Monday is the last day for the sale and receipt of forms for the Combined Aptitude Test for English (CATE). The number of applications for the 500 seats offered in BA English (honours) in the 17 participating colleges has already crossed 8,500. And now, the Delhi University administration expects the final figure to cross the 10,000-mark. On the last day for the sale and receipt, DU officials are bracing up for a last-minute rush at the 17 colleges.

Head of the English department, Sumanyu Satpathy said: ‘‘On Friday, the sale of forms crossed last year’s figure and on Saturday, although we have not collated all the data, reports from different colleges indicate a sale of nearly 2,000 forms. This takes the total sale of forms to 8,500 and we are expecting it to cross 10,000 this year.’’

Last year, the forms were sold only at the Arts faculty. This year, however, the sale and receipt was conducted at all the participating colleges. Last year, 7,000 forms were sold out of which 6,500 were submitted, and 6,000 students appeared for the test. But as this year the registration fee is being deposited at the time of sale of forms, the CATE committee is expecting a higher number of students to take the test.

Hindu, Miranda House and IP college are among the popular CATE colleges on north campus. Lady Shri Ram College is also participating this year.

The entrance will be conducted on June 9. The exam format was changed this year, with the CATE committee introducing an elimination round of 30 minutes which will have multiple choice questions. But students will also have to appear for a one-hour comprehensive test to be held after the elimination round. Comprehensive answer sheets of only those who clear the elimination round will be evaluated.

Source : Times of India