Defying expectations of students that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-2021 would be easy due to pressures related to COVID-19 pandemic, a lengthy paper, tougher and time-consuming questions greeted aspirants this year.
For the first time, internal choices were given that led to consumption of additional time for students, thus affecting their performance. “Overall, the scoring may reduce this year but ranking may not be affected much as it was tough for everyone,” explained D. Shankar Rao, dean of Medical Stream at Sri Chaitanya institutions in Kukatpally.
It was tougher this time due to tougher questions than last year and also the fact that students were mentally prepared for an easier exam due to the pandemic.
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Unlike 180 questions with 45 questions allocated to each subject last time, this year students had to go through 200 questions as each of the four subjects — Zoology, Botany, Physics and Chemistry — had additional five questions as choice. Section A had 35 compulsory questions while Section B had 15 questions of which they had to attempt 10 only. So, studying 20 questions additionally and deciding on the easier questions also consumed time.
Generally, Biology is easier compared to Chemistry or Physics but this time Biology had a lot of matching questions that forced students to spend more time on them, Mr. Shankar Rao said. Chemistry was moderate with 5 to 10 questions being difficult. In the Physics section, the questions related to calculations were lengthy and students had to miss out some questions as they were pressed for time.
Last year, there were several students who scored above 700 out of 720 marks but this time touching even 700 could be difficult, said students. Mr. Shankar Rao expects the marks to drop by at least 20 compared to previous year.
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He said those who scored 500 out of 720 in Telangana last year could get a free seat in government colleges or ‘A’ category seats in private colleges. This time, those who score 475 to 480 could also get the same seat. However, teachers have asked students not to get depressed over the tough paper as the ranks may not change much despite drop in marks as the paper was tough for everyone.