NEW DELHI: The first phase of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate admissions recorded 76.48 percent attendance during the first phase of the exam held between July 15 and July 20.
According to the National Testing Agency (NTA) data, of the 2,50,495 candidates allotted slots in phase one, 1,91,586 appeared in the exam. Of them, the maximum number of candidates were from Uttar Pradesh (49,915), followed by Bihar (20,840), Madhya Pradesh (19,032), and Delhi (16,885) and Rajasthan (14,982).
However, 58,909 candidates missed allotted slots in Phase 1, which started on July 15 and ended on July 20.
The attendance was lower in many northeastern states. In Meghalaya, only 36 of the 319 students allotted slots in phase one turned up.
The attendance was also low in Arunachal Pradesh (23.64%), Sikkim (41%), Mizoram (46.7%), Nagaland (53.4%), and Assam (63.3%), data said.
Among southern states, Karnataka recorded minimum attendance – of 50 per cent, while Andhra Pradesh recorded maximum attendance of 70 per cent. In Karnataka, 526 students took the exam, while in Andhra Pradesh, the figure stood at 384.
In Kerala, 7765 students took the CUET exam, while in Telangana, 1480 students appeared for the exam, and in Tamil Nadu, the figure stood at 667.
In terms of day-wise data of four days on which the exam was conducted in phase one, which was on July 15, 16, 19 and 20, maximum attendance was recorded on day third, i.e. 79 per cent.
The minimum attendance was on day one -- 72.9 percent -- which also saw many students unable to make it to the exam centres as, at the last minute, NTA had changed the far-off centres.
Speaking to this newspaper, NTA Director General Vineet Joshi said that only genuine candidates who missed the CUET exam on the first day would be considered to take it in the second phase, slated for August 4.
The NTA had earlier announced that candidates who have opted for physics, chemistry or biology had been taken to CUET 2022 Phase II.
The second phase will begin on August 4 and continue until August 20. The NTA will issue admit cards for the second phase on July 31.