According to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), around 11.48 lakh students have registered for the Joint Entrance Exams this year. In 2017, 11.99 lakh students applied, showing a drop of 51,000 applications. A look at the number from past years suggest that there has been a decline in the number of applications for admission to institutions like the IITs and NITs. In 2016, CBSE received 12.07 lakh applications and 13.04 lakh in 2015.

G. Raghavan, a teacher who has been preparing students for competitive exams for the past 30 years, says the number of applications from Tamil Nadu is much less than states like Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and UP.

Educationist S. Somasundaram says students have options now. “There are other good colleges that don’t require JEE score. Also, many engineers aim at doing MS abroad.”