Kolkata UG Admissions See Significant Drop in Vacant Seats
Kolkata: The number of vacant seats at the end of the first round of undergraduate admissions through the Central Admission Portal (CAP) this year is approximately one-third of the vacancy count at the same stage last year. Officials attributed this improvement to the early commencement of the admission cycle, which resulted in 81.6% of the allotted seats being accepted.
Application Surge and Allotment Details
Since the portal opened, 24.6 lakh applications have been received from 4.5 lakh applicants for 7,232 undergraduate courses. The total number of UG seats available under CAP is over 9 lakh across 459 colleges, but only 3.8 lakh were allotted in the first round. By the end of this round, 3.1 lakh students had confirmed their admissions, leaving approximately 70,000 seats vacant. In contrast, last year saw around 2 lakh unclaimed seats after the first round.
Impact of Early Start
An official explained that the low admission rate last year was due to a two-month delay in the admission process, caused by a legal dispute over the OBC reservation list. This delay forced many students to seek alternatives elsewhere. However, this year, the CAP portal opened within a week of the state board Class 12 results, leading to a surge in applications. "We were hopeful that the early start would improve admissions, and the first phase went well," said a senior official. "We are equally optimistic about filling remaining seats in the upgrade round, followed by a second round if needed."
Concerns from College Principals
Despite the positive trends, college principals expressed concerns. One principal noted that while general courses saw good uptake, basic science subjects had very poor enrollment, with little hope of improvement in later rounds. Another principal highlighted the risk of students leaving once they secure places in their preferred institutions, creating a vacuum. "We need a proper policy and curriculum restructuring to offer better prospects and retain students," he emphasized.
Upcoming Upgrade Round
The higher education department will release an institute-wise and course-wise list for the upgrade round on June 20, with admissions scheduled from June 20 to June 23.
