JEE Mains or the Joint Entrance Examination is one of the top most prestigious and extremely critical competitive exams appeared by millions of candidates all over the country. JEE Mains is one such gateway that opens doors for students to get admitted to their top most premier dream institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), National Institute of Technology (NITs) and many other institutions all across the country. With so much significance attached to this particular examination, any minute changes introduced becomes an issue of great importance for the whole nation.
However there has been numerous speculations and announcements about the latest JEE mains update as the ministry of education board issued the latest statement about the new changes to the nta jee mains 2025 exam pattern. This huge decision to include massive modifications in the JEE mains pattern change has significantly increased the difficulty level of the JEE Mains 2025 exam pattern. With the changes implemented into the JEE main new pattern, we are sure to witness great levels of potential to the overall dynamics with the JEE mains pattern change.
Latest NTA Announcement issued on 17th October
As per the latest announcements, the National Testing Agency,(NTA) announced that they shall be dropping the Section B from their examination syllabus, indicating a huge shift in the jee main pattern change. This news comes as a shock to students as we are almost towards the end of the year and this sudden change is going to make a great impact towards the overall expectations in the preparation levels of students. The National Testing Agency has always worked towards accommodating relevant changes to the jee mains pattern in favor of the students over the years , ever since NTA took over the initiative of conducting JEE Mains exam.
Introduction of Section B during the Covid 19 Pandemic
The year 2020 has been one of the most difficult years ever as it had created innumerable problems and great challenges as the entire world witnessed one of the deadliest catastrophes when the Covid pandemic was right at its peak. The world suffered great losses and a lot of people were suffering with mental health issues worldwide which made it almost impossible to go back to their normal lives. Basic survival was one of the most critical aspects and on top of that preparing for an exam was an extremely difficult process to carry on when such a crisis was looming over our heads. Which is why ever since the National Testing Agency( NTA) took over the responsibility of conducting JEE Mains, NTA had introduced the implementation of a new “Section B” in the JEE mains pattern which consisted of 10 integer questions per subject that is for all the 3 subject papers of physics, chemistry and math paper ( in addition to the 20 objective questions), out of which candidates were provided with the choice to attempt any 5 of them, that is , not all questions were mandatory; candidates were provided with options to choose any 5 questions out of the 10 integer questions and could attempt as per their own choice. This shift in the jee mains pattern was implemented in order to adapt to the difficulties and challenges faced by the candidates during the deadly Covid 19 pandemic. This modification was introduced without any negative markings so that students are provided with one section in which they reduced the pressure off of students and created a possibility to score more points. This modification did in fact serve well as it was able to help a lot of students, allowing them with flexibility to answer the questions that they were most comfortable with attempting. However as the overall situation gradually came back to normalcy NTA had been initiating the process to include changes to their JEE Mains exam pattern as they no longer think Covid 19 could be an issue towards one’s preparation for this exam.
NTA’s decision to remove options in Section B + implementation of all mandatory questions
As we are finally getting back into our normal lives without the risk of a pandemic looming over our heads, NTA deemed it fit to remove the “option” introduced in lieu of the difficult times collectively experienced a few years ago. This massive decision to nullify the previous implementation has truly shaken everyone as NTA introduced new modifications with the latest update announcements that was released on the 17th of October, 2024, wherein negative markings were applied to all of these questions if they are marked incorrect by the candidate.
Key points of the updated changes to JEE mains exam pattern
As per the latest announcements from NTA, the updated jee main new pattern will consist of 25 mandatory questions per subject
That is:
- 20 Multiple Choice Questions ( MCQs) + 5 numerical ( integer) based questions .
- Unlike the previous exam pattern, these mandatory questions will now carry negative marks for every wrong answer marked.
These changes to the Jee mains new pattern have been introduced in order to make an attempt so that the standard of the jee mains pattern is ensured with a standard uniformity. The latest changes introduced to the jee mains pattern will also ensure that all candidates are to be evaluated according to their ability to perform by solving all kinds of problems and questions put forth in the exam, without any form of advantage or flexibility that was introduced years back keeping in mind of the difficult Covid 19 pandemic situation.
Encouraging comprehensive preparation among students
With the massive decision implemented of a complete removal of options from Section B in Jee mains new pattern ensures that students need to have an overall comprehensive understanding and preparation of all the subjects and they cannot selectively choose to prepare for only a subset of topics. Students will now have to involve themselves in a more thorough comprehensive understanding of the entire syllabus, which in turn will help them achieve mastery over their subject matter. This might also help them to refine their knowledge and skills over their subject.
Criticisms and concerns over the jee main pattern change
From the student’s point of view, this modification has raised lots of criticisms from students all over the country as many candidates believe this modification has just escalated the difficulty level of this new JEE mains pattern and will immediately decrease the possibility of scoring points by the candidates. This decision however was issued too late as we are well over into the end of the year and with this decision change students need to prepare with a newfound technique, probably by changing their study strategy in great depth. With the newfound risk of negative markings at every wrong answer students now have to be more cautious about answering the questions accurately without making any mistakes. Even though it all seems to be very simple, it is easier said than done. Students now are to solve all the numerical based questions simultaneously alongside practicing their time management skills , also avoiding the risk of marking any of the questions incorrectly . If students are to take so many precautions whilst attempting the questions we are sure that students will now become more stressed and anxious about their attempts. With so much at stake, we need to inculcate a more open minded approach and attitude towards the preparation levels of the students so that they do not face anymore pressure of failure or even negative mental health challenges that might arise out of taking in so much pressure to perform well with such intense and vigorous negative marking structures.
Potential benefits of these changes to the JEE Mains exam pattern
Even though these changes implemented by NTA are under great criticism by the candidates, the implementation of these changes are also appreciated by many as it can potentially elevate the quality of such a highly prestigious exam and might also improve the percentile level of the candidates, which cumulatively improves their chances of getting admitted into their dream premier engineering institutions of the nation.
Conclusion
With the latest announcements of introducing changes to the nta jee mains 2025 exam pattern students must inculcate a positive mindset towards their approach in their exam preparation as the stakes have been raised. But these changes when looked very closely should not matter much. This is because just like any exam , if prepared well, these changes are very minute and do not serve much of a difference to those who are well prepared and confident in their preparation. These changes, in the long run, might serve fruitful towards enhancing the efficiency and integrity of the Indian education system and improving the possibility of chances for the deserving students to get admitted into their institution of their dreams.