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IITs Decide To Drop Class 12 Board Marks Criteria For Admissions This Year

The IITs will do away with admission criterion of minimum 75 per cent marks in class 12 this year.

IITs Decide To Drop Class 12 Board Marks Criteria For Admissions This Year
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Students preparing for admission in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) need not bother about the scores they have scored in Class 12 board exams this year. All they need to do is crack the Joint Entrance Examination-Advanced (JEE-Advanced) and secure a good rank in the all-India merit list to be able to secure a seat in the premier technical institutes. 

The IITs have decided to relax the admission rules, dropping the Class 12 board examination performance criteria for this year in view of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the board examinations. 

With this, those qualifying in the JEE-advanced will be considered for admission on the basis of their ranking in the all India merit list only. The decision taken by the joint admission board (JAB) of the IITs is expected to bring relief to a large number of students aspiring to get admission in the premier technical institutes this year.

“(JEE-Advanced) Qualified candidates who have passed class 12 (board) examinations will now be eligible for admissions irrespective of marks obtained (in the board examinations this year),” Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said on Friday, announcing the decision taken by the premier technical institutes.

To be eligible for admission in the IITs, as per the rules, general category students are required to secure at least 75 per cent marks in the Class 12 board exam or figure in the top 20 percentile of their respective secondary school examination board results, apart from qualifying the JEE (Advanced).

Those belonging to scheduled caste (SCs) and scheduled tribe (ST) need to have secured a minimum 65 per cent marks in class 12 board exam or fulfil the top 20 percentile criteria, apart from qualifying the entrance test.

“Due to the partial cancellation of class 12 (board) exams by several Boards, the joint admission board (of the IITs) has decided to relax the eligibility criterion for the JEE (Advanced) 2020 qualified candidates this time,” HRD minister said.

The JEE-Advanced is scheduled to be held on September 27.