Decoding the CUET Exam Patterns, Trends, and Strategies.
The second edition of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET 2023) began on May 21 amid great excitement and anticipation. It will be a 15-day UG entrance carnival that will end on June 6. The paper for shifts 1 & 2 & 3 – day 1 followed the expected pattern (Easy to Moderate). This time, however, there has been no reported case of a technical glitch yet. However, due to a large crowd, shift timings in a few centres were delayed, causing some inconvenience for students.
CUET exam analysis will help students analyse the difficulty level of the exams on different shift of day. On day one, the first and second shifts were all about language and general tests. With all of the hype and anticipation surrounding it, the exam experience of shifts 1 & 2 & 3 – day 1 must have helped to calm the students’ nerves.
SECTION I: ENGLISH
SHIFT – 1
- The English paper for CUET (UG) 2023, day 1 & shift 1, was relatively easy. Students had mixed feelings about the exam’s difficulty, but the majority thought it was simple.
- There were 15 reading comprehension questions (3 passages – 5 questions each). The passages were a mix of stories and poem excerpts, but the excerpts were simple to understand.
- The questions were direct, but the answers were not far apart.
- Fill-in-the-blanks, one-word substitution, and para jumbles were the other major topics in English; each topic had 3-4 questions.
- Antonyms, synonyms, idioms, fill-in-the-blanks, and spelling errors were among the minor topics covered. The English paper essentially tested one’s knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Overall, the paper was simple, and students felt at ease.
SHIFT – 2
- The difficulty level of the English paper for CUET (UG) 2023, day 1 & shift 2, was comparable to shift 1. Students differed on how easy the paper was, but none thought it was difficult. This is consistent with the views of students who took the test during the first shift.
- There were three passages with five questions each from reading comprehension. Passages included both stories and poem excerpts. The extracts were simple to moderately difficult to understand.
- Fill in the blanks, fact-based questions, match the following, and other paragraph-based questions were used. In shift 2, questions were also asked about incorrect/correct statements and direct/indirect speech.
- From these two topics, 3-5 questions were asked. Aside from these, there were questions about identifying parts of speech, metaphor/simile, and 1-2 questions about each of the topics covered in shift 1 (1-2 questions).
- Overall, the English paper in shift 2 was simple (similar to shift 1), and students had little difficulty with it.
SECTION II: DOMAIN SUBJECTS
SHIFT 3: SCIENCE
Physics
The physics exam took place on day one, shift three. The students rated the paper as moderately difficult. The following questions were drawn from various physics topics:
- Electromagnetic inductions and Alternating currents: SI unit, Formula based question – 2-3 questions
- Electrostatics: Capacitance, charges, electrical charges property, dielectric constant when the thickness is given – 5-6 questions
- Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism: 2-3 questions
- Optics: 7-8 questions
- Current Electricity: 3-4 questions
- Semiconductor: 3-4 questions
Other important topics that sparked questions included electromagnetic waves, the dual nature of matter and radiation, atoms and nuclei, communication systems, and so on.
Chemistry
The Chemistry paper was scheduled for CUET 2023 day 1 – shift 3. The paper was rated moderately difficult by the students who took the exam. The following questions were drawn from various chemistry topics:
- Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids: Reaction based – 4-5 questions
- Surface Chemistry: Case study – 3-4 questions
- Alcohols, Phenols and Ethers: Most of them are from ethers – 3-4 questions
- Electrochemistry: Cell reaction, theoretical question – 3-4 questions
- Chemical Kinetics: rate constant, Match the following – 4-5 questions
- Biomolecules: Theory-based – 3-4 questions
Other important topics that prompted questions included haloalkanes and haloarenes, polymers, organic compounds containing nitrogen, solid state, solutions, and so on.
Mathematics
Along with Physics and Chemistry, the Math paper was scheduled for CUET 2023, day 1. The maths paper was rated as easy to moderately difficult by the students. Math was the simplest of the PCM in shift 3. Unlike last time, the candidate in the math paper did not complain about time constraints. The following questions were drawn from various topics in mathematics:
- Vectors: Plane, Intersection point, area of parallelogram – 5-6 questions
- Three dimensional geometry: 3-4 questions
- Continuity and Differentiability: 4-5 questions
- Integrals: 3-4 questions
- Linear Programming: Maxima & minima – 2-3 questions
- Probability: Bernoulli distribution, Bayes theorem, Sets – 3-4 questions
- Matrices: if the matrix is the singular or not, determinant, inverse of matrices – 4-5 questions
Application of Integrals, Relations and Functions, Differential Equations, Inverse Functions, and other important topics prompted questions.
SECTION III: GENERAL TEST
SHIFT – 1
- The students rated the General Test section on the first day (May 21), shift 1 as easy. Questions covered a wide range of topics, including mathematics and statistics, general awareness, discovery and invention, logic and reasoning, and sports.
- The GT paper was very similar to Career Launcher Mocks, with questions from elementary mathematics (approximately 20-25), questions from calender and direction, 12-15 questions from General Awareness, 2-3 questions each from History & Science, 1-2 questions each from Science, Economics, Geography, Discovery & Invention, and Sports, and 1-2 questions from Sports.
- To provide more specific information about the types of questions asked in GT, it was a fairly simple and straightforward question.
The broad topics are as follows:
- Science: Vitamin Deficiency, Discovery of Zero, Discovery of watch
- Numeric Ability: Percentages, Number system, Algebra, Mean, Median, Mode, Set Theory, Time & Work
- History: Quit India Movement, Civil Disobedience movement
- Books & Authors: Books written by Mahatma Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor
- Economic: Import-Export
- Reasoning: Direction and logic related
SHIFT – 2
- Most students rated the General Test section on the first day (May 21), shift 2, as easy to moderate.
- The questions were similar to those asked during the first shift.
- To provide more specific information about the types of questions asked in GT, it was a fairly simple and straightforward question.
The broad topics are as follows:
- Numeric Ability: Percentages, Number system, Algebra, Ratio, and Proportion
- Science: chemical Reaction, the chemical name of baking soda, questions of Biology
- Books & Authors: Panchatantra
- Geometry: triangle, cube, parallelogram, volume of sphere and cylinder
- Economic: Economist award
- Reasoning: Direction and logic related
- Other Topics: Time speed distance, profit and loss, simple interest, arithmetic progression, mean, sequences and series
Overall, all of the student’s experiences during CUET (UG) 2023 day 1 shifts were only easy to moderate. The NTA and individual organising centres expect to address the issue with the delay in the exam’s start and finish in a few centres as soon as possible (due to the large number of candidates writing papers at one centre and their entry and exit).