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All engineering entrance examinations in the country have shifted to online application models and gradually adopted computer-based tests system. NTA is now promising to introduce AI-based model.
Students who want to pursue an Engineering course at IIT or NIT previously had to sit the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) and today the students have to appear for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main. The objective of the exams is to select meritorious students who seek admission to engineering institutes.
From OMR-based exam to Computer-Based Tests
The mode of exam is one of the major changes. While AIEEE was an OMR-based exam, JEE Main became OMR-based and computer-based. JEE Main was introduced as an OMR-based exam.
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Introduction of National Testing Agency (NTA)
National Testing Agency, popularly known as NTA was given the job to conduct entrance exams and recruitment examinations. The agency held the first JEE Main Exam in 2019.
With NTA, OMR-based format was also done away with and the computer-based test was introduced along with the facility of Test Practice Centres or TPCs.
For the computer-based test, the students could register on the website of NTA and practice mock tests.
JEE Main Conducted Twice a Year
Since 2019, NTA made JEE Main started being held twice a year, once in January and once in April. The same was introduced with the purpose of reducing stress for the exam which came at the time of board exams. Candidates are now allowed to appear for both or either of the two exams held in a year. In case a student takes the exam twice, he/she will be considered on the basis of a better of the two ranks.
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JEE Advanced for the IITs
The entrance examination for admission to IITs which was called IIT-JEE previously was changed to JEE Advanced. JEE Advanced was launched for the admission only to IITs. The score of JEE Advanced was also accepted by institutes like Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology and the Indian Institute of Science.
The exam was changed to a computer-based exam in 2018.
New Eligibility Criterion for IITs
IITs introduced a new criterion which said that only the candidates who qualified in AIEEE, JEE Main within the mentioned cut-off marks and rank could appear in JEE Advanced exam.
No State-Level Entrance Exams
A lot of engineering institutes conducted separate entrance exams for admission to different state institutes. However, recently many states have either stopped conducted state entrance exams or started accepting JEE Main score for counselling and selection process.
Having said that, Maharashtra like conducts MHT-CET along with accepting JEE Main score.
From Percentages to Percentile
NTA moved from percentage to percentile method for JEE Main score. In the percentile method, the percentage of candidates of who have scored less or equal to what the candidate has scored comes up.
With the advent of digitization in the education sector, the NTA also promises to integrate AI in the exams.
