Why were CUET-UG exams delayed? Opposition hits out against Centre over 'major breach'

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday came under fire yet again after it announced that the CUET-UG examinations were delayed at some centres due to a "technical glitch".

As a result, the agency revised the timings to 4 PM for the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate, which is for students seeking admission to undergraduate courses across the country.

"M/s TCS has reported that a technical glitch at their end delayed the commencement of CUET (UG) 2026 at some centres on 30.05.2026," the NTA wrote on X, sharing the revised timings.

It added that the exam was being conducted with full compensatory time "so that no candidate is disadvantaged".

News of the glitch quickly became political, with a number of leaders across the country hitting out at the Centre for putting students' futures in danger with repeated flaws in recent exams.

"NEET. CBSE. SSC. And today CUET. Four exams. One crore children. Not a single one conducted with honesty," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote in an X post, which also criticised PM Modi.

"If some students get access to Exam paper at 9:30 AM while others get at 11:30 AM ... Does it not mean major breach?" questioned the AAP's Delhi president, Saurabh Bharadwaj.

However, neither the NTA nor TCS have clarified the nature of the glitch.

Backlash against the Centre over exam issues

The CUET-UG glitch is the latest exam issue faced by Indian students, and comes in the wake of the SSC General Duty Constable 2026 exam being cancelled at a number of overcrowded centres earlier this month.

The annual exam, which decides the fate of those aspiring to become a Constable (General Duty) in various paramilitary and security forces across the country, was later rescheduled to May 27. 

The Centre is also facing massive backlash over issues with the CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, which is said to have affected thousands of school students across the country due to blurred answer sheets, missing pages, and marking errors.

However, the most pressing issue before the Centre—which even reached the Supreme Court—was the NEET paper leak, which led to the cancellation of the exam.

Like the CBSE's OSM issue, the paper leak—caused by an organised ring that allegedly included NTA insiders—affected hundreds of aspiring medical students across the nation, even leading to a number of suicides.