NEET, JEE Main exams will go online

The National Testing Agency (NTA) is ready to conduct five entrance examinations, including JEE-Main and NEET, twice every year.

The other three tests are National Eligibility Test (NET) in December to determine the eligibility of candidates for appointment as assistant professors and grant of junior research fellowship, Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Saturday.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will continue to hold the JEE Advance for filling their seats.

The NTA was set up as an autonomous organisation under the HRD ministry to relieve the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) from conducting multiple competitive examinations.

“Best of the two test scores will be considered (either for admission or determination of the eligibility for appointment of assistant professors and grant of junior research fellowship),” Javadekar told reporters. All these five tests, including the Joint Entrance Examination-Main (JEE-Main) for engineering and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical courses will now be held “in online mode (computer-based) only.”

The HRD ministry has done away with the system of holding these tests in pen and paper mode to check any possibility of paper leaks and ensure timely declaration of the results.

New format NTA to release list of centres to help students take mock computer-based tests free of cost. IITs to continue holding the JEE-Advanced but only once in a year in May. Highly secured IT software and encryption to be used to prevent leaks. First JEE-Main in January, second in April every year from 2019 First NEET in February every year, second in May from 2019 CMAT for business schools and GPAT for pharmacy courses in January, schedule for the second test to be notified soon First NET in December 2019, dates for the second NET to be notified later