Reader’s Digest: CUET is a newly launched exam for admission to Central, State, Private and Deemed Universities across India. We recommend you to plan your preparation backwards, i.e. by choosing the course and college you wish to study and then understanding the CUET exam pattern. Why are we saying so? Read below to find the answer to this.

What do you need to know before initiating the preparation for any entrance exam in general? It is undoubtedly the question paper design and what all sections are included.

CUET Exam Pattern will give you insights into the sections, subjects, duration, number of questions and exam marking scheme. Don’t get confused while comprehending it since it varies as per the college and the course you chose!

Let’s gather some generic information about the CUET 2023 Exam Pattern that you must be aware of:

• This exam is divided into 3 sections– Language Paper (1A and 1B), Domain Paper & General Test.
• You will be asked questions based on 13 Indian languages in Section 1A and 20 Languages in Section 1B (Mix bag of regional Indian languages and Foreign languages).
• NTA will test your knowledge of the subjects studied in your Class XI and Class XII in the Domain-specific Test of CUET. There are 27 such subjects included in this section. Pick and choose from the list as per your stream.
• The General Test is a replica of the most heard Aptitude Test but with a level simpler to the ones you have seen or heard in IPMAT, NPAT or JEE Main B.Arch.

Download Free Study Material for NTA CUET Exam by Super Grads

CUET Revised Exam Pattern Highlights

The table below will provide helpful information about how NTA will design the CUET Question Paper.

4 CUET Exam Details That You Must Know

CUET 2023 will probably be conducted in 2 shifts: Morning and Afternoon. The morning shift has 3 slots distributed for Language, Domain and General Test while during the afternoon, you will have only the language and domain paper.

All the tests will be Computer-based. But the tweak is that you don’t have to appear for all languages or all domain tests to qualify for admission to your desired college.

• Any applicant has to mandatorily appear for the 3 sections. A maximum of 9 subjects/exams can be taken by an applicant. 
• What combinations can you create to finalise your 9 exams? You can probably write 3 language papers, 5 domain papers and 1 general test or you can write 2 language tests, 6 domain tests and 1 general test.
• Keeping in mind the diversity of students (in terms of streams and boards), NTA has decided to provide choice in all question papers, however, the total number of questions to be attempted by any candidate remains same for all.
• For choosing the languages or domain test or general test, it is a mandate to refer to the requirements of your intended university. Your choices MUST match the requirements of the University.

CUET 2023 Exam Timings & Duration (Expected)

This exam will be conducted on multiple days depending on the date allocated to you on your CUET Admit Card. There are 2 slots in a day for this exam.

The morning shift will have tests for all the 3 sections in this exam and the afternoon shift has 2 sections.

•  The total duration of the exams conducted in slot 1 (morning shift) is 3 hours 15 minutes.
• The total duration for the slot 2 (afternoon shift) is 3 hours 45 minutes.

Note: The exam timings are considering that the applicants shall appear for all the exams for the associated section in those slots.

CUET Exam Structure for Morning Shift

The morning shift starts from 9 am in the morning on the exam day. The conclusion time for the exam will depend on the subjects you choose and will be mentioned on the admit card.

• Any candidate can appear for 1 language test in the morning shift which shall last for 45 minutes.
• A maximum of 2 domain subjects can be taken in the morning slot for which the time limit shall be 90 minutes (45 minutes per subject).
• General test is also a part of the morning shift and will last for 60 minutes.

Assuming that you are appearing for all the tests in the morning slot, here’s the exam timing and structure for CUET.

CUET Exam Structure for Afternoon Shift

The afternoon shift is a lengthier slot between the two. It starts from 3:00 pm and will end after 3 hours 45 minutes on the condition that you appear for the exams in this shift.

• In this slot, you will be appearing for either 1 language or 2 languages (as per your choice). This slot shall include your chosen Section 1A or 1B language paper.
• The second exam in this slot is the domain specific test which shall have questions based on a maximum of 4 subjects this time.

