CUET UG 2024: NTA releases provisional answer key

The National Testing Agency (NTA) released the Common University Entrance Test-UG provisional answer key on July 7. Soon after the answer keys were released, students started pointing out mistakes in the provisional answer keys for all topics.

In an additional announcement, the NTA added that students can challenge the tentative answer key by paying ₹200 for each question until July 9.

"Challenges made by the candidates will be verified by a panel of subject experts. If a candidate's challenge is determined to be correct, the answer key will be updated and applied to each candidate's response appropriately. The updated final answer key will be used to prepare and announce the result. No particular candidate will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of his or her challenge,” read the NTA notice.

The students, who had been waiting for their results since June 30, became even more anxious after seeing the provisional answer key. The NTA, which is currently engaged in a number of allegations, had not given any notification that the results announcement would be delayed.

Falak Ali, a student from Delhi who took the CUET, said, "I scored a 100 in both the Psychology and Legal Studies sections of the CBSE examinations. But after looking through the answer keys for these topics, I see that a lot of the questions are incorrect, which is why my marks are low.

"There are about 30 incorrect answers in the subjects I took the test on. The cost of ₹200 to challenge a question is excessive for a single question, and many people may not be able to pay it,” Falak added.

Astha Ahuja, her mother and an associate professor of economics at Aryabhatta College of Delhi University, said, "My daughter, who has done well in the CBSE and CLAT, is getting negative marks according to the provisional answer key. Students in all subject areas are complaining about this in large numbers. These kinds of errors have happened in the past as well; therefore, it is unjust to the students, who were already under stress from the delays."

In the Legal Studies paper, for example, one question asks which Article of the Constitution the Indian government used to pass the Environment Protection Act of 1986 after the Bhopal Gas Disaster. The NCERT texts state that Article 253 (Option 4 on the exam paper) is the right response. Still, the best choice as per the provisional answer key is Article 38 (Option 2 on the question paper).

Similarly, in the Computer Science Paper, the answer for the full form of ARPANET, which the books identify as Advanced Research Projects Agency Networks, is indicated as Automatic Research Practical Application Network in the answer key.

Sneha Pandey, who took the CUET in four subjects, said, "Ever since the answer key was released, all of my WhatsApp friends have been discussing how there are inaccuracies across subjects." We've all been demotivated once the key was disclosed."

"Students have already been under stress due to the delay. Furthermore, the NTA offers an answer key that is provisional and indicates that adjustments will be made. This is unfair, and in order to prevent placing students in such a difficult situation, they need to have made available a definitive, precise answer key," said her father, Satya Prakash Pandey, who also serves as the All India Parents' Association's president for Delhi.