The Central government is reportedly considering a major change in the admission process for professional courses, under which Class 12 board exam marks may get 50 % weightage along with entrance exams such as NEET and JEE. The proposal is aimed at reducing the pressure of depending on just one high-stakes examination for admissions.
NEET, JEE admissions may include up to 50% weightage for board exam markshttps://t.co/jYppZCF4g4#neet #neetug #jee #jeemains2026 #jeemain #boardexam #cbse #cbseboard
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The proposal is part of the recommendations being discussed by the Ministry of Education’s nine-member committee, which was formed last year. The committee was asked to study issues such as students’ growing dependence on coaching centres, the rise of dummy schools, and the fairness of high-stakes entrance exams. Its final report is expected to be submitted to the government in the coming weeks.
According to sources, the committee has suggested giving equal importance to board exam marks and entrance test scores in preparing the admission merit list. It has also recommended bringing entrance exams closer to the school syllabus so that students can rely more on classroom learning instead of coaching. Other proposals include allowing multiple attempts and gradually introducing adaptive, on-demand computer-based tests.
The proposed reforms come after several concerns over the examination system, including paper leaks and evaluation errors, which have raised questions about the credibility of major exams.
At present, admissions to medical and engineering courses are based mainly on entrance exam scores. Students are only required to secure the minimum qualifying marks in their board exams to become eligible for these entrance tests. If approved, the new system could significantly change the way admissions are conducted in the future.
However, giving weightage to board exams for engineering and medical courses has been a controversial topic, as it is argued that the evaluation systems of different boards are different. Different boards have different difficulty levels, marking schemes, evaluation leniency, grace mark policies, and even question paper styles. Some state boards are known for generous marking to show high pass percentages.
Moreover, different boards award the marks differently; some give marks, some give grades, and therefore, different marking systems are required to be normalised for use in admission to professional courses. This requires complex statistical tools and often leads to complaints of discriminating against some boards.
