Medical seat aspirants writing the undergraduate entrance test (UGET) conducted by the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK) will have to clear a ‘full-fledged’ English paper this year. The exam is scheduled to be held on May 11.
COMEDK chief executive A.S. Srikanth said instead of writing a paper for 30 marks like seat aspirants did last year when the English paper was introduced, they will write a paper for 60 marks this year.
Like it was in the previous year, students will have to score at least 50 per cent in the English paper to qualify to be assigned a rank. This is irrespective of how well they score in the core subjects — Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
“But the ranking will be made based on the marks scored in the three subjects only. The score in the English exam will be used only for eligibility purposes,” Mr. Srikanth said.
Students will be tested on class 10 level grammar, comprehension, questions based on a passage, adjectives, adverbs and other basics. “The pattern will be the same as last year. We decided to increase the marks this time so that the candidates would have more opportunities to score as there are more questions,” he explained.
The COMEDK decided to add an English paper during the 2013 UGET citing poor English language communication skills, especially among candidates from north India. It also offered an argument against concerns of rural Karnataka students losing out in the race for private medical seats saying that State students were better off in English compared to those from north India.
In addition to a longer English paper, students who have passed out of class 12/II PU before 2012 will not be allowed to apply for the UGET, S. Kumar, executive secretary, COMEDK said.
Apart from digitised attestation of admit cards by the COMEDK, this time, candidates will have an online certificate from the head of the institution he/she last studied in along with the application.
