JEE Main 2018 offline examination commences today

NEW DELHI, APRIL 8: JEE Main 2018 offline examination has started with students reporting at the various centres from 7 am as announced by CBSE. The actual exam will commence at 9.30 am today, on April 8. CBSE is conducting JEE Main 2018 Paper I from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm, while the Paper II will be conducted from 2 pm to 5 pm today. As per the official data released by CBSE officials, as many as 11,48,000 candidates have registered for JEE Main this year.

Students at many centres were asked to remove shoes, socks, watches and even belts. Girl students were asked to remove bangles. Frisking has stated at 7 am at all the centres. Some centres have even asked for an ID proof. This is contrary to the CBSE instructions where only CBT takers were required to carry an ID proof. 

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made some provisions for diabetic candidates, under which they can take fruits, sugar tablets and drinking water bottles inside the examination hall. Besides this, candidates from Gujarat, Daman & Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have an additional choice that they can take the test in Gujarati also, apart from English and Hindi.

The total number of registrations for JEE Main this year is around 4% less as compared to last year. In 2017, CBSE had recorded 11,98,989 registrations for JEE Main. 

Apart from the offline examination, JEE Main 2018 Paper I will also be held in online mode on April 15 and 16, in 2 sessions – 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and from 2 pm to 5 pm. 

The entrance test is being held in morning and evening session for a duration of 3 hours each. Candidates have to attempt a total of 90 questions, 30 each from Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. For each correct answer, the test takers will get 3 marks, while each incorrect answer will fetch -1 marks. This means that candidates will be allotted marks out of total 360 marks. 

This year, JEE Main is being conducted across 248 exam centre cities in India and 10 exam centre cities outside India. Last year, the national level engineering entrance test was held across 113 exam centre cities in India and abroad. This means that the examination is being held at almost double the examination cities last year.  

Till last year, a total of 2,20,000 top rankers of JEE Main would be eligible for taking JEE Advanced, however, this year 4,000 more candidates are allowed to sit for the entrance test for IIT admission. For academic year 2018-19, as many as 2,24,000 top rank holders of JEE Main would be eligible to take JEE Advanced. 

JEE Main is a national level engineering entrance test for admission to National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs). JEE Main is also the first stage entrance examination for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).