University admissions: CUET a fresh business opportunity for coaching companies
CUET).
The test, started in 2022 and conducted by the National Testing Agency, is mandatory for about 3,00,000 seats in around 250 universities across India. These include the University of Delhi, more than 90 constituent colleges of which offered admissions to bachelor’s courses only through CUET in the 2023 session.
Test prep company Vidya Mandir Classes is charging Rs 1.2 lakh fee for a two-year CUET classroom programme of 300 hours, while one-year classroom programme of 170 hours costs Rs 70,000.
It recently introduced the programme based on requests from students, parents and even schools, according to its chief business officer, Abhishek S. Other coaching institutes, too, have recently introduced similar programmes.
Aakash Institute was quick off the blocks, having started a specific course for the CUET entrance examination last year.
“We envisage this to grow manifold as CUET is now the gateway to premium universities across India,” said Anup Kumar Agarrwal, chief business officer, Aakash Byju’s.
Others, such as Career Launcher and Physics Wallah, have similar expectations from CUET.
“CUET has opened new avenues… it has grown by 50% in the first two editions and is expected to be India’s largest exam in a couple of years,” said Sujatha Kshirsagar, president, Career Launcher. “While the NEP (New Education Policy) seeks to lighten the curriculum burden on students, the relevance of coaching for entrance exams may still persist or even increase.” CUET is among the new focus areas for Career Launcher, along with tuitions and international exams, he said.
As per the estimates from tutor app Wonk, each seat for the undergraduate programme under CUET received 5.5 student applications in 2023.
