Removing upper age limit will not affect JEE-MAIN, MHRD clarifies

The Supreme Court’s decision to remove the upper age limit for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Advanced will have no bearing on the JEE-Main, the Union Human Resources Development Ministry has said.

Government officials said there is a three-attempt limit on the JEE-Main, which is the first step to qualify for the JEE-Advanced, and that will continue. The JEE-Advanced is the entrance test for the prestigious IITs.

In an interim order issued on Monday in the case of one A Balasubramanian, the court directed the government and the National Testing Agency – which is conducting the JEE-Main this year – to let candidates above the age of 25 appear for the JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced in 2019.

Officials, however, said the upper age limit was fixed only for JEE-Advanced and not for JEE-Main, which has a limit of three attempts – only in three consecutive years.

“As students over 25 are anyway sitting for JEE-Main technically, provided they follow the three-attempt norm, it will not lead to any changes in the registration process,” an official in the higher education department said.

The top half of the candidates who qualify in the JEE-Main are eligible for the JEE-Advanced, and compete for the about-14,000 IIT seats on offer.

The JEE-Main is being organised in two phases this year — one of which was held in January and its results have been declared. Registrations for the second phase began on February 8.