Large question files blamed for glitches in CUET exam on August 6

The Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2022 was postponed at 50 centres in 17 states due to technical glitches on its second day on Friday. The examination for admission to undergraduate courses in central universities was being conducted at 489 centres across the country and began on Thursday, August 4.

Notably, the exam held in the first shift was postponed at 20 centres and in the second shift at 30 centres across the country due to administrative and technical glitches. However, apart from the second shift on August 6, none of the other examinations was cancelled here in Ranchi.

Ranchi saw a total of four centres including BIT Mesra, Cambridge Institute of Technology (CIT) Tatisilwe, Shiva Infotec Booty More and RTC Ormanjhi.

Talking in this regard, Pro Arshad Usmani, HoD, CSE at CIT said, “The exam was conducted from August 4 to August 8. It will also be conducted on August 10.”

On the question of an exam being cancelled earlier, Prof Usmani said, “The examination first shift of the exam was conducted without a glitch on August 5, however, the second shift was cancelled here. This happened because the file of the question paper was quite heavy, maybe due to large files or images. As the file was large and made the server slow while downloading the file, it may have affected downloads on other centres as well.”

“This, as a result, delayed the second shift for around three hours initially, which was later postponed,” he added.

When questioned about the reasons for the recent dates released for the examination, he said, “I believe the reason for the new dates for the examination is the children stating that they will not be able to write the examination between August 12 and 14. NTA is to conduct the CUET UG 2022 examination for the candidates who would not be able to appear for the exam between August 12 to 14, between August 24 and August 28. Fresh Admit Cards will also be issued prior to the exam.”

A senior NTA official had earlier said that technical issues were reported at some centres, following which reports were sought from observers and city coordinators on the ground. Based on their recommendations, a decision to postpone the exam was taken.