The Joint Entrance Examination Apex Board (JAB) which regulates admissions to 31 National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST)-Shibpur, IIITs and government technology institutes through JEE examination scrapped the existing 60/40 weightage formula which will come into existence from 2017.

The new rule is that candidates should get at least 75% marks in the higher secondary (HS) examination or rank among the top 20 percentile in their respective board exams irrespective of the ranks they have scored. This is the minimum qualification for the admissions into IITs and NITs.

Till now, the minimum criteria for the admissions were to pass in all subjects in higher secondary (HS) with at least 45% marks in each subject followed by a written exam. The 60/40 weightage given to JEE Main score and class 12th score was introduced in 2012 when the two-tier exam of JEE Main and JEE Advanced began which will not be applicable from 2017.

Partha Pratim Chakra borty, Director of IIT-Kharagpur, confirmed that a circular has been issued whereby the new qualifying rules have been notified.

The director of  NIT said that “The ministry of human resource development (HRD) has also given the nod for the JAB proposal. If the student fails to meet the desired cutoff in the HS exam, then his her rank in the entrance test will be nullified.”

According to the sources, all the institutes are also likely to admit candidates based on the same entrance exam as IITs (JEE Advanced).

The member of JAB added that “Currently , it is unlikely that JEE-Main will be scrapped because several technology colleges and institutes run by the state take in students based on their rank in JEE-Main. By the end of 2017, a decision will be taken”. The JAB is likely to take a call soon on holding the single entrance test.