Joint Entrance Examination

Updated on Oct 31, 2023

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Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is an all India common engineering entrance examination conducted for admission to various engineering colleges and courses all over the country. The test comprises of two stages - JEE Main and the JEE Advanced. The exams are of the objective pattern. JEE Advanced is regarded internationally as one of the most challenging engineering admission tests.

In 2012, the government-run Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that earlier conducted the AIEEE, announced this common examination that replaced the AIEEE and IIT-JEE. JEE consists of two parts, JEE Main and JEE Advanced. JEE-Main exam is for admission to National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs) while the JEE-Advanced is for admission to the elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Only the students selected in JEE Mains are eligible for appearing in JEE Advanced. Over 200,000 students are selected each year.

There are some institutes like the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, and the Indian Institute of Science which use the score obtained in JEE Advanced as the basis for admission. These are not participating institutes of central IIT JEE Advanced counselling of which all IITs are the member. Any student who takes admission to IITs cannot appear for the JEE-Advanced exam in the next year, but the same is not the case with IISc, IISER, RGIPT and other institutes as these institutes only use JEE Advanced score for admission.

In September 2013, the IIT Council approved the decision of the Joint Admission Board to continue with the two-phase JEE pattern ("Main" followed by "Advanced") for IITs in 2014. Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) conducted the joint admission process for a total of 19 IITs, 32 NITs, 18 IIITs and 19 other Government Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs).

As per the reports from Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) of Government of India, the government is considering to conduct only one common engineering entrance test based on the lines of NEET for all engineering colleges, including private institutions, across India. This proposal is said to be implemented from 2018.

JEE Main

JEE Main has two papers, Paper-1 and Paper-2. Candidates may opt for either or both of them. Both papers contain multiple choice questions. Paper 1 is for admission to B.E./B.Tech courses and is conducted in both online and offline modes. Paper-2 is for admission in B.Arch and B.Planning courses and is conducted offline only.

JEE Mains, unlike JEE Advanced, has a fixed exam structure. Paper-1 is of three hours duration and consists of thirty multiple-choice (single-correct) questions in each of the three subjects (physics, chemistry and maths). There is negative marking for incorrect answers. 4 marks are awarded for correct answers and 1 mark is deducted for incorrect answers.

From 2013 to 2016, the marks obtained in the class XII school board examination used to be accorded a 40% weightage in deciding the JEE Mains all India ranks.

Examination structure and syllabus

JEE exam pattern in terms of topics and difficulty has been consistent over the years. It has not changed even after JEE main was introduced as a screening exam. Following is the pattern of the exams for each subject over the years:

For math exam, algebra is the most important topic (33% of overall marks), followed by differential calculus and coordinate geometry (16% each). Other topics like integral calculus, vector and 3D geometry and trigonometry (accounting for 8-14% of all marks)

As per the analysis of last four year question papers (2012-2015), most of the questions (44%) in math main exam can be considered easy. Medium difficulty questions were slightly less (36%) and very few truly difficult questions (10%).

For physics exam, mechanics is the most important topic (27% of overall marks), followed by modern physics (18%). Other topics have slightly less weight in terms of marks, with optics & wave optics and electromagnetism having share of around 15%. Topics like electrostatics & current electricity, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics have marginal importance.

As per the analysis of last four year question papers (2012-2015), most of the questions (44%) in physics main exam were considered of medium difficulty level. Easy questions were slightly less (35%) and truly difficult questions (21%). High percentage of difficult questions is contrast to math and chemistry exams.

For chemistry exam, all the three topics are all most equally important, with organic chemistry having slightly more weight (38%) than physical chemistry (32%) and inorganic chemistry (30%).

In terms of difficulty, chemistry exam paper is very much like math, with high reliance on easy questions (52%). In last four years, medium difficulty level questions had around 32% share, while only 16% questions were classified as truly difficult.

