New norm for JEE: Top 20 percentile students of all boards can apply

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 11

Easing the eligibility criterion, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has allowed top 20 percentile students of all education boards, including those of states, for admission to various national institutes.

Earlier, only students securing 75 per cent or above in the Class XII board examination were eligible to apply for the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs).

For the SC/ST candidates, the qualifying aggregate score was declared 65 per cent and above.

The students had continuously been opposing the move of the National Testing Agency to restore the old eligibility criteria of 75 per cent, which had been in suspension for two years owing to Covid-19. The JEE (Main) is conducted for admission to undergraduate engineering programmes (BE or BTech) at NITs, IIITs and other institutions funded or recognised by the participating state governments. It is also an eligibility test for the JEE (Advanced), which is conducted for admission to the IITs. The first round of the JEE (Main) will be conducted between January 24 and January 31.

“For candidates who qualify for admission to the NITs, IIITs and CFTIs, whose admissions are based on the JEE (Main) ranks, they should have secured at least 75% marks in the Class XII examination or be in the top 20 percentile in the Class XII examination conducted by the respective boards,” reads an NTA notification.