In a significant change to its postgraduate (PG) admission process, Calcutta University (CU) has scrapped its centralised computer-based entrance examination for most courses after witnessing a steep decline in applications for the 2026-27 academic session. The university will now admit students to the majority of humanities programmes based on their qualifying examination marks, while selected science courses will continue to conduct department-level entrance tests.

According to university officials, CU received only around 1,400 applications for nearly 4,000 postgraduate seats across the university and its affiliated colleges in the humanities stream. With applications falling well below the available seats, authorities decided that a centralised entrance examination was no longer necessary.

Vice-Chancellor Asutosh Gosh said the university had initially planned to conduct a common admission test. However, since several departments received fewer applications than the number of seats available, individual departments would conduct entrance tests only where required.

For the science stream, CU received approximately 1,700 applications against nearly 2,900 seats, including those in affiliated colleges. As a result, the university will conduct pen-and-paper, multiple-choice entrance examinations on July 14 and 15. Unlike previous years' computer-based tests, this year's examinations will be department-managed and will last 90 minutes, giving candidates more time to complete the MCQ-based papers.

In the humanities faculty, entrance examinations will be conducted only for English and Journalism and Mass Communication, where applications marginally exceed those received in other disciplines. Admissions to all other humanities courses will be based solely on academic merit.

University officials believe the introduction of the four-year undergraduate degree programme under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has influenced students' postgraduate choices. Many students opted to exit after three years with a "Graduate with a Major" degree or preferred one-year postgraduate diploma programmes instead of committing to a two-year master's degree.

The first batch of students enrolled under the four-year degree structure is currently completing its third year, making this the first admission cycle affected by the new exit options. Officials said the unexpectedly low response rate highlights shifting student preferences and evolving higher-education pathways under the NEP framework.