St Xavier's College has received over 23,000 applications for admission to its undergraduate courses this year, nearly 10 times the number of seats on the campus.

The Park Street institution, an autonomous college, has around 2,300 seats. 'The seat count is the same as last year but the number of applications is around 3,000 more than 2018,' an official at the college said.

St Xavier's being one of the most sought after institutions in Calcutta as well as the rest of Bengal, the demand for seats in some of its undergraduate courses has always been high.

The applicant count has gone up sharply this year because of a steep rise in the number of students scoring 90 per cent or more in individual subjects as well as the aggregate in the Class XII exams of various boards.

'We have nearly 2,300 seats in our undergraduate courses. Nearly 23,000 students have applied this year. In 2018, we had received around 20,000 applications for the BA, BSc and BCom courses. The number of seats were same last year but the number of applications are around 3,000 more this time,' St Xavier's principal Father Dominic Savio said.

'The number of applicants from outside Bengal has gone up by nearly five per cent this year. For the BCom honours (morning) course, 23 per cent of the applicants are from other states. The corresponding figure for the BCom honours (evening) course is 27 per cent.'

'Our commerce course is among the most sought after among students in Calcutta,' the principal said.

The college has 1,180 seats in the BCom honours course, 700 of which are in the morning section.

For the BA general course, around 53 per cent of the admission-seekers are from outside Bengal, 18 per cent more than last year. The college has 85 seats in the BA general course, for which it has received 347 applications.

'St Xavier's has always been in demand in Bengal. Now, we are seeing an increase in the number of applications from other states, too. This shows the demand for seats in our undergraduate courses has been on the rise in other states as well,' Father Savio said.

Among the applicants for the BA general course from other states, there are students who have scored above 90 per cent in the Class XII board exams. In Bengal, the BA general course is not much in demand among high scorers in the Class XII board exams because a student graduating in the general course is not eligible to pursue a postgraduate course.

Only honours graduates are eligible for any master's programme in Bengal.

In most states, graduating with honours is not necessary to enrol on a postgraduate course.

'Many meritorious students from other states want to study the BA general course at St Xavier's because after graduating from our college they can secure a berth in a postgraduate course in a reputable institution (outside Bengal),' Father Savio said.

The online submission of forms for admission to all undergraduate courses for the 2019-20 session had started after the announcement of the results of the Class XII board exams.

Friday is the last date for submission of the forms.