JEE-Advanced candidates who missed exam will get second chance next year

They will not have to re-qualify by writing JEE-Main 2021, says Joint Admission Board

All candidates who had successfully registered to appear in JEE-Advanced 2020 but were absent for the examination will be allowed to reappear in 2021, as a one-time measure due to COVID-19. They will not have to re-qualify by writing JEE-Main 2021 and will be allowed to directly appear in the JEE-Advanced examination, which is the entrance test for admission to the elite Indian Institutes of Technology.

The decision was taken in an emergency meeting of the IITs’ Joint Admission Board, held virtually on Tuesday, according to a statement issued by IIT Delhi, which was the organising institute for the entrance test this year.

In view of the pandemic, the JAB had considered a relaxation of its eligibility criteria and first decided to permit an extra attempt for those candidates who were unable to appear in JEE-Advanced because they had tested positive for COVID-19. The JAB then discussed various options for candidates who were prevented from appearing in the examination due to restrictions imposed because of the pandemic.

“Subsequently, to address the concerns of the affected candidates, while avoiding prejudice to other candidates, it has been decided to allow all the candidates, who had successfully registered to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2020 but were absent in the exam, to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2021, as a one-time measure,” said the statement.

Equal opportunity

It added that in order “to ensure equal opportunity to all,” these candidates will not have to re-write the JEE-Main which is the first stage qualifying examination, but will instead be allowed to directly appear in JEE-Advanced, on the basis of their successful qualification and registration this year.

No such second chance has been announced for students who could not appear for JEE-Main itself, which is conducted by the National Testing Agency, and not the IITs, although more than a quarter of registered students failed to turn up to write that examination. The NTA will, however, conduct NEET, the medical entrance examination, again on October 14, for students who could not write the examination last month due to COVID-19.

Candidates getting a second chance to write JEE-Advanced will be considered in addition to and not as part of the total number of who will qualify from JEE-Main 2021 in order not to disadvantage next year’s candidates. This relaxation of eligibility criteria will be in addition to proportionate relaxation of the age bar, added the statement.