What CUET UG is
The Common University Entrance Test (Undergraduate), conducted by the National Testing Agency, is the entrance exam for admission into undergraduate programmes at central universities across India, and it is also accepted by a number of state, deemed, and private universities that choose to use its scores. It is an admission exam, not a recruitment exam: clearing it gets a candidate a seat in a degree programme, not a government job.
A candidate selects the specific language papers, domain-specific subject papers, and, for some universities, a General Test, based on which undergraduate programmes and universities they intend to apply to, since each participating university sets its own combination of required papers and its own merit criteria using the CUET UG score.
Who can apply
A Class 12 pass, or a candidate appearing in their Class 12 board exam that year, from a recognised board is required, in the stream relevant to the chosen undergraduate programme. There is no upper age limit, since CUET UG is an admission test tied to Class 12 completion rather than a recruitment cutoff.
How the exam runs
CUET UG is a computer based objective test, structured around papers a candidate selects rather than one fixed paper for everyone: language papers, domain-specific subject papers relevant to the intended undergraduate programme, and, for universities that require it, a General Test. Negative marking applies for wrong answers as specified in the notification.
There is no interview or further stage at the CUET UG level itself: admission follows from each participating university’s own counselling process, which uses the CUET UG score as the primary or sole merit criterion depending on that university’s policy.
Preparing the application
NTA specifies exact photograph and signature requirements in each notification rather than a fixed year to year standard, so check the current notification’s dimensions and file size before uploading. The tools on this site can resize your photograph to whatever specific target the notification states.
On exam day
Arrive at least an hour before the reporting time on your admit card, with the printed admit card and a government photo identification matching the name and photo on the admit card. No electronic devices are permitted inside the exam centre.
The official CUET UG and NTA websites, linked above, carry the current participating university list, subject combinations, and schedule for the cycle you are applying to.