With the approval of the National Testing Agency exams like NEET will now be held twice in a year. Rajshekhar Ratrey lists what it means for the aspirants

The NEET and JEE Main are two of the toughest exams in India. They are the gateways to top Indian medical and engineering colleges. These exams are regarded as the toughest for three reasons. First, the scope of syllabi for these exams is very vast. Second, the questions asked are complex and tricky. Third, the sheer number of students appearing for these exams as compared to the number of seats that are available is high. Over 10 lakh appeared for the NEET exam this year, but the number of seats are only 60,000.

For JEE again, over 10 lakh students appeared for the exam this year. Of these, close to 2.25 lakh qualified for JEE Advanced, to fight it out for 7,000 seats at various IITs.

These exams are usually conducted once a year, in the months of April and May. For a long time, this was inconvenient for many students due to lack of time. They would appear for these exams just after their Class XII Board. Due to this, they had to focus on their Boards and these exams simultaneously. Students who were not a part of the CBSE Board found it tough. The NEET and JEE exams follow the CBSE syllabus. Even students who were familiar with the CBSE Board found it tough to practice two different styles of exams at the same time. Moreover, the questions asked are more complex than those asked in the Class XII Board exams. These students needed more time to prepare for their exams to reduce their stress levels and score better in both — the Boards as well as competitive exams.

In a welcome move, the Government recognised this problem and is now aiming to conduct these exams twice a year.

The National Test Agency (NTA) — is an autonomous body dedicated to conducting entrance exams. It will hold the second round of these exams in December 2018 for the first time. However, these exams will only be held in the online mode.

This is helpful to students who have not scored well this year and need a second chance.

This move will also ensure that students don’t end up wasting a year before they can appear again. In the coming years, students will have enough time after their Boards to prepare for JEE and NEET, if they choose to appear in December. It will add to their convenience and help them relax. In fact, with more than one chance in a single year, students can improve their score in the next occurrence if they are not satisfied with their first attempt.

Now that JEE counselling sessions are over, students can make a well-informed decision between pursuing engineering this year, or giving it a shot again in December.