The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main exam 2025 is expected to undergo a few changes this time, as announced by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in its press release dated October 17.
The exam conducting body announced on Thursday, October 17, that the optional question format in Section B will be discontinued in a move to go back to the pre-pandemic exam pattern. This option was introduced as a relief measure during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
JEE mentors said that this move will significantly reduce flexibility for the students preparing to appear for the exam next year.
Purnima Lodha Kaul, a JEE Mentor at JEE One, a virtual educational platform for JEE training, explained, “Previously, there were 30 questions in each subject and the students had an idea that there would be roughly one question from each chapter. So in case there were topics and subjects which were difficult for them to grasp, they used to give it less priority and focus more on the easier ones. But now, since these changes have been made, students are worried about tackling questions from the topics they had planned to skip.”
Last-minute changes
More than the change in exam pattern, the students are worried about the last-minute changes being made to the exam pattern, barely three months before the first session of JEE Main which is likely to be conducted in January 2025.
“Of course, the announcement is a bit late. Most students begin their preparation in May, following a prioritised study plan, and these sudden changes have introduced unnecessary uncertainty,” opined Kaul.
This year, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has faced scrutiny over several issues, including abrupt exam modifications, mismanagement, and the cancellations or postponements of significant exams like NEET-PG and UGC-NET. Such challenges have eroded trust in the exam process, say students.
Pranya Yalgaar, one such JEE aspirant, told EdexLive, “The only issue is that they have updated us just three months before the exam. We have already bought mock papers and enrolled in the test series for the January session of JEE Main. All these test series follow the old exam pattern and now it will be very hard for the students to find mock papers with updated exam patterns. Most students have completed their preparation and are in the revision phase at this point.”
How to cope?
Starting from 2025, the JEE exam will revert to its original structure, requiring candidates to answer all five questions in Section B, rather than selecting five from a total of ten, as allowed previously.
While this last-minute change may be challenging for those preparing for the exam, mentors offer strategies to help students adapt to the new format.
“When it comes to the NTA, we have to expect uncertainties. I advise students to rely solely on their own preparation. With this change being introduced, it's crucial to focus on every topic. Having a solid grasp of the fundamentals in each chapter is essential,” advised Purnima Lodha Kaur.
“We are also updating our JEE Main Predictor Papers (JMPP) test series with immediate effect to help the students prepare better,” she added.
