percentage this year, many believe that the Delhi University cut-offs for the upcoming academic session will be higher than previous years.
The board on Friday declared that the Class 12 pass percentage this year was 99.37, a spike of over 10 percentage points against last year's 88.78 per cent. Further, while last year, difference between the pass percentage of girls and boys was nearly six per cent, girls outshined boys by a slender margin of 0.54 per cent this year.
Amid these developments, the registration process for nearly 70,000 seats available for undergraduate courses at Delhi University is expected to begin on August 2. Many college principals believe that since more than 70,000 CBSE Class 12 students scored more than 95 per cent, the DU cut-offs are going to be on the higher side than previous years.
They said the exact picture will be clear once the registration starts but were unanimous in predicting higher cut-offs than last year.
Anju Srivastava, principal, Hindu College, said they will go by the scores in the state boards, CBSE and ISC boards.
"With the high number of students scoring more than 95 per cent, we have no choice but to keep the cut-offs on the higher side. We have limited number of seats for every course and despite the very high cut-offs, we end up admitting students above the sanctioned strength. If the student is meeting the cut-off and the eligibility criterion, we have to give them admission," she added.
Rama Sharma, principal, Hansraj College, said they will wait for the full data to appear.
"It will be studied. It will increase than last year but whether the increase will be 0.5 per cent or one per cent and for which course, it will have to be seen. Also, some popular courses like B.Com (Hons), BA (Hons) English, Political Science (Hons) are likely to see higher cut-offs," she said.
Manoj Sinha, principal of Aryabhatta College, said the exact picture will be clear when the applications come but he said the cut-offs are expected to soar this year.
Rajeev Gupta, chairperson, Admissions, said the first cut-off list is likely to be released between September 8-10. Last year, LSR had pegged the cut-offs for three courses at 100 per cent.
"The respective admission committees of colleges will analyse the trend. It is difficult to say at this point but seeing the numbers, the cut-offs are going to be higher. The admissions happen on the basis of best of three or best of four subjects and students usually have 100 per cent scores in them," he said.
He said a large percentage of students also clear NEET and JEE exams and opt for those choices.
"CBSE has given option to students that they can appear for physical exams if they are not satisfied with their results. Also there is a possibility that students might not get marksheets from their respective boards. We will provide adequate time to students for updation of marks in case they do not have their marks available with them," he added.
LSR principal Suman Sharma said they will have a meeting with their college officials over cut-offs and noted that it is too early to comment.
The number of candidates scoring above 95 per cent has increased from 38,686 last year to 70,004 this year. However, the number of candidates scoring between 90-95 per cent has gone down from 1,57,934 to 1,50,152.
(With PTI inputs)
