IITs plan to reinstate pre-pandemic Class 12 criterion for JEE Advanced 2023 admissions: Report

In a move that could significantly affect aspirants yearning for admissions into Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the premier education institutes are likely bringing back students' performance in Class 12 as a yardstick for admissions next year, according to an Indian Express report.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the IITs had relaxed requirements associated with Class 12 board exam performance as a criterion for admission as several schools also moved to different modes of evaluating students' performances amid disrupted classes.

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According to a 2020 brochure, students had to pass exams in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and a language, in addition to another subject, and this was the norm for the duration of the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, however, students who fell under the General Category had to score at least 75 per cent in Class 12 or secure a place in the top 20 percentile of the board results to gain entry into an IIT, while Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students had to score a minimum of 65 per cent or be in the top 20 percentile.

What this effectively meant was that prior to the pandemic, students who secured a high rank in the JEE Advanced exams were not guaranteed a place in IITs unless they met the board exams criterion, a scenario that is likely to resurface again if the IITs revert to pre-pandemic admission norms.

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The decision to reinstate the pre-pandemic Class 12 performance criterion was reportedly taken after the Joint Admission Board (JAB) met last month, according to the report.

DH could not independently verify the information.

“During the pandemic, there was much uncertainty over board exams. Board exams were cancelled in almost all states and centrally in one of the years, and in the other two years, the exams had different relaxations to facilitate students, considering online learning and other limitations. As normalcy has returned in board exams and schools started covering the full syllabus again, the qualifying criterion in JEE (Advanced) regarding board marks is going to go back to its original format,” a member of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) told the publication.