IITs to relax criteria for admissions due to cancelled board exams

Will not insist on 75% minimum score in Class 12; simple pass will be enough.

The Indian Institutes of Technology will relax their eligibility criteria dealing with Class 12 marks this year, as several board examinations were cancelled due to the

coronavirus (

COVID-19 ) pandemic.

Earlier, a minimum 75% score in Class 12 was required; this year, a simple pass will be sufficient.

The decision was taken by the Joint Admissions Board of the IITs, Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank tweeted on Friday evening.

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“For admissions to IITs, apart from qualifying the JEE (Advanced), the eligibility was to secure either minimum score of 75% marks in class XII Board exams or rank among the top 20 percentile in their qualifying examinations,” he tweeted. “Due to the partial cancellation of class XII exams by several Boards, Joint Admission Board (JAB) has decided to relax the eligibility criterion for JEE (Advanced) 2020 qualified candidates this time. Qualified candidates who have passed class XII examinations will now be eligible for admissions, irrespective of marks obtained.”

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The Central Board of Secondary Education and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations were two of the national school boards that were forced to cancel some papers when schools were closed in mid-March. For these papers, marks were calculated using an algorithm on the basis of previously completed examinations and internal assessments.