A storm of controversy has erupted following the release of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2025 Session 2 results on April 19, with thousands of students and parents reporting alarming discrepancies in the Session 2 results of JEE Main.
A group of distressed parents are preparing to file a joint legal petition against the National Testing Agency (NTA) after discovering what they claim are manipulated JEE Main 2025 examination scores that threaten their children's engineering aspirations.
Percentile manipulation allegations
The most troubling allegations involve changes to Session 1 percentiles that students had already received and downloaded in February. Several affected families have come forward with evidence showing identical decimal digits in both scorecards, with only the leading digits changed.
"My daughter scored 98 percentile in Session 1 of JEE Mains exam, and the result and response sheet was also downloaded. But when the results for the second session came out, NTA changed the Session 1 percentile to 25," reported the father of the JEE aspirant.
When he visited the National Testing Agency (NTA) office seeking clarification, he claims officials dismissed his concerns without examining his documentation. "The officials told him, 'You have done the forgery, the documents are forged, and you will go to jail', without even looking at the documents properly," according to his account.
Pattern of suspicious changes
Legal guardian Mr Navneet provided specific details about his nephew case, noting that his original Session 1 scorecard dated February 11, 2025, showed:
Physics: 99.6115191
Chemistry: 94.9331975
Mathematics: 97.2020164
Total NTA Score: 99.5032983
However, the combined scorecard released on April 18, 2025, displayed:
Physics: 79.6115191
Chemistry: 54.9331975
Mathematics: 91.4020164
Total NTA Score: 79.5032983
"What is particularly suspicious is that the decimal values remain identical across both versions, only the leading digits differ, which suggests a likely data entry or system error, not a legitimate recalculation," Navneet observed.
He pointed out that NTA should take this issue seriously and accept that there was a technical glitch instead of threatening the students who are coming forward with their genuine complaints by barring them from appearing in future exams.
Statistical anomalies
The controversy first gained traction when popular YouTube channel JEE1 released a video documenting alleged evidence of systemic problems. Founders Namo Kaul and Purnima Kaul highlighted suspicious patterns in gender distribution statistics briefly published by NTA before being removed.
According to their analysis, the data initially showed approximately 9.73 lakh female candidates compared to only 5 lakh male candidates — a dramatic reversal from 2024's pattern, where males formed about 66% of candidates. This anomaly has since been corrected on the NTA portal.
Students have been reporting numerous issues with their response sheets, but that issue was never addressed by NTA, and now, with alarming drops in the Session 1 percentile in the final scorecards shows the technical inefficiency of one of the biggest exam conducting bodies of the country.
Mental health impact
The situation has taken a severe toll on students' mental health. Priya, sister of an affected candidate, shared: "My sister's situation is so bad from the day the results were declared, she is continuously crying, and we had to admit her to the hospital because she took a year drop, and this was her last chance to appear for the exam."
This raises deep concern about the psychological impact on students who leave everything and solely dedicated themsleves to preparing for a competitive exam like JEE. Guardians are asking, “Who would take the responsibility if any student takes a drastic step?”
NTA unresponsive
Despite multiple efforts to contact NTA, affected families report receiving no substantive response. "I had called the customer care several times, more than three or four times. I had emailed them three or four times, no reply," said Priya.
NTA had previously issued a notice on April 15, as pointed out by Purnima Kaul and Namo Kaul in the same YouTube video, acknowledging "unavoidable reasons and technical snags" before hastily removing the statement from their website — an action viewed by many as an attempt to cover up problems.
Legal action brewing
Several parents are now considering legal action. "We are now preparing to pursue a joint legal response," said Navneet.
The guardian who wished to be kept anonymous emphasised his determination to seek justice: "If they don't pay heed to our genuine problems, I will go to court, because I need to take a stay order for my daughter, otherwise the date for the application for JEE Advanced will also pass the deadline."
As pressure mounts for accountability, the NTA has yet to provide redressal for what many are calling a systemic failure in one of India's most crucial educational assessments.
With approximately 25 lakh students expected to participate in the upcoming NEET exams, these irregularities raise significant questions about NTA's capability to handle even larger examinations and, in turn, the future of lakhs of students who have been preparing for these exams for years now.
