DU relaxes 28-credit promotion rule for 2025–26 batch

The University of Delhi has granted a one-time exemption from its 28-credit promotion requirement for undergraduate students admitted in the 2025–26 academic session under the National Education Policy’s Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (NEP UGCF)-2022.

Under the latest notification issued by the university’s Examination Branch, students of the 2025–26 batch who have completed one year of study will not be required to secure at least 28 credits out of the 44 credits available across the first two semesters for promotion to the next academic year.

The exemption is limited to the 2025–26 batch and is a one-time measure. It does not scrap the 28-credit promotion requirement for subsequent batches. The university has also clarified that other provisions contained in its earlier notifications will remain unchanged.

What has DU changed?

Under the credit-based promotion framework introduced for students covered by NEP UGCF-2022, students have 44 credits available over the two semesters of an academic year. The earlier promotion criterion required students to acquire at least 28 of those credits to move to the subsequent year.

The latest modification removes that specific threshold for students admitted in 2025–26.

This means a student from the 2025–26 batch who has completed the first year but has earned fewer than 28 credits will not be denied promotion solely for failing to meet the 28-credit requirement.

However, the exemption does not mean that all examination or academic requirements have been waived. DU’s notification specifically relaxes the requirement of obtaining 28 credits out of 44, while the other provisions of the earlier promotion notifications continue to apply.

28-credit rule was introduced in 2025

DU had initially notified the 28-credit promotion criterion in July 2025 under NEP UGCF-2022, following the relevant Academic Council and Executive Council resolutions.

In September 2025, the university changed the implementation schedule. The 28-credit criterion was made applicable to students admitted from the 2025–26 academic year instead of the 2024–25 batch. For students admitted in 2024–25, DU said the promotion policy would continue to be based on the 50 per cent paper-passing criterion.

The latest notification is therefore a further modification affecting the same 2025–26 batch.

The decision has also prompted questions from sections of the DU faculty, particularly over the timing of the relaxation and the absence of a stated reason in the university notification.

Abha Dev Habib, secretary of the Delhi University Teachers’ Federation and associate professor at Miranda House, questioned why the promotion criteria were changed without specifying the circumstances or difficulties that necessitated the exemption. She also pointed to the fact that third-semester classes had already begun while first-year examination results were being declared.

Rudrashish Chakraborty, treasurer of the Delhi University Teachers’ Federation, associate professor in the Department of English at Kirori Mal College and a former member of the university’s Academic Council, also questioned the decision. He raised concerns about the implementation of NEP and the challenges associated with the increased number of papers under the new academic structure.

The university notification itself does not give a specific student-level reason or academic circumstance for the one-time exemption. It states that the decision was taken with the approval of the competent authority.

What the exemption means for students

For students admitted to DU in the 2025–26 academic session, the immediate effect is that completing the first year will not be subject to the earlier 28-out-of-44-credit threshold for promotion.

The measure is temporary and batch-specific. Students admitted in later academic years cannot automatically claim the same exemption on the basis of this notification.

DU’s Examination Branch continues to list the earlier notifications establishing the 28-credit promotion criterion alongside the latest modification, indicating that the broader framework has not been withdrawn.

The latest decision therefore represents a relaxation for one batch rather than a permanent change to Delhi University’s promotion policy under NEP UGCF-2022.