The results of the CBSE (central board of secondary education) class 12 board examination has been unprecedented this year. A record number of students passed the examination, and more than double the number of students scored 95 percent and above as compared to the board results last year. The number of students securing 90 percent and above marks (but less that 95 percent) was also very high.
An alternate assessment scheme formulated by the (CBSE) is believed to have led to an all-time high pass percentage of the students this year.
Marks were awarded to the students based on their scores in the best performing subjects under the scheme which had approval of the Supreme Court as the Board had to cancel some of the papers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the nearly 12 lakh students who appeared for the exams in February-March, over 10.59 lakh were declared as passed. This took the overall pass percentage of the students up to 88.78 percent, 5.38% higher than that of the last year.
The number of students scoring 95% and above climbed up to reach 38,686 from 17,690 last year, reflecting an increase by a whopping 118.68 percent. Over 1.57 lakh students secured 90 percent and above marks but less than 95 percent, showing an increase by 67.48 percent. Last year, a total of 94,299 students had breeched the 90 percent mark.
The board examination results have brought cheers to those securing high scores. But what will be its impact on admissions in Delhi University? Will this also shoot up the cut off this year?
With 91 Colleges, 16 Faculties, 86 Departments, 20 Centres, and 3 Institute under it, Delhi University, which was conferred the Institute of Eminence tag last year, has always remained the top choice of students for higher education in the country.
While the total number of sanctioned seats for undergraduate programs in DU is nearly 70,000, over 2.45 lakh students have registered with Delhi University for admission as on Wednesday. What will be admission scenario this time?
“There would be much hue and cry as the cut off will definitely be higher this time, at least in the first three lists,” Deshbandhu College Principal Rajiv Aggarwal told Outlook. “Colleges will have to take extra precautions as even minute percentage points will be important.”
Another reason for a higher cut off in Delhi university admissions this year could be delay in entrance examinations held for engineering, medical and law colleges. The government has postponed the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) tests conducted for admissions in engineering and medical colleges respectively. The two entrance tests are now expected to be held in September. The Consortium of National Law Universities has extended the dates of Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) to August.
“Cut off will definitely be higher by at least 1 percent this year. Another reason for a higher cut off could be the possibility of a large chunk of students preferring to study in DU colleges instead of going abroad for higher education in view of the Covid-19 pandemic,” says SGTB Khalsa College Principal Jaswinder Singh.
Some of the faculty members in the university though feel that many students would prefer to take admission in their home state due to Covid-19 pandemic. But that is debatable, as Agarwal points out: “It could be reverse also because the admission process is completely online and there are also indications of the university issuing guidelines for holding online classes till the time situation improves.”
The admission department of DU feels it is too early to talk of cut off marks right now. “I think we will have to wait for some time for proper analysis to be done because students are yet to update their marks. Registration process is still on, we will have to wait till it's over,” says Shobha Bagai, Dean Admission Branch.
The closing date for registration in DU is July 18 and there will certainly be more applications by then. All those high scorers will be hoping they get a seat in their favourite university.
