New Delhi: Around 10,000 aspirants have signed an online petition seeking a third attempt in the JEE Advanced examination.
The top-scoring 2.5 lakh candidates in JEE-Main are eligible to appear for JEE-Advanced. Students are allowed to appear for JEE-Main six times in three consecutive years, after they pass out of school.
A representative of the student group met JEE Advanced Director Prof. Pramit K. Chowdhury in Delhi to present the petition. Several IIT Directors and senior political leaders have given a positive response, the students say. They have raised their demand to the Ministry of Education and the Joint Admission Board (JAB) members as well.
“Our demand is about giving a fair opportunity to underprivileged students, those with limited access to coaching/guidance, and aspirants who face serious health or personal emergencies around the exam period,” said Raj, a 19-year-old student from Bengaluru. “Many students who crack JEE after Class 12 have had years of structured coaching and mentorship, while others only get adequate exposure much later.”
The students say the issue of a third attempt has been raised by droppers every year.
“But this year the movement has reached multiple top authorities and gained unprecedented visibility,” Raj added.
Also Read: Is free coaching the key to making entrance exams fairer?
‘Only in exceptional circumstances’
IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal said allowing a third attempt may cause several problems.
“One year after Class 12 is sufficient time to prepare for JEE Advanced, and data from JEE Mains shows that very few students do well in the examination on their third attempt. If a third attempt is allowed, it would require significant additional resources and time from a large number of students, while the number of students who eventually clear the examination may be very small,” Agrawal said. “The concern is that a lot of students could end up investing another year and considerable resources without a commensurate outcome.”
Agrawal says a third attempt can only be permitted for those with exceptional circumstances.
“There may be exceptional circumstances where some relaxation could be considered. For instance, if a student has faced a serious health issue or there are other genuine reasons why they could not make use of their two attempts in the first two years, those cases could be discussed separately,” he said. “The issue needs to be looked at from all perspectives.”
He also added that those who have signed the petition are ones who couldn’t clear it in two attempts.
“Students who have not cleared the examination after two attempts are likely to support such a demand. The larger question is what the outcome would be. Even if a third attempt were conducted, perhaps fewer than 100 of these 10,000 students may ultimately qualify,” he said. “That is the challenge, and at some point, a decision has to be taken keeping all these factors in mind.”
The demand for a third attempt isn’t new. It came amid the controversy over JEE Advanced attempts last year as well. In November 2024, the JAB announced that candidates would be allowed to appear for JEE Advanced three times in three consecutive years, instead of the existing two attempts. However, just 13 days later, the decision was rolled back and the two-attempt rule was restored.
The reversal led to a legal challenge by students who said they had dropped out of engineering colleges after the three-attempt announcement, relying on the assurance that they would be able to appear for JEE Advanced again.
In January 2025, the Supreme Court allowed a limited exception for students who had dropped out during the brief period when the three-attempt rule was in force, allowing them to appear for JEE Advanced 2025. However, the court did not direct JAB to introduce a third attempt as a general rule.
(Edited by Stela Dey)