NTA to establish 3,000 practice centres for JEE Main, NEET

NEW DELHI, July 19: The National Testing Agency (NTA) is likely to set up 3,000 centres for NEET (UG) and JEE Main aspirants wherein candidates can practice how to appear for a Computer-Based Test (CBT). This facility will be provided from the third week of August 2018 onwards. Furthermore, as per media reports, a mobile application will be launched for the ease of candidates. The mobile application will guide students to locate the centres and register themselves to book their slot.

Earlier, the press release declaring the conducting of NEET and JEE Main by NTA as released on July 7, stated that a network of test practice centres will be established especially for students hailing from rural areas so that the candidates can practice before the exam. For this purpose, schools and engineering colleges with computer centres would be uitilised and on Saturdays and Sundays, aspirants can access visit these centres in order to practice CBTs. Candidates will be provided an hour’s time to practise on a computer in each visit to enable them to properly practise taking an online exam.

Apart from the exam being conducted in online mode, there will be no change in exam pattern and syllabus. As per Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) officials, “Although there are many changes to happen in the future, for the 2019 exams, as the HRD ministry has announced, the syllabus, the number of questions and difficulty level of the exam will remain the same. Any changes at such a short notice with regard to pattern and difficulty level will put students in a difficult situation as they are preparing for their board examinations as well.”

NTA is yet to disclose whether these practice centres will also be used as exam centres for the conduction of the engineering and medical entrances. This year, JEE Main was conducted in 111 cities in pen paper based mode and in 258 cities in computer based mode while NEET was only held in offline mode at 2,255 centres across 136 cities.

NTA will conduct JEE Main and NEET UG biannually for the first time. The first session of JEE Main is scheduled to be held from January 6 to January 20 whereas NEET UG will be conducted from February 3 to 12.