Main '24 results draw students' ire

Sowmya Raju | NT

Bengaluru: The National Testing Agency (NTA) released the results for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2024 session one on Tuesday, February 13, through the official website.

This announcement also stirred controversy, with critics accusing the National Testing Agency (NTA) of mismanagement and suggesting disparities in the results.

It is alleged that there are huge differences in marks (about 80-90 marks) between sessions for the same percentile.

Pradeep Rawat, the founder and president of the All India Students Association posted on his X handle @ThePradeepRawat, “Many JEEMains2024 aspirants have questioned the results because of gaps in marks & percentiles, Hence it's the moral duty of @NTA_Exams to have a logical relook so that many dreams don't get crushed because of some technical issues”.

Candidates and other education experts allege that of the 11.7 lakh students over 3 lakh students appeared in 27 January shift 1 and rest in the other 9 shifts.

Yash Gupta, a student who appeared on January 27 shift 1 said, “I have scored 169 marks and I am only getting 94.5 percentile. It's a blunder by NTA as other shift students are getting 98 to 99 percentile in this score range. I am a dropper and it's very heartbreaking as the whole hard work of 3 years is now meaningless.”

K.Navaneeth, another candidate who spent his last 3 years praying for JEE Mains, “Just because of this small discrepancy by the NTA, 3 years of my life is gone. Students who scored 150 on my shift are getting 92 to 93 percentile whereas students from a different shift by the same marks are getting 99 percentile.”

During the first session on January 27, several students expressed their apprehensions. They noted that despite achieving similar scores to their peers in other sessions, their percentiles were lower.

One student, who secured a score exceeding 110 but found themselves in the lessthan-82 percentile range, emphasized, "In a competitive examination like this, where even a 0.001% difference can significantly affect cutoffs and placements, the existence of careless discrepancies by the NTA only adds to the challenges faced by students like myself."

Further concerns about potential data manipulation by the NTA, aspirants highlight changes in data presentation compared to previous years, where the number of candidates and their corresponding shifts were explicitly shown.

This year's consolidated data makes it difficult to assess potential biases or imbalances between sessions. Expressing their dismay, the students highlighted a significant disparity of nearly 80 marks between shifts.

In one instance, a student from Shift 1 secured a 99 percentile with 233 marks, while another student from a different shift achieved the same percentile with only 151 marks, contributing to the aspirant's sense of frustration and disappointment.

Pradeep Rawat said, “Individuals who may not have met their expected scores in the first session still have a chance at the second session. There is no need for disappointment; instead, prepare for the second session with confidence. NTA should consider transitioning from the percentilebased system to a more transparent approach of directly assessing and considering the marks obtained by candidates for merit determination.”

As of now, the NTA has not issued any official response to the allegations or calls for action.

However, the mounting pressure from students, and education experts is likely to compel them to address the situation soon.

JEE Main results: Understanding percentile scores ,calculation method

Percentile scores play a crucial role in evaluating the relative performance of candidates in the JEE Main examination.

These scores are derived by transforming the raw marks into a scale that ranges from 0 to 100 for each session of examinees.

For instance, the top scorer (highest raw score) in each session attains the coveted 100th percentile.

The marks obtained by candidates across the entire spectrum, from the highest to the lowest scores, are then converted into appropriate percentiles.

To calculate the JEE Main 2024 percentile, the following formula is used Percentile=(Number of candidates with a raw score equal to or less than the candidate Total number of candidates in that session)×100 Percentile=(Total number of candidates in that session Number of candidates with a raw score equal to or less than the candidate )×100 This formula determines the percentage of candidates who achieved a raw score equal to or lower than the candidate in consideration, relative to the total number of candidates in the same session.