Many students in Delhi said the stress of writing the CUET exam was compounded by the last-minute change of centres and the sultry weather.

Last night, Nancy Verma, 18, hardly slept at all. The first-ever Common University Entrance Test (CUET), which she was scheduled to take in the morning, will determine which college she attends for her undergraduate studies. She claims that her worry was more about getting to the testing location than it was about the exam itself. Verma stated, “I learned about the centre pretty late yesterday.” I would have made alternate plans if I had heard about the examination centre beforehand.

Many students in the nation’s capital claimed that the last-minute change of centres and the hot weather added to the stress of completing the first-ever CUET paper because there was no prior years’ question bank with which to prepare and no meaningful way to identify a pattern. Kanishka (17), who plans to pursue a BA (political science) at Delhi University’s Miranda House, said, “I don’t check my e-mail usually but I am thankful that I checked it yesterday because there was a mail from the NTA (National Testing Agency) informing about the change of centre from Dwarka to North Campus Delhi University.”

Phase 1 of the CUET exam will take place in July, while Phase 2 will take place in August. Given that NEET (UG) – 2022 will take place on July 17, candidates who choose Physics, Chemistry, or Biology have been assigned to Phase 2 of the CUET test. In March, the UGC director said that admission to 45 central universities, which can set their own minimum eligibility standards, will be based on CUET results rather than Class 12 marks. At centres in more than 510 cities in India and abroad, the first round of the CUET-UG exams, which serve as the entrance exam for undergraduate admissions in all central institutions, started at 9 am on Friday.

Nancy Verma claimed that travelling to the testing location in Janakpuri from her house in Badarpur was more difficult than actually writing the test. “In order to avoid skipping the exam and because I was anxious about it, I slept very late at night. I was forced to get up at 5:30. At 6:30 a.m., I left my house “She spoke. To get to the centre, she had to jump on and off several different types of transportation. “Before boarding a metro from Sarai for Janakpuri, I first drove an auto to the station. The metro ride took 1.5 hours in all. I then boarded an e-rickshaw to get to the testing location. By 8:15 a.m., I had made it to the Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology in Janakpuri “Added her. Nancy claimed that she would have better arranged her day if she had known the location of her exam centre sooner. “I was more anxious about the trip than the test itself. I was already worn out when I arrived at the centre. Many students felt that the administration should have released the admission card sooner and ensured that the centre allotment was done correctly. “I believe there may have been a better arrangement. A few days before the exam, the admission card may have been made available, and the testing location had to be close to the residences of the students. The temperature is really high. The area where I live has no metro connectivity. So, we took an auto to the bus stop, where we got on the bus.  By the time I reached the examination. I was drenched in the sweat,” said Kamya, who came to the centre from Sarita Vihar.

Due to last-minute modifications, many students were unable to take the exam; however, those who could were pleased with the results. The NTA has declared that these students will have another opportunity during the following phase. Rakesh Kumar (42), who was relieved to see his daughter Akanksha (17) leaving the Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology examination centre, remarked, “I think her exam went well.” Akanksha, who plans to attend Delhi University to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Education, stated, “I was becoming anxious ineffectively. It was simple. Everything was what we had previously researched.” The majority of other students claim that the exams weren’t particularly challenging and that nothing was “out of syllabus.” Other than a few minor technological hiccups, there were no significant issues. “Since we were unsure of the type of exam that would be coming, we have been worrying about the kids for a while now. Additionally, there was a lot of misunderstanding regarding the exam. Also very late was the admit card. Eventually, we can relax “Praveen Kumar, whose son Kamal took the CUET at the Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology, remarked.

Kamal took three tests: one each in political science, physical education, and general knowledge. The overall test, according to Kamal, took a little bit of time, but the other tests were simple. Everything, he claimed, was based on what we had learned in classes XI and XII. The exam was “very straightforward,” according to Yashmita (18), who completed the papers for four subjects: home science, history, English, and Hindi. It wasn’t difficult, she remarked. “No such technological issues existed. The server did, however, briefly go down at one point but came back online a short while later.” She plans to enrol in Delhi University’s BA Hons programme. “We were unaware of the examination’s format. Now, others will learn about the examination format from us “Kanishka stated.

The CUET has surpassed JEE-Main, whose average enrollment is nine lakh, to become the second-largest entrance test in the nation with 14.9 lakh registrations. According to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the CUET is a positive start and any issues with the test would be remedied as soon as possible.