Srinagar, May 30: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday announced that candidates affected by a technical glitch during the Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET-UG) 2026 examination would be provided another opportunity to appear in the test.
In a statement issued on X, the NTA said candidates who completed biometric registration and were present at their examination centres during Shift-I on May 30, 2026, but could not complete the examination due to the disruption, would be allowed to reappear.
“We know today’s unfortunate technical disruption caused distress for some CUET (UG) 2026 candidates. Candidates who did their Biometric Registration and were present at their examination centres today, but could not complete their examination due to this technical glitch, will get an opportunity for examination,” the agency stated.
The CUET-UG 2026 entrance examination, conducted for admission to undergraduate programmes in universities across the country, faced delays at several centres following a technical issue reportedly linked to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the technology partner for the examination.
According to the NTA, the technical issue delayed the commencement of the examination at some centres on Saturday morning. The agency, however, stated that the issue had been resolved and that candidates were being provided full compensatory time to ensure that no student was disadvantaged.
The NTA also revised the schedule for the afternoon session, announcing that reporting and entry would begin from 2:30 pm, while the examination would commence at 4:00 pm instead of the earlier scheduled time of 3:00 pm.
Morning session candidates were reportedly allowed to appear for the full duration of the paper and permitted to leave only after completion of the examination.
“NTA sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to the students and parents,” the agency said, while also issuing a helpline number and email support for affected candidates.
In a separate statement, TCS Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director K Krithivasan said a “brief technical issue” resulted in a delay of nearly two hours in the morning shift of the examination.
“The issue was promptly identified and resolved by our technical teams, and the examination has since resumed without any impact on the sanctity of the exam. We regret the inconvenience,” the statement read.
The company further stated that its technical teams were actively monitoring all systems and coordinating closely with the NTA to ensure smooth conduct of the computer based examination process.
Meanwhile, several students and parents took to social media platforms alleging inadequate communication and lack of arrangements at examination centres. Some users claimed that students and parents had to wait for several hours in extreme heat without receiving proper official updates regarding the delay.
The CUET-UG, introduced in 2022, is a national level entrance examination conducted by the NTA for admissions to undergraduate programmes in central, state, and select private universities. Since 2025, the examination has been conducted entirely in computer based test mode.
Over the past few years, the examination has witnessed several operational challenges, including technical disruptions, server issues, last minute changes in examination centres, delayed commencement, and rescheduling of tests for affected candidates.
The examination forms part of the National Education Policy 2020 framework and aims to provide a uniform assessment platform by evaluating candidates in language subjects, domain specific papers, and general aptitude. (with inputs from agencies)
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