Engg, medical tests will now be held twice a year

NEW DELHI: Students aspiring to join the country’s top engineering and medical colleges will now get two opportunities a year to crack the tough entrance examinations.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), a new overarching agency created to conduct all entrance exams for higher educational institutions, will hold the computer-based Joint Entrance Examination ( Main) for admission to engineering colleges and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical and dental courses twice a year.

The responsibility of conducting the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) to select candidates eligible for the posts of assistant professor and the award of junior research fellowships, and the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) for MBA admissions has also been given to the NTA.

JEE (Main) will be held in January and April, and NEET in February and May, human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday.

Students will have the option of taking the exam once, or both times to better their scores. Even if they take both the tests, say in February and May in case of NEET, it would be considered a single attempt, and the best score would be counted in the preparation of the rankings.

The NTA was formed as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing body for conducting entrance examinations for higher educational institutions. Hitherto, the Central Board of Secondary Examination had been the nodal agency responsible for conducting the JEE (Main) and NEET examinations.

STUDENTS HAVE OPTION OF TAKING EXAM ONCE OR BOTH TIMES; BEST SCORE TO BE COUNTED