CUET UG Score Normalisation Process: Insights from UGC Chairman on Why and How it is Conducted

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has recently published the CUET UG Result on July 15, 2023. Following the release of the results, UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar sheds light on the score normalisation process. In the Common University Entrance Test (CUET UG), the performance of each candidate is evaluated through the equi-percentile system, and the marks displayed on the scorecard represent normalised scores.

CUET UG 2023 was conducted over a six-week period, with tests for the same subject held on different days. Many candidates have raised concerns about how NTA will compare the performance of students who took the test on different days but in the same subject.

UGC Chairman Kumar explains, "We need to ensure that admissions are based on a score that directly compares the performance of students." When asked why normalization is specifically done for CUET UG and not all entrance exams, he clarifies that other entrance exams are limited to smaller subjects. He states, "In single-session entrance tests, a common statistically established system is used to convert raw marks into a standardized scale using percentiles, enabling the comparison of students' performance."

Furthermore, Kumar highlights the challenges faced in exams like CUET UG, where the test is conducted on different days and in multiple sessions for the same subject. This leads to the generation of multiple percentiles for each group of students. Additionally, some universities consider skill elements in subjects such as Sports or Fine Arts, which cannot be factored into the rank list using only percentiles.

In the equi-percentile system, percentiles are calculated for each candidate based on their raw marks in comparison to the raw marks of others in the same session. This process is repeated for every session across multiple days for the same subject. The percentiles are then equated and converted into normalised marks. Kumar explains that sessions with fewer candidates are merged with larger sessions, ensuring a similar performance standard across sessions.

During the preparation of the rank list, if the raw marks of the skill element hold a certain weightage, it can be added to the remaining weightage of the normalised marks. The CUET UG Result 2023 showcases over 22,000 candidates scoring 100 percentile, with the highest number in English followed by Biology. Humanities and Commerce subjects also exhibit higher percentile scores compared to science subjects, except for Biology. For example, Mathematics had 251 candidates in the hundredth percentile, while Medicine had 83, and Chemistry had 233. For further details, candidates can refer to the official website.

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