Nagpur: Drop in JEE Advanced attendance may benefit students

NAGPUR: The Covid-19 pandemic might just bring a unique opportunity for JEE Advanced candidates, feel some aspirants and coaching institutes. Based on the assumption that the pandemic may result in a dip in the number of students turning up for the exam, which also means slightly less competition. JEE Advanced is scheduled for September 27.
For JEE Main, the average attendance is 85%. A coaching institute owner said he believes attendance will fall more for Advanced. “My first assumption is that Covid-19 cases are increasing and parents would be reluctant to send their children. They have already cleared JEE Main, so they may either try for admissions in local colleges or wait till next year,” said the owner. “So for those who do turn up this time, will have thousands upon thousands of fewer competitors,” said the owner.
Another coaching institute teacher said that if these assumptions do come true, then it could be a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’. The teacher said, “At the JEE Advanced level, if you get even a few thousand people less then its welcome. If there is really a sharp drop in attendance where 20,000-30,000 odd students don’t report, then our students can gain advantage.”
Approximately 2.5 lakh candidates are deemed eligible for JEE Advanced based on multiple criterion. This number can vary slightly due to various ranking combinations and computations.
There are roughly 12,000 seats available in IITs across the country, which makes the competition extremely tough. Almost 10 lakh students first appear for JEE Main, from which around 2.5 lakh are deemed eligible for JEE Advanced.
Eligibility for JEE Advanced is subject to five conditions. First is that students must be among 2.5 lakh candidates in JEE Main. Second is about age limit, while third condition is about the number of attempts. This condition restricts the maximum number of attempts to two times in two consecutive years. Next the student has to clear Std XII for the first time either in 2019 or 2020. And the last criteria is related to the candidate not already being admitted to an IIT.