Pre-University course

The Pre-university course or Pre-degree course, popularly abbreviated to PUC or PDC, is an intermediate course (which is known as 10+2) of two years' duration, conducted by state education institutions or boards in India. This Pre-university course is also known as the Plus-two or Intermediate course. A person desiring admission to an Indian university must pass this course, which can be considered as a degree bridge course to prepare students for university education. Admission to this course is based on marks obtained for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate, awarded after successful completion of five years of primary school, followed by five years of secondary school. The Indian education system follows a 10+2+3 (4 or 5) pattern, so that a Bachelor's degree requires a minimum of 10 years of school, plus two years of PUC, plus either three, four or five years at university. Colleges offering a pre-university course are known as PU Colleges or Junior colleges in India.

For example, the state of Karnataka conducts examinations at the end of the second year of the PUC for university admissions. This has three program streams with options focusing on science, commerce and arts, respectively. Students desiring to study professional programs in Karnataka must pass the science stream of this exam and also qualify through the Common Entrance Test of the government of Karnataka. Recently, the Karnataka PUC Board made the first-year PUC exams public, in an attempt to filter out low-scoring students and improve overall average scores. Only about 40 percent of students usually pass the exam, and only about 1.5 percent score above 85% overall.

Students who have completed the PUC in the science stream can enrol in specialist degree courses in nursing, pharmacy, agriculture, engineering or medicine. They can also enroll for a pure-sciences B.Sc.. Admission to these courses depends upon marks scored in PUC exams conducted by the institutes or by the state board. Students who succeed in the commerce stream may enroll in a graduate Bachelor of Commerce or Bachelor of Business Management degree program at an Indian university. Those who have passed the arts-stream PUC can opt to study for a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) or Diploma in Education (DEd),Bachelor of social work(BSW) or may be admitted to vocational programs in fashion design — offered by the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFT) — or apparel and knitwear manufacturing.

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