Even though the students who score 100 or 98 percent in English are inspired to opt for English (Hons), the colleges, however, feel that such scores are no reflection of one's knowledge and ability to grasp, understand and critically analyse literature.

And to get the ``best'', Lady Shri Ram (LSR) college, has lowered its eligibility criteria from last year's 75 per cent to 70 per cent in English. Similar eligibility condition has been set for journalism honours course.

``For past few years, we have seen that candidates who secured around 95 per cent and above in English in CBSE don't do well in the entrance test. Last year, however, over 30 aspirants secured below 75 per cent, who showed us newspaper articles written by them and also recommendations from their English teachers. But it was too late to revise our cut-off and we could not consider those applications,'' said Kanika Khandelwal, media co-ordinator, LSR.

She added, ``Scores in boards do not reflect the aspirants' knowledge and aptitude for English literature, as there is no critical analysis in Class XII. Similarly, for journalism, candidates need to have the flair for writing and also the journalistic instinct to analyse current issues.'' The college will announce the cutoff for both the courses on June 16 at 10 am. Last year, it was 81.5 per cent for English and 79 for journalism. The entrance test for English will be held on June 18 at 10.30 am while journalism test will be held from 2 pm to 4 pm on June 19.