Patna University will be the first university in the state to hold entrance tests for all its courses to improve the quality of education.

The varsity, in its council meeting held on Saturday, decided to introduce entrance tests for postgraduate courses from the next academic session starting in July-August.

The institution at present holds entrance tests for undergraduate courses only, while admission to postgraduate courses is done on basis of marks scored by the candidate in graduation.

All other state universities admit students to undergraduate and postgraduate courses, on the basis of their board and undergraduate results.

"The university administration has been receiving complaints from various postgraduate department heads about the performance of some students. We went through the academic records of such pupils and found that their undergradute performance was good but they were unable to cope with the postgraduate work," said varsity pro-vice-chancellor R.K. Verma.

"There are some students studying chemistry who don't have clear concepts of the subject taught in undergraduate levels. It raised questions on their high graduation marks," said a senior chemistry teacher at the university.

Most of these students graduated from universities outside the state, sources said.

Students welcomed the move. "The decision is good because the system will test the applicants' merit before admitting them," said Gyan Shankar, a geology student at the university.

The university had introduced entrance exams for undergraduate courses for the first time in 2012.

"Implementing the move will not be easy because there are many levels through which the notion needs to go through. The syndicate, the senate, the state government and the chancellor will have to give their nods to the proposal before it can be brought to action," said a senior teacher at the university