Calcutta University will hold common admission tests for its own postgraduate programmes and those run by the affiliated colleges, scrapping the practice of marks-based admission.

The students who will be exiting the three-year undergraduate programme will be admitted to the master’s programme based on their performance in the admission tests, said CU vice-chancellor Ashutosh Ghosh.

The four-year undergraduate programme introduced at the university in 2023 as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) allows a student to exit after the third year.

“A combination of equal weightage given to the admission test and undergraduate performance till the fifth semester will be considered for admitting candidates to the two-year postgraduate programme,” the VC said.

“The date of the admission tests will be announced by the end of this week,” he said.

The VC said earlier that they had decided colleges affiliated to Calcutta University will decide how they want to screen students for postgraduate programmes from this academic year.

It was also decided that postgraduate admissions in the affiliated colleges will not be conducted through the central PG admission system of the University from the 2026-27 academic year.

However, as the colleges cited constraints in holding admission tests independently, the university has decided to conduct a common admission test, he said.

A notification issued by the university last week says: “In partial modification of the previous notice.....PG courses in the CU-affiliated colleges are now included in the central admission portal for the 2026-27 session.”

“The centralised PG admission portal 2026 will handle all processes-including applications, entrance examinations and merit list preparation- for both CU in-house courses and PG courses in CU affiliated colleges......Appearing for the entrance test is mandatory for all categories of applicants,” says the notice.

It further said affiliated colleges would conduct their own admission process based on the centralised merit lists.

“A candidate, while applying for the two-year PG programme till June 1, can give a preference for the college where he or she wants to pursue a master’s programme,” the VC said.

A CU official said affiliated colleges have been instructed not to invite or accept fresh or separate applications at the institutional level for PG admission.

“We had earlier allowed colleges to screen students for their master’s programme, considering that the colleges demanded that their autonomy at the postgraduate
level, which was allowed till 2018, be restored. But the colleges are citing logistical constraints in conducting independent screening,” said a CU official.

“A combination of equal weightage given to the admission test and undergraduate performance till the fifth semester is the best way to identify bright students at the master’s level. Marks alone cannot determine a student’s potential to pursue a postgraduate programme,” said VC Ghosh

According to the officials, 60% of the two-year postgraduate seats at CU have been reserved for the students of the affiliated colleges.

They said 40% of the master’s seats at CU are set aside for students who will be coming from other universities.

“These students will be screened through admission tests only”, the VC said.

He said colleges can admit students according to their academic calendar.

“They need not go by the university’s calendar,” he added.

Those who will complete the fourth year and graduate in 2027 will be required to take admission to a one-year PG programme next year, as mandated under the NEP.