CUET-UG aspirants face glitches, server errors, delays on exam day

COmmon University spellbind Test-Undergraduate (CUET UG) centres crossways the rural area on mon saw aspirants and parents seamed up outside the gates as the exam faced delays of up to an hour due to technical glitches and server errors. The first shift of CUET-UG was scheduled to begin at 9am. Ahead of the exam, centres put up notices announcing the delay, leading to delayed entry of students inside the centres. “Due to some technical glitches there will be an undefined delay in entry. Once the issue is resolved, all candidates will be permitted to enter. It’s a pan-India issue. Your cooperation is highly essential,” the notices said. Rana Pratap Singh, parent of a CUET aspirant, said that a large crowd of restless parents and students gathered at the Pataliputra centre in Patna before 7am, as they heard of technical glitch. “But later, everything settled as the problem was sorted out,” he added. Another parent, Neelam Kumari, said that she, along with her daughter, reached the CUET exam centre, Ion Digital Zone in Azara, Guwahati at 7.45am. However, students were not allowed to enter the exam centre until 9.30am. “The security guard at 9.15am announced that the reason behind the delay was a technical glitch. However, at 9.30am, students were allowed to enter the exam centre to sit for the exam.” While officials from the National Testing Agency, which conducts the exam, did not respond to HT’s requests for comments, a person managing one of the exam centres said that the hour-long delay was caused due to technical errors in NTA servers. “There was no problem in the exam process except the entry in the exam hall,” Suryoday Singh, owner of AIIT and management college in Prayagraj, which holds the exam, said. An observer, an individual appointed by the NTA to oversee the fair and smooth conduct of the exam at a test center, for the CUET-UG in Bihar said that there was some pan-India technical issue, but it was resolved well in time. “The exams are from May 13 to June 6, and due to a delay in the morning, the students were concerned, but it was resolved,” said the official, who did not want to be quoted. CUET UG 2025 will be conducted by NTA till June 3 in computer-based mode. The exam is being held in three shifts daily: 9-10am, 12-1pm, and 3-4pm, covering 37 subjects including 13 languages, 23 domain-specific subjects, and one general test. The test is available in 13 languages and is a key requirement for undergraduate admissions in central, state, and participating universities.