National Testing Agency relaxes criterion for JEE-based admissions

Apart from securing 75 percent and above in aggregate in the Class XII Board examination, candidates in the top 20 percentile of each education Board will also be eligible to take the test, the National Testing Agency announced on Tuesday.

New Delhi:The National Testing Agency (NTA) Tuesday announced some relaxations in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2023 eligibility criteria. It declared that apart from securing 75 percent and above in aggregate in the Class XII Board examination, candidates in the top 20 percentile of each education Board will also be eligible to take the test and seek admissions in the IITs and NITs.

The NTA in a notification said, "National Testing Agency is in receipt of numerous representations from the stakeholders regarding change in the criteria of 75 percent marks in the Class 12 examination." "For the candidates who qualify for admission in the NITs, IIITs and such other CFTIs (Centrally Funded Technical Institutes) whose admissions are based on the JEE (Main) ranks, they should have secured at least 75% marks in the Class 12 examination or be in the top 20 percentile in Class 12 examination conducted by respective Boards," the notification further stated.

For SC and ST candidates, the NTA stated that the qualifying marks should be 65 percent in Class 12 examination. Earlier on December 15 last year, the NTA had announced the JEE (Main) dates in January and April. The examination that would be held in January is scheduled between the 24 and 31 of this month, across the country.

This comes in the backdrop of the Bombay High Court ruling on Tuesday which refused to postpone the entrance test after hearing a PIL filed by activist Anubha Srivastava Sahai. The Bombay HC will hear the matter next on February 21, after phase one of IIT JEE Mains 2023.