JEE Main 2017

CBSE will conduct JEE Main 2017. Paper & Pen-based exam on April 2, 2017, while the Computer Based Test (CBT) will be held on April 8 and April 9, 2017. Last date of JEE Main 2017 application form registration has been extended to 16 January 2017 by the CBSE. Changes for 2017 include:

The top 2,20,000 candidates from JEE Mains 2017 will be eligible to take JEE Advanced 2017. For the admission year 2016-17, CBSE had filtered the top 0.2 million candidates for appearing in JEE Advanced, the second stage of the entrance exam for admissions to IITs.

All aspiring candidates (except candidates from Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir) of JEE Main will mandatorily need Aadhaar card number to fill in JEE Main 2017 online application form.

Candidates belonging to the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir can fill the application form of JEE Main using their Passport Number, ration card number, bank account, any other valid Govt. identity number provided they should select the city of examination in these states only.

JEE Main 2017 All India Ranks will be calculated without the normalized score of class 12th marks now. Till the academic year 2016-17, JEE Mains All India ranks was calculated with JEE Main scores and normalised marks of Class XII in a 60:40 ratio.

To qualify for admissions to NITs, IIITs or GFTIs, aspiring candidates should have secured at least 75% marks in class XII exam or be in the top 20 percentile in the class XII exam conducted by the respective boards. For SC/ST candidates, the eligibility criteria are 65% marks in class 12th.

During Filling online forms for JEE Main 2017, some care needs to be taken like photo size, signature, etc.

It is advised to all the students that before filling the form, please have a look at Application Process for JEE Main 2017 , it will helps you to avoid any mistakes .

JEE Main 2016

JEE Main 2016 Paper & Pen-based exam was conducted on April 3, while the online or CBT was conducted on April 9 & 10.

For the admission year 2016-17, top 2 lakh candidates from JEE Main were eligible for appearing in JEE Advanced. Till 2015, top 1,50,000 qualifiers of JEE Main were eligible to take JEE Advanced.

JEE Main 2016 All India Ranks were calculated with JEE Main scores. From 2017 no weightage will be given to class 12th marks.

For admission year 2016-17, the eligibility criteria for admissions to NITs, IIITs and GFTIs was 45% marks (For General Category) in 10+2 examination with Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects along with one of the Chemistry/Biotechnology/Biology/Technical Vocational subject and 40% in case of candidates belonging to reserved category. This percentage in the qualifying exam was required individually in each of the subjects.

Jee main Admit card 2017 The admit card for jee main is the important document for the candidate, the candidates who successfully submitted their form can download their admit card and need to be produced, wherever required for identification. Aadhar card is mandatory for JEE MAIN application form and also helpful for students as no multiple identification documents will be required.

Number of applicants by year

The number of applicants taking the JEE Main has varied over the years. In 2016, fewer aspirants registered as compared to the previous three years as shown in the table below.1.3 million candidates appeared for JEE Main in 2014. In 2016, JEE Main was conducted on 3 April 2016 (offline mode) and April 9 and April 10, 2016 (online mode).

JEE Advanced

Students who qualify JEE-Mains can appear for the JEE-Advanced examination. Approximately 200,000 students qualify to appear for JEE-Advanced examination.

JEE Advanced 2017

IIT Madras has been selected to conduct JEE Advanced for the year. The JEE Advanced examination will be held on 21 May 2017. Changes for 2017 include:

All India Ranks will not be calculated with the normalised scores of class 12th marks. CBSE has decided to do away with the class 12th normalised marks, which were used to calculate the All India Ranks of the JEE Main - up to 2016. All India Ranks of JEE Main would earlier get calculated with JEE Main score and normalised marks of class 12th in the ratio of 60:40.

The top 220,000 examinees from JEE Main will be eligible to sit for JEE Advanced 2017. In 2016, the total number of eligible candidates for JEE Advanced was increased to 200,000 from the 150,000 in 2015.

The new eligibility criteria introduced by CBSE means that an aspirant will not be able to submit online applications for JEE Main unless the candidates provide their AADHAAR number.

