The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued guidelines for candidates from the PwD (persons with disabilities) category for the upcoming Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main 2025, detailing scribe and compensatory time provisions. The guidelines are a response to numerous queries on support measures for PwD candidates, referencing relevant government notifications and office memorandums.
The notice issued by NTA on October 25 describes the definition of PwD, scribe facility for PwD candidates, medical certification, assistance and others.
PwD definition
According to the NTA notice, a person with a benchmark disability is defined as an individual with "not less than forty per cent of a specified disability" when the disability cannot be measured or is measurable as certified by an authorised body.
A person with a disability is additionally defined as one with "a long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment" that, when interacting with barriers, impedes full and equal participation in society.
Scribe facility for PwD candidates
The NTA states that the facility of a scribe and/or additional time will be granted exclusively to candidates with documented writing difficulties, certified by a competent government healthcare institution as outlined in Appendix II.
All PwD candidates are entitled to an extra hour for a three-hour exam, whether they use a scribe or not. For exams shorter than an hour, extra time will be provided on a pro-rata basis in multiples of five minutes, ensuring a minimum of five additional minutes.
