Patliputra University Multiple Exit: Undergraduate Certificate, Diploma and Degrees After 1–4 Years

The news

Patliputra University has implemented multiple entry and multiple exit in undergraduate and postgraduate courses under the National Education Policy 2020, the university's examination controller, Prof. Pranay Kumar Gupta, said on 15 November 2026. Students who leave a course midway will now receive a hard copy of their marksheet and a certificate, which can be used for employment or to re-enter the same course later.

Under the framework, an undergraduate student who completes one year will receive a certificate, two years a diploma, three years a degree, and four years an honours or research degree. For a two-year postgraduate course, a student who completes one year gets a postgraduate diploma and two years a postgraduate degree. A one-year postgraduate course awards a postgraduate degree on completion and has no intermediate exit provision. Credits earned by students are stored digitally in the Academic Bank of Credits and can be used when they resume their studies.

What is the Academic Bank of Credits under NEP 2020?

The Academic Bank of Credits is a digital system introduced under the National Education Policy 2020 to store credits earned by students in higher education. It allows students to accumulate credits from different institutions and use them when they resume a course or seek a degree. The University Grants Commission is the regulatory body that framed the guidelines for its implementation. The system is designed to support the multiple entry and multiple exit framework by making credit transfer seamless across recognised universities.

What does the multiple-entry and multiple-exit framework offer?

The National Education Policy 2020 introduced a flexible framework for higher education that allows students to leave a degree course at specified stages and return later to continue. Under the old system, a student who left a course received nothing. Now, earned credits are stored in the Academic Bank of Credits, a digital repository, so that students can use them when they re-enter. The framework is intended to reduce the number of students who drop out empty-handed and to support those who need to pause their studies for employment or other reasons.

What are the undergraduate and postgraduate award stages?

The undergraduate pathway has four award stages: a certificate after one year, a diploma after two, a degree after three, and an honours or research degree after four. For a two-year postgraduate course, completion of the first year leads to a postgraduate diploma and completion of the second leads to a postgraduate degree. A one-year postgraduate course leads to a degree upon completion, without an intermediate exit. Marksheets and certificates are provided at each exit point to help students demonstrate their completed study for employment or re-entry.