Demystifying JEE Main 2019 normalisation and merit list: Things all candidates should know

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has started the registration process for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2019, in its new avatar, from 1 September . The JEE Main I is scheduled from 6 to 20 January, 2019, for candidates seeking admissions to undergraduate programmes in the NITs (National Institutes of Technology), IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), IIITs (Indian Institute of Information Technology), and other CFTIs (Central Funded Technical Institutes) across the country. Among the commonly-known facts about the exam are that it will be a computer-based test , and will be held twice a year. A new piece of information is that the actual marks scored by students will not be used for ranking purposes. Instead, a new normalisation procedure — using percentile scores — will set the basis for the merit list that will be declared on 30 April, 2019. Some Relevant New Changes in JEE Main 2019 - The age restriction has been removed. However, only students who have passed their Class XII in 2017 or 2018, or are appearing for it in 2019 are eligible to appear for the exam. - The NTA has set up 2,697 test practice centres, where students can prepare for the exam on computers free of charge. Registrations are on for these preparation sessions. - 1.5 lakh common service centres have been set up across the country where the students can choose to get assistance for filling the JEE Main application form, downloading the admit card, checking the result, and more. The services are provided at a nominal fee. [caption id=“attachment_5131221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The JEE Main is scheduled to be held in January 2019. PTI[/caption] 1. Test Slots to be allotted randomly to students  JEE Main 2019 will be held in multiple sessions over a period of two weeks. The slots will be randomly allotted by the NTA to ensure that each session gets equal number of examinees. The details will be mentioned on the NTA website on 5 October, 2018. 2. What is normalisation and why is it being used for JEE Main?  According to the NTA, each student appearing for the exam will get a different set of questions. This means that a student may get a difficult paper or an easy one. So, it is imperative that a certain amount of equivalence will be ensured while calculating the scores. This is where normalisation comes in. Normalisation is the process where the raw scores are converted to percentile scores using a predetermined formula. 3. The actual JEE Main 2019 normalisation process: Since the exam will be held in multiple sessions, percentile scores will be calculated based on number of applicants who have scored equal to or less than a particular candidate as compared to the number of students writing the exam in the session. The formula used will be [caption id=“attachment_5130981” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Image courtesy: jeemain.nic.in[/caption] 4. Session-wise calculation of percentile scores and result declaration: The formula given below will be used to calculate the percentile scores for each subject (Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry) and the total percentile score for each session respectively. To avoid bunching effect and reduce tie-breaking, the percentile scores will be calculated up to 7 decimal places. Result declared will be the percentile scores for the exam. In the image, T1, M1, P1, C1 are raw scores of the candidate. [caption id=“attachment_5130961” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Image courtesy: jeemain.nic.in[/caption] Highest raw score and percentile score? Since the calculation is based session wise, all the candidates with the highest raw scores will have normalised percentile score of 100 for their respective sessions. In case of a tie? When two or more candidates obtain equal percentile scores, then a tie-breaking will be based on the following: - Percentile score in Mathematics. - Percentile score in Physics. - Percentile score in Chemistry. - Date of birth – the older candidate will get the higher rank. If the tie is still unresolved, the same rank will be given to the candidates. 4. Result compilation for both the JEE Main attempts:  The results will be declared on two dates – 31 January (JEE Main I) and 30 April (JEE Main II). These will be the percentile scores of the candidates in each subject and total percentile score as well. 5. JEE Main All India Ranks The rank list for JEE Main will be declared on 30 April, 2019 tentatively, after the compilation of the percentile scores of the exams held in January and April. The highest of the two percentile scores from both the attempts of the candidates will be considered. For candidates who have attempted only one of the exams, the percentile score of that attempt will be considered for the All India rank of JEE Main 2019. What about JEE Main Paper II (for BArch and BPlan)? The exam will be held in just one shift for both attempts and thus there will be no normalisation involved. The rank list will be based on the raw scores of the candidates, and the inter-se merit guidelines also haven’t changed from the previous years. Here also, the highest from the two scores will be considered for candidates who will attempt them both. Have any queries or doubts? Head over to the Q&A section of Careers360 and post them for answers. All the Best!