Srinagar, June 1: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) conducted its Undergraduate Entrance Test 2025 on Sunday across 28 centres in Jammu and Kashmir, witnessing over 90 per cent attendance.
Vice Chancellor Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai told Rising Kashmir that the university received 25,000 applications for 1,000 seats, out of which more than 19,000 candidates had applied for the entrance exam. “This is the highest-ever number of applications received by SKUAST-K and also the highest for any agricultural university,” he said.
“To conduct the test, we selected 28 centres across Srinagar and Jammu – 24 in Srinagar and 4 in Jammu,” Prof Ganai added.
The Vice Chancellor said the admissions at the undergraduate level also include NRI candidates, NRI sponsors, students from other states and Union Territories, as well as foreign students. He added that the admission criteria for these categories are different.
Prof Ganai said more than 30 per cent of students enrolled in the university come from outside Jammu and Kashmir. “In the last two years, our enrolment has doubled. Earlier, it used to be 2,500. Today, more than 5,000 students are enrolled in our university,” he said.
The VC SKUAST-K attributed the increase in enrolment to the introduction of market-driven and technology-driven courses. “One of them is a four-year degree programme, B Tech Artificial Intelligence and Agriculture, which we started with IIT Mandi. Another is B Sc Economics with Data Science, which is also a four-year degree programme. There are many other programmes like this,” he informed.
Prof Ganai said that to complete these programmes, students will not have to leave Jammu and Kashmir. “We have competent faculty, resources, funding, and projects. We hope that the students we admit this year will leave this university as great human capital,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to SKUAST-K statement issued to Rising Kashmir, this year’s UET marks a significant milestone for the university, as it received a record 25,000 applications from 19,600 candidates for its undergraduate courses.
The examination was conducted at 24 centres in Srinagar and four in Jammu. Srinagar’s test venues included prominent educational institutions such as the University of Kashmir, NIT Srinagar, Government College for Women, MA Road, SP College, SP School, Amar Singh College, Degree College Bemina, Government Girls School Amira Kadal, DPS Athwajan, BEd College MA Road, Government Women College Nawakadal, Government Girls Higher Secondary School Nawakadal, Islamia College Hawal, Government Higher Secondary School Soura, RP School Malabagh, and Kashmir Harvard, among other schools.
During the entrance examination, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai along with Registrar, Prof Azmat Alam Khan and Controller of Examinations, Prof KN Qaisar, visited various entrance test centres across Srinagar city to oversee the smooth conduct of the process.
“The entrance test for admission to PG courses, along with the entrance test for the BSc Economics and Data Science undergraduate program, will be conducted separately in the coming weeks,” the university said, adding, “The answer key for today’s UET will be uploaded within 24 hours, and the result will be made available within a week’s time.”
