Kolkata: Most of the departments at Presidency University on Wednesday decided to conduct undergraduate admissions on their own. “Fourteen out of 19 departments opted to conduct their own UG admission procedures,” said an official at the university after the admission committee meeting on Wednesday.

Presidency registrar Debajyoti Konar said, “Majority academic departments said they wanted to conduct the admissions on their own. Their proposal will be placed before the highest body for consideration and appropriate decision.”

The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEEB) had been conducting the entrance tests for UG and PG admissions since 2015. Before that, the university held its own admissions. In 2025, the university itself conducted PG admissions, based on marks obtained by candidates in graduation and Class 12, though the UG admissions were held by the WBJEEB.

The official added, “The university will soon tell the board it will conduct its own admissions from this year.”

A professor said, “The departments were given autonomy to decide how they would want to screen UG students for admission. Among the 14 departments, nine, including chemistry, political science and life sciences, said they would hold entrance tests, which would have multiple choice questions. The other five, such as geology, proposed alternative mechanisms, based on marks and other parameters to admit UG students.”

A senior teacher said as geology was not taught at school, the department felt that an exam could not test a candidate’s knowledge in the subject. “The department has seen that conducting exams on maths, physics, chemistry and life science does not really check a geology candidate’s aptitude for the subject. So, the department will admit students, based on their marks in classes 10 and 12 boards. The department has also devised a formula to accommodate their boards scores in basic science subjects,” the teacher said.

The official at the university pointed out that some departments did want the JEE board to continue holding the entrance tests to avert any logistics problem at the department level. “As the admission committee decided that Presidency would conduct its own admissions, those departments have been given some time to think over and fix the modalities of screening students to test their subject aptitude and domain knowledge.”

Presidency teachers in July last year wrote a letter to the VC, Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty, flagging concerns about JEE Board’s handling of admission tests last year.

“In the initial years, Presidency faculty members were involved in setting question papers, ensuring academic rigour and contextual appropriateness. We expressed our reservations when the WBJEE board opted to take over the entire question-setting process. While we acknowledge the logic of expanding access and reach across the state, recent developments marked by inefficiencies and opacity force us to reconsider our arrangement with the board,” read the letter by teachers.

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