This is an archive article published on December 3, 2022
JEE Advanced 2023: IITs may bring back Class 12 performance criterion for admissions
JEE Advanced 2023: The IITs have collectively decided to do away with the relaxation of admission requirements regarding Class 12 board exam performance given the return to normalcy in academic life, sources said.
JEE Advanced 2023: Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have decided to reinstate the pre-pandemic Class 12 performance criterion for admissions next year, the Indian Express has learnt.
In 2020, IITs had introduced a relaxation regarding candidates’ performance in board exams given the uncertainty brought by the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown had forced several national and state boards to abandon their Class 12 school-leaving exams and replace them with alternate evaluation schemes.
According to the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) information brochure from 2020, the only requirement related to Class 12 (or equivalent) performance was that candidates must pass the board exam in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, a language, and another subject apart from these four. This continued for another two years, until JEE (Advanced) 2022.
IITs have now collectively decided to do away with the relaxation of admission requirements regarding Class 12 board exam performance given the return to normalcy in academic life, sources said.
Before the pandemic, general category candidates with qualifying rank in JEE (Advanced) were required to have either scored at least 75 per cent in Class 12 or figured in the top 20 percentile of their board results to secure a seat at an IIT.
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates were required to have either scored at least 65 per cent or fulfil the top 20 percentile requirement. In other words, earlier even an impressive rank in the JEE (Advanced) did not guarantee admission, unless the candidate had also met the board marks criterion.
The decision to reinstate the pre-pandemic Class 12 criterion, The Indian Express has learnt, was taken in a meeting of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) last month. The JAB takes all decisions regarding the conduct of JEE (Advanced). A formal announcement of the decision is expected soon.
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JEE (Advanced) determines admission to IITs. Even as candidates who are eligible to appear for JEE (Advanced) are short-listed based on their performance in the JEE (Main), Class 12 board exam performance has been one of the qualifying criteria.
“During the pandemic, there was much uncertainty over board exams. Board exams were cancelled in almost all states and centrally in one of the years, and in the other two years, the exams had different relaxations to facilitate students, considering online learning and other limitations. As normalcy has returned in board exams and schools started covering the full syllabus again, the qualifying criterion in JEE (Advanced) regarding board marks is going to go back to its original format,” a member of the JAB said.
Mohit Sardana, the director of Mumbai FIITJEE, a coaching institute for JEE preparation, said the decision was expected with the return to normalcy.
“It is important to have such information available for clarity. There have been rare cases when a candidate has not been able to qualify for the JEE (Advanced) even after scoring well in JEE (Main) because he/she did not qualify for the board marks criterion,” he said. “The JEE (Advanced) 2023 information brochure is now awaited for clarity,” he said.
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The IITs’ decision comes at a time when as many as 90 universities in the country admitted students to undergraduate programmes based on the new Central University Entrance Test (CUET). The majority of central universities this year only required students to have passed their board exams, and admissions were done based on their CUET score.
Pallavi Smart is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai Bureau. Her reporting is singularly focused on the education sector, demonstrating exceptional Expertise and Authority across the entire spectrum of learning, from foundational schooling to advanced higher education. She is a highly Trustworthy source for policy, institutional developments, and systemic issues affecting students, teachers, and parents in Maharashtra.
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