UGC Update on Indian Universities Offering Admissions Twice
Recently, a significant change in the pattern of universities in India has been declared. Indian Universities will now offer admissions to students twice a year instead of the usual once-a-year norm. The admissions will take place in July-August and then in January-February, which is similar to what is practised by their foreign counterparts. The very policy is offered to undergraduate applicants, postgraduate applicants and the PhD programmes.
This momentous shift in the policies in the Indian higher education picture has enabled universities across the nation to offer admissions twice a year, and the decision was facilitated by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The flexible biannual model of admission is said to be implemented from the next academic session of 2025-2026 in all the universities that are looking to choose this new way of admission process and replace the traditional admission norms, which is supposed to offer a number of benefits to the students.
Why did the University Grants Commission take the decision to change the conventional admission regime?
The conventional method of admission that is currently being used allows the students to be admitted only once a year which starts from July-August for the traditional mode programmes and majors. With the change in the regime, this new scheme and decision undertaken by UGC will ow permit students to take admissions twice a year in January-February as well as their academic sessions.
Earlier, the University Grants Commission of India enabled bi-annual forms of admission for open and long-distance learning and online modes with two cycles of admission in January and July. In this period, the commission witnessed that nearly half a million students who would have had to wait an entire year otherwise were able to have access to admission in January. This served as the trial period for the commission which accelerated their decision to conduct bi-annual means of admission offline as well.
What are new policies and the new changes that come with this new policy?
The UGC is overwhelmed by the tremendous response and interest from the students in the online long-distance learning programmes, which led them to conduct a meeting this may and solidify their decision to extend this bi-annual admission policy to Higher Education institutions which offer regular mode programmes and courses. As of now, the sources say that bi-annual admissions are not mandatory for universities to integrate. However, colleges and universities will have added flexibility to increase the intake of students and incorporate new courses in emerging fields. In order to implement this scheme, the universities and institutions will have to mend their regulations and restructure their policies to facilitate admissions twice a year as per the guidelines of UGC.
Which programmes and courses are qualified?
Under this new policy, bi-annual admissions will be offered to undergraduate applicants, postgraduate applicants and the PhD programmes. For doctoral students, CUET will not be mandatory and will be entirely the choice of universities based on their preference of entrance exams for the admission process. For the undergraduates, CUET (UG) will be mandatory for all the central universities. UGC-NET will be conducted twice a year, so the universities would be able to take in PhD candidates twice a year. National Testing Agency is also planning to conduct exams twice a year, which will be beneficial for the students in the upcoming years.
How does this change in admission policy benefit the students?
The bi-annual admissions are which extra choice for students who have missed the admission process for any reason whatsoever. As a result of this policy, they ca now register to the course of their liking without having a year to wait. This bi-annual scheme will also enhance the learning of the students as it promotes resource optimisation. The policy will also encourage better campus recruitment throughout the year rather than a single influx, which would allow the companies to plan their recruitment drive in a more efficient manner.
