Students uncertain over admissions to foreign universities and DU as Board exams are postponed

Education counsellors say most foreign universities are “adaptable”; DU may consider giving 100% weightage to CUCET scores.

As the CBSE announced Wednesday that Class XII Board exams will be postponed due to rising cases of Covid-19, uncertainty looms over the fate of students applying to foreign universities and to Delhi University.

Education and career counsellors in the city said the postponement may create some problems for students who have applied abroad, but most foreign countries and universities have an “adaptable” and “flexible” criteria that would hopefully accommodate the delay in announcement of Class XII results.

DU, which has hitherto admitted students to its undergraduate courses solely on the basis of cut-0ffs determined by the Class XII results, had this year submitted a proposal to the University Grants Commission (UGC) that equal weightage given to the Board marks and CUCET (Central University Common Entrance Test) scores for admissions.

Senior university officials told The Indian Express Wednesday that if the exams are postponed too long, DU may consider giving 100% weightage to the CUCET score. The test is to be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Sapna Sukul, a counsellor and founder of Edustart Solutions, said, “Canada is allowing students to take admission on the basis of previous grades as long as they submit their board exam results later. In the UK or Australia, no such guidelines have been given as of now. However, the order has just come today, so everyone is hopeful that the guidelines will change.”

Sakshi Mittal, who works as a career counsellor with University Leap, said, “The decision to postpone exams was the need of the hour. However, students are worried. Some universities have already allowed admissions on the basis of predicted scores such as Huron University College in Canada. Universities in Canada especially are giving a letter of admission to students on the basis of this, through which they can apply for visas. However, there are still universities, like in the UK, where they need class XII results to offer admission.”

“However, most courses are starting in October, so hopefully Board exam results will be out by then. We feel most foreign universities will be flexible with their guidelines. We have written to some universities and they have said they will extend the deadline,” she said.

Career counsellor Jitin Chawla also said that most universities were adaptable.

“Last year also due to the pandemic, many universities waived off the SAT/GMAT/GRE requirements. Many universities give conditional acceptance based on previous marks. They are not looking only at class XII but also the last three years’ marks,” he said.

Chawla, who is an alumnus of DU, said the change is not likely to affect DU. “They are also adapting to CUCET. Until now, they were also dithering but they may be forced to shift to the test now,” he said.

Senior DU officials admitted this was being considered. “If CUCET is implemented, we are planning to give 50% weightage to Board exams and CUCET. If the Board exams are further postponed and NTA (National Testing Agency) successfully conducts CUCET, we may switch over to our second plan, which is giving 100% weightage to CUCET scores,” an official said.

“There is a 99% chance that CUCET will be implemented this year. If it is postponed then naturally our admissions will also be postponed,” the official said.

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