- Delhi University began its on-the-spot mop-up admissions for undergraduate programs on September 23, 2025, but turnout has been low, with only 73 of 1,700 BA Honours seats filled.
- The mop-up round considers Class 12 marks instead of CUET scores to be more inclusive, yet participation remains disappointing, especially in reserved categories like PwD, with nearly 2,000 seats still vacant.
- The drive continues until September 29, after which no further admissions will be held for the academic year, leaving thousands of seats potentially unoccupied.
Delhi University (DU) started its physical on-the-spot mop-up admissions for undergraduate programs, September 23, 2025, but the response has been lukewarm so far. On the inaugural day, only 73 of the 1,700 BA Honours seats offered were taken, leaving officials wondering whether this final admission drive will be successful in filling the huge seat vacancies that still linger. The mop-up was brought in as a final measure to fill the huge number of seats left vacant since several rounds of counselling could not attract enough students.
Officially, about 876 students were invited for admission on the opening day, but the attendance was a far cry from expectations. One of the most prominent characteristic differentiating the mop-up round from the previous admission cycles is that eligibility is being thought through in terms of Class 12 marks and not CUET scores.
The plan was to make it more inclusive and also to motivate students who have not fared well in CUET to still find a seat. Still, no matter this relaxed condition, the levels of participation were disappointing. The magnitude of empty chairs is significant, with the university having around 7,000 seats vacant overall.
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A very significant void can be seen in the reserved category for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), with nearly 2,000 seats lying vacant. Authorities have feared that so large a percentage of seats designed to ensure higher education is inclusive may remain vacant, defeating the purpose of the reservation policy.
The mop-up round will go on until September 29. On Wednesday, September 24, the university will invite close to 2,600 students from the Unreserved (UR) and OBC categories to take up the remaining BA Honours seats. These will be followed by admissions for BCom and Economics on Thursday, and science courses in the following days. The university is expecting that inviting students from these categories in higher quantities may lead to increased participation in the following days.
Authorities have clearly indicated that after the mop-up round, no more admissions will be conducted for the ongoing academic year, keeping the vacant seats unoccupied. This finality has put students remaining on their toes to get into DU, but if this will be sufficient to significantly bridge the gap is yet to be seen.
