Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination

The Joint Entrance Examination – Advanced (JEE – Advanced), formerly Indian Institutes of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) is an annual engineering college entrance examination in India. It is used as the sole admission test by the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The examination is organised each year by one of the various IITs, on a round robin rotation pattern. It has a very low admission rate (about 10,000 in 660,000 in 2012), and was thus recognised as one of the toughest examinations in the world.

In 2013 the exam, originally called the IITJEE, was renamed as JEE – Advanced, along with the AIEEE being renamed JEE - Main. From 2017, IITs will start conducting JEE internationally to give admission to international students.

The first IIT, IIT Kharagpur, started in 1951. In the initial few years (1951-1954) students were admitted on the basis of their academic results followed by an Interview in several Centers across the country. From 1955-1959 admission was via an all India examination held only for IIT Kharagpur (other IITs had not started by then). Branches were allotted through Interviews/counselling held at Kharagpur.

The common IIT-JEE was conducted for the first time in 1960, when it had four subjects including an English language paper. The examination since evolved considerably from its initial pattern. The IIT-JEE was initially called the Common Entrance Exam (CEE); its creation coincided with that of the 1961 IIT Act.

In 1997, the IIT-JEE was conducted twice after the question paper was leaked in some centers.

Between 2000 and 2005, an additional screening test was used alongside the main examination, intended to reduce pressure on the main examination by allowing only about 20,000 top candidates to sit the paper, out of more than 450,000 applicants.

In September 2005, an analysis group of directors of all the IITs announced major reforms to the examination. These were implemented from 2006 onwards. The revised test consisted of a single objective test, replacing the earlier two-test system. In order to be eligible for the main examination, candidates in the general category had to secure a minimum of 60% aggregated marks in the qualifying examination of the XIIth standard organized by various educational boards of India, while candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Disabled (PD) categories must secure a minimum of 55%.

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