From 2019, JEE Main will be conducted in two phases, the first for Admissions to BE/ BTech from 6 to 20 January and the second phase for admissions to BArch/ B Planning between 6 to 20 April. After being taken over by NTA, there will be no major impact as far as the pattern of the examination is concerned. The exam will have the same papers as conducted by the CBSE until last year.

Except for the exam mode, the pattern remains unchanged. Paper 1 will be completely held in computer-based mode, and in paper 2, Mathematics and Aptitude test will be computer-based whereas Drawing will be pen-and-paper based. All the multiple choice questions will carry four marks each for the right answer and one negative marking for incorrect answer.

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In JEE Main paper 1, 30 MCQ’s will be asked from each subject making it a total of 90 questions. The question paper will be available in English, Hindi and Gujarati. Paper 1 will be conducted in two sessions per day and the candidates need to book their slots.

Paper 2 includes a total of 82 questions. 30 MCQ’s in Mathematics section, 50 from Aptitude and 2 questions will be asked from drawing test. All the MCQ’s carry four marks each (with -1 negative marking) and each drawing test question carries 70 marks.

• Modifications made by NTA for JEE Main 2019: NTA has already started student registration for JEE Main mock tests. From these candidates will get a better understanding of the exam pattern, how to prepare and what to expect in the actual exam. The authorities have set up 1.5 lakh common service centres across the country to help candidates in both urban and rural areas in application form filling and submission.

The criteria of age limit have been removed. Candidates who have recently passed +2 or are appearing in 2019 can apply, irrespective of their age. It will be held twice a year. Candidates can choose to appear for either one or both. The application fees have been reduced for different categories. It will be a computer-based test for Paper 1; however, for Paper 2, Mathematics and Aptitude will be in computer-based mode and Drawing will be in pen and paper mode. Paper 1 will be in two shifts per day, whereas, paper 2 will be in one shift only.

• Selection process: JEE Main 2019 being the screening test for JEE Advanced 2019, NTA will announce the qualifying cutoff in the first week of May after the announcement of the April results. The results for the 1st exam will be announced on 31 January 2019. The results will be devoid of ranks as it will be compiled on the basis of better scores of candidates appearing in both exams.

The Common Rank List will be available in the first week of May after the declaration of the results of the April exam. The common rank lists will denote the All India and Category ranks of the candidates in addition to the details of the candidates and marks obtained. The JEE Main rank will be the basis for admissions to the NITs, IIITs and GFTIs.

• Major changes in evaluation process: As it will be held on different days and sessions, maintaining the equivalence among different sets of question papers comes to fore. To ensure that no candidate is at a disadvantage or highly benefited, normalisation of marks will be enforced for the purpose of ranking. Students will be ranked on the basis of their percentile scores which will be calculated as per a pre-determined formula.

• Compilation of NTA score for JEE Main 2019 result and merit list/ ranking for paper 1: In case of candidates who have appeared for both the attempts the best of the two NTA scores will be used. The final NTA scores will be used to rank the candidates and the result declared. For Rank List preparation of Paper II, the raw marks for both attempts will be considered for candidates who have given both the attempts and the better of the marks considered.

For candidates who have appeared for only one attempt, the raw marks obtained for the same will be used. Students are however advised to give in the best shot as it is finally the relative performance in the actual exam that will fetch you a good rank in JEE 2019.

The writer is FIITJEE expert.