Increase no of attempts for JEE-Advanced from 2 to 3: IIT aspirants

They have also proposed allowing two attempts over three consecutive years instead of the current two-year limit.

MUMBAI: More than 12,000 IIT aspirants have petitioned the union education ministry, IIT Council and Joint Admission Board for increasing the number of attempts for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Advanced from two to three. They have also proposed allowing two attempts over three consecutive years instead of the current two-year limit.

Body of a third-year chemical engineering student was found on IIT-Bombay campus on Saturday evening. (HT File Photo)

The students said that the existing rules prevented many candidates who were capable of doing better in the next attempt from securing admission to the IITs. They argued that health issues, stress or emergencies could affect performance in an exam that played a crucial role in their academic future, and urged the authorities to increase the number of attempts granted. The demand has gained attention amid growing discussions about student stress and mental well-being.

At present, students can appear for JEE-Advanced only twice in two consecutive years, beginning with the year they pass Class 12. The top 2,50,000 candidates in JEE-Main qualify to take the advanced examination. However, JEE-Main allows students up to six attempts over three consecutive years, making the difference in the two examination rules a key concern for aspirants.

Lucky Jethani, an IIT Bombay alumnus who has been coaching students for over 12 years, pointed out that an additional attempt would particularly benefit students from underprivileged backgrounds. “If the National Testing Agency allows six attempts for JEE-Main in three years, why not allow one more attempt for JEE-Advanced?” he questioned. “It would help students who miss selection by a few marks, as well as those who could not appear due to an emergency.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, an additional attempt was allowed for JEE-Advanced, taking the number to three. However, sources in the Joint Admission Board pointed out that very few students cleared the examination in their third attempt during that period, implying that granting an additional attempt would make no difference. According to the figures cited by the sources, around 100 out of 10,000 candidates who took the examination under the additional-attempt provision qualified.

However, aspirants said that even this limited number mattered, as it gave around 100 students another opportunity to secure admission to an IIT. They also pointed out that students from rural and economically weaker backgrounds were likely to begin serious preparation later than those with access to coaching from an early age. A third attempt, they said, could give such students more time to prepare and demonstrate their abilities.

When HT contacted the ministry of education on this issue, there was no response.