Rajshahi University Moves to Relax GPA Requirements for Admission Applications After HSC Results

Considering this year's HSC examination results, the Rajshahi University (RU) authorities have taken an initial decision to lower the minimum GPA requirement for applicants from the humanities and science groups in the first-year undergraduate admission test.

Professor Belal Hossain, dean of the university's Faculty of Arts, disclosed the information on Monday night. He said the first meeting of the admission test committee was held on Sunday (2 November). As this year's HSC results were comparatively poor, the committee took the students' situation into account and made the initial decision to relax the application eligibility for the humanities and science groups. Ensuring that admission seekers do not suffer any loss was given importance, he said.

Under the initial decision taken at the meeting, humanities students will need a minimum GPA of 3.00 separately in both the SSC and HSC examinations, including the fourth subject, and a combined GPA of 6.50 across the two examinations. In the last academic year, applicants from this group needed a combined GPA of 7.00.

Science students, on the other hand, will need a minimum GPA of 3.50 separately in the SSC and HSC examinations and a combined GPA of 7.00. Last year, the combined GPA requirement for this group was 7.50.

However, no final decision has yet been taken on the application eligibility of commerce students. Professor Belal Hossain said the requirement for this group may also be relaxed.

Meanwhile, RU's first-year undergraduate admission tests will begin on 8 January. The admission process will start that day with the test of the Commerce Faculty's 'B' unit. The Science Faculty's 'C' unit test will be held the next day, 9 January, and the Humanities Faculty's 'A' unit test on 16 January.

Online applications for the admission test will open on 12 November and continue until 27 November. In other words, many humanities and science students who scored comparatively lower GPAs in this year's HSC will become eligible to apply to RU under the new requirements, although the decision is still at an initial stage.