Everything you need to know about the Common Eligibility Test
Union Cabinet of India has given the approval on a proposal shared by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on 19th August 2020 to start the formation of a new agency, the National Recruitment Agency for managing the Sarkari Exam recruitment of already existing government recruiting agencies at the initial level.
What is the Common Eligibility Test, NRA CET full form?
The Common Eligibility Test abbreviated as CET is a national level combined competitive exam conducted by a multi-agency body National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to shortlist candidates at the primary (Tier-I) level for Group ‘B’ Non-Gazetted posts, certain Group ‘B’ Gazetted posts and Group ‘C’ (non-technical) posts in the government.
NRA members will be selected from the participating recruiting agencies such as IBPS, RRB, SSC, and some members will come from central level ministries such as Railway and Finance Ministry. It is expected that the NRA will bring a solid technical foundation and best practices to help the Central Government recruitment for different verticals.
Salient features of Common Eligibility Test (NRA CET 2021):
- There will be a common registration portal for all candidates and only one-time registration is required to apply for the CET exam.
- The National Recruitment Agency is planning to conduct the Common Eligibility Test twice a year which will be further scaled to multiple times a year as per the candidate’s preference.
- National Recruitment Agency will introduce three-level for the CET exam and different CETs will be conducted for 10th pass, 12th Pass, and graduate pass candidates to facilitate recruitment to vacancies at various levels and at the same time maintain the difficulty level of the CET exam according to the candidates qualification.
- There is one more major change proposed to conduct the CET test in 12 major Indian languages including English and Hindi and later on increase the number of languages to make it easier to attempt by all people from different parts of the country.
- Initially, CET will cover the central government recruitment for three agencies that is Railway Recruitment Board, Staff Selection Commission, and the Institute of Banking Personnel. More agencies will be included in Common Eligibility Test later.
- CET will be held in 1,000 centers across India and there will be an examination center in every district of the country. There will be a special thrust on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 aspirational districts.
- All shortlisted candidates will get a CET score which will be valid for three years. After CET candidates will have to apply separately to SSC, IBPS, and RRBs for the higher-level tests such as Tier-2, Tier-3, Interview, Physical Test, etc.
The benefit of the Common Eligibility Test
The benefit to Candidates from Rural Areas:
Now candidates from rural areas can compete for many posts by just appearing in one examination. Till now candidates from rural could not afford to appear in multiple examinations due to financial constraints.
Now they can appear for a single Tier 1 exam which will be conducted by the National Recruitment Agency (NRA).
CET Score will be valid for three years:
The CET score of the candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result. Candidates can appear for as many CET examination as he wants.
There is no limit on the number of attempts for the CET test. A higher CET score from multiple CET examinations will be used for the further recruitment process.
Standardized Testing:
NRA shall conduct a separate CET each for the three levels of 10th Pass, higher secondary (12th pass), and graduate pass candidates for the non-technical posts.
Currently, The recruitment for non-technical posts is carried out by the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), and by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).
Candidates will be shortlisted based on the CET score and final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialized Tiers (II, III, Medical Exam, etc.) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.
A single Exam Pattern and Syllabus:
The syllabus and exam pattern for the Common Eligibility Test would be the same. This will remove the extra burden of candidates who will have to prepare separately for different exams due to the difference in the Exam Pattern and Syllabus.
Exam Pattern and Syllabus would be different for different levels of CET such as the 10th level, 12th level, and graduate level.
Scheduling Tests and choosing Centres:
Now there would be a single portal for the registration and candidates can choose the exam center of their choice. Based on availability, they would be allotted Centres.
The government has planned to open the exam centers in every district of the country. The ultimate aim is to reach a stage wherein candidates can schedule their own tests at Centres of their choice.
CET Score access to multiple recruitment agencies:
Initially, the CET scores would be used by the three major recruitment agencies SSC, IBPS, and RRBs. After some time this score can be shared with other Central Government, State Government, Union Territories, and public sector companies.
Further, Any recruitment agency can adopt recruitment through the CET score if they choose to do that. This would help such organizations in saving costs and time spent on recruitment.
This story was first published on cettest.org.
