The exam dates of JEE Main 2018 have been released and CBSE, the conducting body of JEE Main, has increased the number of exam centers in India and abroad. For the ease of students, 258 exam centers have been added including 248 exam centers in India and 10 exam centers abroad i.e. Colombo, Kathmandu, Singapore, Bahrain, Dubai, Muscat, Riyadh, Sharjah and Qatar.
The complete date sheet of JEE Main, India’s largest engineering entrance exam and gateway to IITs & NITs, has also been released with the details of application dates, admit card download and exam centers. The rest of the bulletin pointed out other essential details that highlighted the choice of exam centers and mode of paper.
JEE Main Exam Centers
JEE Main will be held in total of 258 exam centers as there has been an inclusion of 145 new cities and towns in India to expand the reach of exam in 2018. In 2017, it was 104 cities in India and 9 cities in foreign countries. Qatar remains the only addition to exam centers abroad.
The number of examinations centers have increased in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, Assam, Bihar, Punjab and Rajasthan.
There will be around 21 exam centers in the central zone. In the north zone, it will be conducted in 50 centers. There will be 85 and 52 centers in the South zone and West Zone, respectively. Lastly, the East zone will comprise 33 exam centers. JEE Main 2018 will also be conducted in the seven Union Territories of India. In case of foreign exam centers, they will be at Bahrain, Colombo, Dubai, Kathmandu, Muscat, Riyadh, Sharjah, Singapore, Dhaka and Qatar.
Now every student has an option to choose between the offline or online mode to write Paper 1 at the time of application form submission, however this should be clearly specified. Students also have a choice to select exam centers nearest to their residence for convenience.
Precisely, one can exercise a choice selection of 4 exam centers for offline mode and only one exam center for online mode. However, maximum caution is required while selecting this detail before final submission. Further changes are not usually allowed once the details are printed on the admit card. The entire list of exam centers can be checked on the official website.
Since the time of release of application form, it has been cautioned to fill out the form as soon as possible as exam center will be allotted to candidates on first come first serve basis. However, in case where candidates haven’t made any personal choice or selection, they will be allotted the exam centers on a random basis.
Now one of the main advantages of increase in exam centers is the easy accessibility of JEE Main 2018 to more students as it avoids long distance travelling within the state itself. When the offline mode of JEE Main 2017 was held at select centers, it created quite a concern for people traveling from rural areas to the cities. As a result, students had to travel two to three days prior to reach their center for offline mode exam.
For 2018, 14 new cities have been included as exam centers in Karnataka. This is quite an increase from just 3 exam centers for JEE Main 2017 and allows more students to write this exam.
Candidates can apply for the exam till January 1st. The admit cards are expected to be available for download in 2nd week of March. All the details and guidelines are available on the official website.
The offline mode of Paper 1 and Paper 2 will be held on April 8th, whereas the online mode of Paper 1 will be on April 15th and 16th. For candidates opting for the online mode for Paper 1 in foreign countries, it will be held only on April 15th. However, Paper 1 will be held in both the modes in select foreign cities of Bahrain, Dubai, Muscat, Riyadh, Qatar and Sharjah.