New Delhi  Like previous years, St. Stephen's College of Delhi University wanted to include interview in the admission process this year too. However, the Delhi High Court has told St. Stephen's College that it will have to follow the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

Delhi University has also clarified that it will not recognise the admissions taken by St. Stephen's College in case of non-compliance of CUET procedure.

Not only this, Delhi University has clarified that if St. Stephen's College does not comply with CUET, then the admissions made here can be declared invalid. The Delhi University can also refuse to recognise the degree of students who have secured admission on the basis of interview.

After the new changes, now St. Stephen's College will also have to withdraw its prospectus. In fact, in its new prospectus, the college will have to make it clear that admission in St. Stephen's College is being given only on the basis of CUET examinations. In the prospectus released earlier, St. Stephen's College had decided to give 85 per cent weightage to CUET exams and 15 per cent weightage to interviews. However, the decision of St Stephen's College has now been set aside.

In fact the stand of St. Stephen's College has been that it will abide by the CUET without compromising on the privileges granted by the Constitution. The college had also cited the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench decision that St Stephen's as a minority institution has its own admission procedures which are guaranteed by the Constitution. This is the reason, St. Stephen's College may approach the Supreme Court after the High Court ruled in favour of CUET.

This time admission in DU is being done through CUET score. CUET result for undergraduate (UG) courses is to be declared on or before September 15. Delhi University has shared the information related to admission in DU on September 12, after the tentative date of CUET result was revealed.

There are about 80 departments under the DU where postgraduate degrees, PhD, certificate courses, degree courses, etc are conducted. Similarly, Delhi University has about 79 colleges in which undergraduate, postgraduate studies are done. Every year more than 70,000 students are admitted in these colleges and departments in the subjects of science, commerce and humanities at the graduation level.

On the other hand, minority educational institution, Jamia Millia Islamia has decided to implement the CUET for admission in many undergraduate courses from the academic session 2022-23. The university has also informed the UGC and National Testing Agency (NTA) about this.

UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellors and Directors of all universities and colleges to adopt CUET. The UGC had appealed to all state governments and private universities to adopt the CUET for admitting students.