NEET, JEE Main exams to be held twice a year, says Prakash Javadekar

National-level examinations NEET and JEE (Mains) will now be held biannually from next year by the newly formed National Testing Agency, the government said on Saturday. The entrance examinations will be online.

The National Testing Agency will also conduct the National Eligibility Test once a year in December, said Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Organised by the CBSE until recently, NTA will hold the NEET exam in February and May, while engineering aspirants will be able to take the JEE(Mains) in January and April.

The students can appear both the times in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the best of the two scores will be considered  for admission, the minister said. NEET is conducted for admissions to medical colleges across the country.

NET, a qualifying test for admission in higher educational institutions in the country, will be the first exam to be conducted by the newly formed body.

The NTA will also conduct National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test(GPAT), Javadekar said.

“The exams will be more secure and at par with international norms. There will be no issues of leakage and it would be more student friendly, open, scientific and a leak-proof system,” Javadekar told reporters.

The online exams would be held over a span of four-five days and students would have the option of choosing the dates, he said.

The syllabus, question formats, language and fees for the exams would not be changed, he said. The time table of the exams to be conducted by NTA will be uploaded on the ministry’s website.

The IITs would continue to conduct Joint Entrance Examination-Advanced exam, Javadekar said.

So far, The Central Board of Secondary Education conducted NEET on behalf of the Medical Council Of India and the Health Ministry.