With the declaration of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced and NEET 2018 results recently, students have turned their focus towards the selection process. While many did not get through the examination, they should not lose hope as the exams might be conducted again this year. Yes, you read that right. The National Testing Agency (NTA) might conduct the JEE/NEET 2018 exams again this year in the month of December. The nod for setting up this agency was given by the Union Cabinet and the budget for the same was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last year.

It was in the month of December 2017 when the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur was given the responsibility of setting up an agency and begin the hiring of subject experts. This agency which came to be known as the National Testing Agency as a part of Centre’s one-point agency for conducting all entrance examinations. It was then that the agency had said that the first tests would be conducted from December 2018, for the academic year of 2019.

The role of NTA, according to information on its official website is- ‘To…conduct NEET and JEE next year, the entrance exams that were so far conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). After the formation of NTA, JEE will be conducted twice a year.’

“IIT Kanpur has already been assigned the task of setting up the agency and they have started with forming a team of subject experts in various fields and technical experts to design the question papers. The agency will be able to conduct the first examination in December next year,” a senior official had said in 2017. Sources in the ministry were quoted as saying that the agency will have people from the private sector as well including experts in particular subjects and IT experts to make sure that the tests are conducted online, in a hassle-free manner.

A question bank will be created by subject experts and the same will be used in the exams. The official further said that creating a question bank, ideating and managing the online system are the key tasks that we will be carried out by the NTA.