Calcutta University is set to extend the deadline for admission to undergraduate courses in colleges because of the delay in the publication of the joint entrance examination (JEE) results, a university official said.

CU had set July 6 as the deadline for admission to undergraduate courses.

The JEE results this year are likely to be published on July 2. Last year, the results were declared on May 23.

The engineering entrance exams are usually held in the third week of April. This year they were held on May 26, after the Lok Sabha elections were over.

“Once the JEE results are out, a large chunk of students who will have been enrolled by our affiliated colleges will make a beeline for joining BTech courses,” the CU official said.

“We fear the problem will be severe this year because the JEE results will be published much later than usual. We have to extend the last date of admission. The revised deadline is yet to be decided.”

Asked about the possibility of pushing back the admission deadline, vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee said: “Let the principals approach us about the need for extending the deadline. If such an appeal comes, the syndicate can discuss the issue and take a

decision.”

After the JEE results are declared, the JEE board starts e-counselling for admission to the BTech courses. The counselling is held over several rounds.

“The vacancy count will keep rising as the counselling proceeds,” the official said.

The college principals The Telegraph spoke to are worried over how they would prepare students who would take admission in the second phase for the semester exams.

The university had last year rolled out the choice-based credit system, which functions in conjunction with the semester system, in BA and BSc courses. The system was introduced in BCom in 2017.

Exams are held every six-month in CBCS, unlike the annual system in which they are held once a year.

“Classes will start in full swing from the first day. Otherwise, students will find it difficult to write the first semester exams in December. It will be tough for the students who will join the courses late to prepare for the semester exams,” the principal of a central Calcutta college said.

At a meeting presided over by education minister Partha Chatterjee on May 20, several principals had spoken about the possible impact of the late announcement of the JEE results on the college admission roster.

“The minister said seats could not be kept vacant under any circumstance. That leaves CU with no option but to extend the admission deadline. But we are worried over how the students who will join the courses late will cope up,” the principal of a south Calcutta college said.

CU could ask the principals to hold additional classes for students who will be admitted in the second phase, the university official said. Vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, however, was non-committal on the issue.