No change in difficulty level for JEE-Main tests: CBSE

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which is conducting the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2018, released a statement saying that the level of difficulty of the upcoming test will be on par with the exams held in the past.

“Subject experts (who have prepared these question papers) have certified that the entire syllabus for mathematics, physics and chemistry has been covered in each question set by dividing the syllabus of each subject into appropriate number of units and choosing equal number of questions from each unit,” the statement reads.

It adds that in every question paper set, each subject carries the same percentage of easy, medium and difficult questions. “This is done to ensure that difficulty level of each question paper set is as per practice followed in the previous few years.” The CBSE uses different sets of question papers for different shifts on different dates of examination.

HT had highlighted the growing concern over falling numbers of students applying for engineering courses in the past few years, with registrations for JEE-Main decreasing for the fifth consecutive year. This year, 10.14 lakh candidates registered for the exam — which is 51,000 less in comparison to 2017. The numbers stood at 10.2 lakh in 2016 and 10.3 lakh in 2015. The registrations had increased from 10.28 lakh to 10.35 lakh in 2014.

“Candidates must ensure they reach the exam centre on time. No candidate will be allowed to enter the examination hall after the time of last entry — 9:30am for Paper 1, 2pm for Paper 2 and 2:30pm for second shift of Paper 1,” said an CBSE official.

While the JEE-Main will be held in the usual pen-and-paper format at different centres in 112 Indian cities and abroad on April 8, the online format will be held in all 258 cities on April 15 and 16.