Autonomous and minority colleges have begun — or are set to begin — their undergraduate admission process even before the publication of the Plus II board results.
St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, has started accepting undergraduate application forms online from April 22.
Father Dominic Savio said the forms will be accepted through May, as the Higher Secondary results will be published on May 14.
Scottish Church College, a minority institution set to begin its journey as an autonomous college next year, will start receiving online forms from May 14.
“We will start the exercise on May 14, the day the HS results will be published,” said principal Madhumanjari Mandal. “It will continue till June 14,” she said.
Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur, is likely to start accepting the forms either a couple of days before or after the publication of the HS results, Swami Ekachittananda, the principal, said.
Another autonomous College, Ramakrishna Mission Swami Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara, is likely to start the admission exercise just after the publication of the HS results, Swami Kamalasthananda, the principal, said.
The autonomous and minority institutions are planning to start their classes either by the end of June or mid-July so they can attract bright students and complete the four-year undergraduate programme on time, said the heads of the colleges.
The government and aided colleges, which admit students through the state-run admission portal, have yet to announce when they will start their undergraduate admissions process.
Manas Kabi, principal of Asutosh College, said they have yet to receive any communication from the
state.
Last year, the admission process in government
and aided colleges through the state-run portal started two-and-a-half months
after the publication of
Plus II results.
Many principals blamed a delayed start as one of the major factors for not being able to attract bright students and for seats remaining vacant in increasing numbers.
“It has to be kept in mind that in case we experience an unnecessary delay in the start of the admission process, we will miss out on bright students,” Asutosh College principal Manas Kabi said.
Siuli Sarkar, the principal of Lady Brabourne College, said that the admissions through the centralised admission portal were likely to start late this year as well.
Although meetings between the nodal officers of the colleges and the department are taking place, the portal is likely to be launched late. A delayed start means we will fail to attract bright students who will head for the autonomous colleges. Some of them even leave Bengal after their school-leaving examinations, Sarkar said.
“The delayed start is posing a challenge for us,” she said.
A principal of a government-aided college said the number of autonomous colleges has increased this year.
Till last year, only St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, and the three colleges under the Ramakrishna Mission were autonomous.
This year, Behala College will begin its journey as an autonomous college at the undergraduate level.
The 114-year-old Loreto College has applied to the University Grants Commission for autonomous status from the 2026–27 academic year.
The UGC is likely to decide on the application in May, a Calcutta University official said.
Behala College will start receiving online applications from May 1, principal Sudip Chakraborty said.
“Once the Plus II board results are out, students — particularly those with good scores — will secure admission to autonomous and minority colleges, which begin their admission process early. We have been urging the department to synchronise the admission process of government colleges with that of autonomous and minority institutions, but that is yet to happen,” he said.