Hello Aspirant...

Hope you are doing good...

your question is if the admission is on merit basis or any exam is conducted... but you did not mention any specific college or course or university. even your student profile states you are education aspirant but no specification regarding branch.

If we consider present situation, most of the colleges are conducting entrance exams for admission process. Like IIT colleges and universities have JEE exam and medical colleges and universities have NIIT exam. Merit from these exams are considered for admission.

but some colleges do provide admission on merit basis. Merit may imply admitting applicants with the highest examination scores, or it may imply taking a broader view of each applicant's accomplishments and potential.

Undergraduate courses that are merit-based are those in which admission is based on a student's performance in the class 12 board exam. The university publishes cut off marks for these courses for the various colleges that fall under the aegis of Delhi University.

it could have been easy to answer if you had mentioned any college or university or any specific course.

Hope this information helps you...

All the best.