The results of the Common University Entrance Test, Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2023 — announced on Saturday (July 15) — have left candidates disappointed as their scores came out to be lower than expected. Several students took to social media to complain about the ‘normalization process’.
Rishita Singh, an 18-year-old from Varanasi, who is aiming to pursue a BA (Hons) from Delhi University, claims that her CUET score decreased by 70 points due to the normalisation process. “The score that I calculated based on the final answer key was way more. My raw score was 776 (out of 800) which has been reduced to 705 and this leaves me with little chance of getting into the desired colleges of Delhi University,” she told indianexpress.com.
The UGC chief, M Jagadesh Kumar, has defended the normalization process by stating that it is essential to offer a “level playing field” for all students.
“First, we must remember that in a given discipline, we were required to conduct CUET in multiple shifts in a subject due to the large number of students participating in the test. For example, if the exam is in economics, NTA experts prepare multiple economics papers for use in different shifts. Despite our best efforts, the difficulty level of each piece will slightly differ from the other. Therefore, one needs to use normalized scores instead of obtained scores by a student.
“For this purpose, we use a scientific method called the equi-percentile method for normalizing the difficulty level across different shifts. In the process, the normalized scores for some students will be less than the obtained score; for others, it may increase,” he told indianexpress.com.
However, students allege that the National Testing Agency (NTA) has converted the CUET UG exam from a talent and intelligence-based exam to a ‘luck-based test’.