Updated: September 19, 2020 10:22:20 am
Declared results of JEE Core Test 1 and 2 (Express Photo / Representative Image)
Advanced JEE 2020: Of the more than 2.5 lakh candidates who were eligible to apply for the IIT – JEE Advanced entrance exam, only 1,60,864 students have applied, according to official data released by IIT-Delhi. This is the lowest in the last three years. In 2019, 1.73 lakh, and in 2018, 1.65 lakh, students had applied for the exam.
The number was expected to be lower this year as the examinations take place in the midst of a pandemic. Even for the JEE Main in September 2020, more than a lakh of candidates did not take the exam.
The number of JEE Advanced applicants has been declining over the years. While those who are eligible to apply for Advanced can also directly seek admission to any other university, students and experts say the growing popularity of metropolitan-area-based NITs is one reason.
“If a student earned a rank in the 2000s at JEE Mains, they will get the program they want in a NIT, but if they pop up and clear the JEE Advanced, they may not get their preferred course in the IIT of their choice as long as scoring, ”an IIT director had explained last year.
Read | Why do students opt out of the IIT entrance exam?
JEE Advanced 2020 is scheduled for September 27. This year, IIT-Delhi is taking the exam. The institute is ready to conduct examinations amid special precautions. In addition to asking its graduates to facilitate applicants’ travel, the IIT has also increased the number of test centers. IIT Alumni had launched a portal to help students in need that also went into effect during JEE Main.
The exam will take place in 222 cities in India, up from 164 last year. The number of test centers has nearly doubled from 600 last year to 1,150 this year, according to the IIT. Masks and disinfectants are essential to appear for the exam.
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