Here’s a clear view of the CUET Exam Structure for the Afternoon Slot:

CUET 2023 Paper Pattern for Language Test (Section 1A and 1B)

As per the CUET Syllabus, Language test is for assessing your proficiency/skills in the Language opted and the question paper in respect of the same will be available to you in the medium opted by you. The Question Paper of the Language Test will not be bi-lingual. 

• There are 13 languages in Section 1A and 20 languages in Section 1B to choose from.
• Your proficiency will be tested through Reading Comprehension (based on different types of passages–Factual, Literary and Narrative, [Literary Aptitude and Vocabulary] MCQ Based Questions. 
• For whichever language paper you choose, you have to attempt a total of 40 questions in each; out of the 50 questions given in the question paper.
• The duration of each language paper is 45 minutes which means if you choose to appear for 3 language papers, then the maximum duration of the exam shall be 2 hours 25 minutes.

CUET 2023 Exam Pattern for Domain Test (Section II)

There are 27 domain subjects to choose from; however you can appear for 5 or 6 domain subjects in the CUET Exam.

The number of domain subjects vary as per your choice of language test. These subjects will have questions based on your the syllabus given by NTA but in MCQ format.

• You must be well aware of the course and university you are applying to make the choice of your domain subjects.
• You will get 45 minutes to attempt 40 questions in any domain paper. The maximum duration for this section can be 4 hours 30 minutes.
• You initially can give 2 domain papers in slot 1 while the rest are taken in the slot 2.
• The duration of your exam will increase with the increasing number of domain subjects.

CUET Exam Pattern for General Test (Section III)

This is an optional exam depending on the university and course requirements that you choose. 

Questions based on General Knowledge, Current Affairs, General Mental Ability, Numerical Ability, Quantitative Reasoning (Simple application of basic mathematical concepts arithmetic/algebra geometry/mensuration /stat taught till Grade 8), Logical and Analytical Reasoning are asked in this section.

• 60 questions out of the 75 displayed questions have to be answered for this section.
• The total duration to attempt the questions in this section is 60 minutes.
• The questions will be in MCQ format in English and the language chosen in Section I.
• The total marks that you can score in this section is 300.

Note: It is better to prepare a guided CUET Preparation Strategy for this section to make the most out of the scores obtained here.

CUET Total Marks 

We see so many of you posting this query, “CUET kitne marks ka hota hai?”. Just to clarify, the total marks for this exam will vary depending on the number of language papers & domain subjects given. So, it will be different for every college and every student.

Assuming that you are attempting the maximum number of tests (9 tests) in the exam, here is a representation of the marks allocated for each section/subject chosen.

CUET 2023 Marking Scheme

For Multiple Choice Questions: To answer a question, you must choose one option corresponding to the correct answer or the most appropriate answer.

However, if any anomaly or discrepancy is found after the process of challenges of the key verification, it shall be addressed in the following manner: 

• Correct answer or the most appropriate answer: Five marks (+5)
• Any incorrect option marked will be given minus one mark (-1).
• Unanswered/Marked for Review will be given no mark (0).
• If more than one option is found to be correct then Five marks (+5) will be awarded to only those who have marked any of the correct options.
• If all options are found to be correct then Five marks (+5) will be awarded to all those who have attempted the question.
• If none of the options is found correct or a question is found to be wrong or a question is dropped, then all candidates who have attempted the dropped question will be given five marks(+5) marks.

CUET UG Exam Pattern (Course-wise)

No matter the course or the university, the shortcut to success in this exam lies in thoroughly preparing your domain subjects during the boards to reduce the burden of preparing it for CUET. For the language, it is suggestive to read newspaper since it will build the foundation for GK in the GT and strengthen the Section I too!

The other subjects in the General Test would require memorising of important formulae practiced during the Class 8. To recall and revise all such topics and solve questions on the same, follow us on YouTube. Attempt our exclusive NTA CUET Mock Test Series to analyse your scores and know where you stand.