The qualifying marks for admission to NITs, IIITs and GFTIs have also been revised for the admission year 2017-18. As per MHRD's notification, for candidates to qualify for admissions to NITs/IIITs/GFTIs, they should have secured at least 75% marks in class 12th exam or be in the top 20 percentile in the class 12th exam conducted by the respective boards. For SC/ST candidates, the eligibility criteria are 65% marks in class 12th.

JEE Advanced 2016

In 2016, the JEE Advanced exam was held on May 22, 2016. The exam carried a total of 372 marks with each paper carrying 186 marks. The level of difficulty of questions was increased to a larger extent. Moreover, number of integer type questions (which had no negative marking) were reduced. The paper was set up in collaboration of different IITs with the principal organiser being the IIT Guwahati. The Physics paper was set by IIT Madras, Mathematics by IIT Guwahati and the Chemistry portion was jointly set by IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi. These features made this paper the toughest ever JEE Paper till date. The paper had a huge surprise of partial marking in multiple correct choices where if a student marked some but not all correct answers without marking the wrong ones, he/she would be awarded one mark for each correct option.

JEE Advanced 2015

JEE Advanced 2015 was held on May 24, 2015. The two papers were of 504 marks overall, a sharp increase from the regular trend of about 360 marks. Changes in examination pattern surprised students nationwide. There were no single correct multiple choice questions at all; all of them were multi-correct. The level of negative marking was also increased.

A student from Madhya Pradesh, Satvat Jagwani, topped the exam with 469 marks. According to the statistics released by IIT Bombay, which conducted the exam, 26,456 out of the 1,17,238 candidates who appeared in the test were shortlisted for admission to IITs. 23,407 male candidates qualified, outnumbering 3,049 female candidates.

JEE Advanced 2014

JEE Advanced 2014 was held on May 25, 2014. The paper was of 360 marks. Praveen Tyagi, head of a coaching centre, said that the first paper was reminiscent of the old subjective JEE papers in terms of difficulty level. He noted that a major surprise was that there was no negative marking in the first paper, so students who did not read the instructions or attempted only selected questions would be at loss. Mr R L Trikha from another private coaching organisation stated that the physics paper was lengthier and chemistry was tougher than last year. The mathematics part of the paper was not well-balanced as there was 50% calculus, 30% algebra and just 20% coordinate geometry.

The second paper was comparatively easier.

119,581 students appeared for JEE Advanced in 2014 out of which 27,152 qualified of which 14,269 i.e. 52.55% qualified from 11 Indian cities.

History

The JEE pattern has undergone many changes. Since 2010 candidates are given paper copies of their answers, and cutoffs are announced. This transparency was achieved after a tenacious legal tussle waged by IIT Kharagpur professor Rajeev Kumar, who was nominated for the National RTI Award 2010 for his crusade. Since 2013-14, JEE has changed a lot and recently adopted new online admissions and application selection procedures which were not available in recent years.

JEE Mains counselling

Earlier, counselling for JEE main was conducted through CSAB but now officials have made changes in the counselling procedure. The JAB (Joint Admission Board), representing IITs and CSAB (Central Seat Allocation Board), are making agreements on the behalf of NITs and other CFTIs, and are now united to conduct a counselling (common counselling) for the two exams of JEE. The memo for the same was signed on May 2, 2015. These two together will be known as the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA).

Future

The JEE Board of conduct refreshes the pattern of the examination every year. This dynamic nature is built to ensure the merit-based selection and genuineness of the entrance test. This is also done to oppose the coaching culture widely followed as a means of preparation for this exam. To further clarify the process of admission by merit, JEE Admission Board plans to replenish the exam structure from 2017. As per decisions are taken in December 2015-February 2016, JEE 2017 onwards will comprise a compulsory 'Science Aptitude Test' as the first phase of the exam and then the final objective paper as the rank-decider. JAB bets that this aptitude test cannot be gamed by coaching institutes and thereby is a true merit process of selection.

References

Joint Entrance Examination Wikipedia

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