No more confusion in JEE main attempts limit; confirms NTA

Since when the Union Ministry of the Human Resource and Development (HRD) has allocated the National Testing Agency (NTA) with the charge of conducting the JEE Main, there have been many speculations about the maximum number of permissible attempts for the candidates. Clearing all the doubts, NTA has recently declared that there will not be any restriction on the maximum number of allowed attempts for JEE Main.

However, the candidates will have to satisfy all the requirements as per the eligibility criteria. For instance, only those candidates will be able to appear in one or both sessions of the JEE Main 2019 exam, who either had qualified their class 12th examination in 2017/2018 or are going to appear for the same in 2019.

Beyond that, those aspirants who either passed their 12th class in 2016 or are going to appear in the same in 2020 will be ineligible for JEE Main 2019. Till 2018, candidates could appear in the JEE Main examination for a maximum of three times in total. With the transfer of responsibility for conducting the JEE Main exam from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to NTA, many new changes were introduced.

When it was announced that JEE Main 2019 will be conducted in two sessions i.e. in January 2019 and April 2019, the aspirants were concerned to know if some changes would also be introduced about the maximum number of attempts that they would get to appear in the examination. Especially those aspirants, who would already have appeared in the JEE Main exam twice earlier in 2017 and 2018, were dubious about their eligibility for appearing in both the sessions of JEE Main 2019.

In case the previous criteria of a maximum number of three permissible attempts would have retained, such candidates would be able to attempt only the Session I of JEE Main 2019. Post then, they were supposed to be ineligible for appearing in the Session II, since their maximum limit of number of attempts (three) was going to be exhausted.

However, NTA has recently released a detailed notification along with an information brochure for the aspirants of JEE Main 2019. Candidates will be able to access and download the JEE Main 2019 information brochure through the official website of NTA – nta.ac.in.

Other than removing the cap from the maximum number of attempts for JEE Main, the age limit criterion has also been removed for appearing in the JEE Main 2019 exam. Till 2018, there was a specified duration in which the birth date of the candidate must have been fallen to be eligible for the registration of the JEE Main and JEE Advanced exams.

Going forward, the aspirants of any age group could register for JEE Main, unless they satisfy the other specified requirements. As per the statement in the JEE Main 2019 information brochure, “Irrespective of the number of JEE Main attempts candidates have taken, they can apply for the upcoming JEE Main 2019 if they satisfy the eligibility criteria. Candidates who did their class 12th in 2016 or will be enrolled for Boards 2020 are not eligible.”

As per another requirement, the candidates will have to pass their 12th class examination in five subjects. Additionally, those candidates who would have passed their 12th class from the commerce stream will not be eligible for appearing in the Paper 1 of JEE Main 2019 (for the B.Tech. courses), as per the requirements specified by the IIITs, NITs and GFTIs.

Apart from that, the aspirants of Paper 1 must have one of the Chemistry, Biotechnology, Biology or a Technical Vocational subject, alongside Physics and Mathematics as the mandatory subjects. For appearing in the Paper 2 of JEE Main 2019 (for the B.Arch. and B.Plan. courses), students must have passed the 12th class examinations with Mathematics as a core subject.

As stated in the information brochure issued by NTA, since all the papers of JEE Main 2019 will be conducted in the online mode, the Mathematics and Aptitude sections of Paper 2 will be computer-based. However, candidates will be required to undergo the drawing test on a drawing sheet.

The eligibility criteria for both the sessions of JEE Main 2019 will be kept same. Other than defining the eligibility criteria, the information brochure describes the registration and application process of JEE Main 2019 and other important information. Candidates are suggested to thoroughly go through the eligibility criteria specified in the information brochure to avoid the late stage cancellation of their registration.