The eligibility criteria for JEE-Main 2021 has been relaxed, allowing students who scored less than 75% in their Class 12 examinations to attempt the entrance test for admission to the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IITs), Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutes.
This is in line with the earlier decision to waive the 75% eligibility criteria for JEE-Advanced, which is used for admission to the elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said in a tweet on Tuesday.
This means that a simple pass in Class 12 will be a sufficient qualification for applicants to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) this year.
In a statement earlier on Tuesday, the Education Ministry clarified that the syllabus for the JEE-Main, as well as for medical entrance test NEET, will not be reduced in 2021. However, as several Class 12 boards have cut down their syllabi this year, both entrance tests will offer more choices in their question paper patterns.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has reduced its Class 12 examination syllabus by 30% in view of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Same syllabus
The JEE-Main syllabus will remain the same as the previous year. Students will be allowed to answer 75 questions out of 90, that is 25 out of 30 questions each in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics. In 2020, candidates were given 75 questions, all of which had to be answered.
The exact pattern for this year’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduate medical admissions (NEET-UG) is yet to be announced. “However, in view of the reduction of syllabus by some boards across the country, the NEET-UG 2021 question paper will also have options on the lines of JEE-Main,” said the statement.
