The Executive Committee (EC) of Delhi University has approved conducting entrance exams for admission, while the candidates have been torn between whether this is good news or cause for concern. From the academic year 2022 onwards, DU will no longer use cut-offs and will instead rely on entrance tests to choose students. So, does the elimination of sky-high cutoffs imply a reduction in stress?

“It is quite revolutionary,” Adveer Singh, a Delhi-based aspirant, tells Hindustan Times, while Khushi Gupta, also from Delhi, adds, “To those in class XII, people would say, ‘You have to get 100% no matter what, because you’ve to get into DU’. It’s not that we won’t work hard now; we’ll enjoy the process.” 

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Whether DU will have its own exam or follow the national test design is still up in the air. Singh, on the other hand, believes, “An entrance exam tests your aptitude while cut off system tests memory. The approach of studying for boards and entrance is way different. It’s great that the central education system will finally test our aptitude, rather than memory.” 

Aarushi Pandey, an IBDP board aspirant, believes that this decision will improve students’ chances of getting into DU. Considering how countless Kerala board students made it to DU due to their high percentages, she adds, “The new approach may add to the pressure of giving exams, but it’s surely better than how the cut offs have been skyrocketing to nearly unattainable levels in the past few years.”

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According to Veer Khanna, a Gurugram-based aspirant, the decision will reduce the tension and anxiety associated with the class XII board exams. “I don’t know what the syllabus for entrance exams would be, but if it allows for slightly more specialised testing, I am all for it,” he adds.