NTA Issues Clarification on CUET PG Exam: Here’s Why It Was Held on Additional Dates

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the CUET PG exam in March, but the exam has now become the centre of a debate over whether it was conducted fairly. Following the addition of two extra examination dates: March 29 and March 30. Candidates have demanded normalisation, arguing that conducting the examination on additional dates could affect the overall cut-off marks.

Addressing concerns over the conduct of CUET PG 2026 across multiple examination dates, the NTA issued a clarification regarding the demand for normalisation. Officials stated that normalisation would not be applicable, citing the limited number of candidates who appeared on the additional examination dates.

Concerns in CUET PG Exam

Reports by The Indian Express state amid discussions on social media regarding why certain CUET PG 2026 subjects were conducted across multiple dates and whether candidates appearing on different dates would be subject to normalisation, the NTA has issued a detailed clarification addressing the matter.

Protests at NTA Office Over Exam Irregularities

The All India Students' Association (AISA) attempted to submit a memorandum regarding alleged irregularities in the CUET-PG and NEET-UG examinations. However, the protest outside the NTA office was reportedly barred by the police. According to reports by ETV Bharat, the protesters demanded fairness, a proper investigation into the issues raised, and expressed concerns over the lack of prior notification regarding examination-related changes.

NTA Issues Clarification

Following student protests and concerns raised on social media, the NTA issued an official clarification on X, stating that the re exam was conducted for 565 candidates due to prevailing law-and-order and security concerns. The agency explained that the re exam covered 28 subjects and that the difficulty level of the question papers was carefully considered to ensure consistency with the original examination.

According to the NTA, the papers were reviewed and approved by Subject Matter Experts, and the evaluation was carried out on an absolute marking basis. NTA officials confirming that normalisation would be meaningless stated:

For example, in the main examination roughly 16,000 candidates appeared in English against about 120 in the reschedule; in Political Science the figures were about 26,000 against roughly 100; in History about 13,600 against under 80. A cohort of a hundred cannot be statistically normalized against tens of thousands.