NTA announces CUET retest for over 3,700 candidates after technical glitch hits centres

Thousands of students across India faced confusion and long delays during the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) on Saturday after a technical glitch disrupted examinations at hundreds of centres. The National Testing Agency (NTA) later announced a retest for over 3,700 candidates who could not appear for the exam.

According to the agency, the disruption was caused by an issue in systems operated by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which conducts the examination.

Delay affects over 73,000 candidates

The glitch affected more than 73,100 students at 533 examination centres across 306 cities. Exams for 12 subjects scheduled in the first shift at 9 am were delayed by nearly two hours.

Students remained seated inside exam halls for long periods without clear communication about when the test would begin.

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NTA said, “69,341 candidates (almost 95%) completed their examination at their respective centres.” However, it added that “3,765 candidates could not wait until the examination resumed and left their respective examination centres, without appearing for the test.”

The agency said these students would be allowed to reappear as a “one-time measure”.

Noida centre witnesses major confusion

Several students and parents from the Noida Sector 64 centre claimed the morning shift examination never took place there.

“We entered the examination hall and were made to wait for four hours. Then we were informed that the exam had been postponed,” said Sayanshika, who was scheduled to appear for the English paper, per a report by Hindustan Times.

Parents also expressed frustration over the lack of clarity.

“My child’s exam was in the morning shift, and it didn’t happen. This is a major examination. They studied all night, then woke up at 5am. They are playing with children’s futures here,” Navita was quoted as saying by HT.

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Students from Delhi, Gurugram, Lucknow and Faridabad reported similar delays and communication gaps.

“The ACs weren’t working, there was no drinking water, and we couldn’t communicate with our parents,” said Sayanshika.

TCS says issue resolved

In a statement, TCS chief executive K Krithivasan described the disruption as “a brief technical issue”.

“The issue was promptly identified and resolved by our technical teams and the examination has since resumed without any impact to the sanctity of the exam. We regret the inconvenience,” the company said.

The latest disruption adds to growing scrutiny over national entrance examinations after recent controversies surrounding NEET-UG and other standardised tests.