Aspiring engineers are confused about the new format of the entrance examination they would have to take early next year for admission to IITs and other premier technical institutes in the country.

From 2013, those aspiring to study engineering in a number of Centre- and state-funded engineering institutions like the IITs, NITs, IIITs and ISM, Dhanbad, will not have to take separate joint entrance examinations like their predecessors. Instead, they would have to appear for the two-part Joint Entrance Examination. (See graphic)

Those qualifying in the first stage (JEE-Main) would be able to take the JEE (Advanced) for admission to IITs and ISM, Dhanbad, provided they fulfil all the criteria.

But there is a widespread confusion among the students regarding the kind of questions they would be asked in the exam and how they would be evaluated.

Mayank Raj, an aspiring techie preparing for the entrance examination at a coaching institute in Patna, said: “We are still in the dark about the JEE (Advanced) test that students would be required to take for admission to the IITs. So, we are preparing for the JEE (Main), which, according to our teachers, would have concept-based questions.”

Another engineering aspirant, Avinash Mohan said confusion about the format of the JEE (Advanced) would hamper the preparations of the students. “We are the first batch taking this test. If we don’t know what the format of the question paper would be, how can we prepare for it?” he said.

JEE (Advanced) is the second hurdle though. Before qualifying for it, students would have to conquer the JEE (Main) — the competition for which would not be a cakewalk, claim experts.

Sources said the offline examination, tentatively scheduled on April 7, 2013, would have concept-based questions, each of which would have four optional answers.

Anand Kumar, the founder of Patna-based coaching institute Super 30 that has helped thousands of students crack the tough entrance tests, has a few words of wisdom for the aspirants this year.

“There would be objective-type questions testing the concepts of the subjects. So, students who have a sound knowledge of their Class XII syllabus will have a fair chance of cracking the test.”

The JEE (Main) would have two papers. Those who want to study BE or BTech would have to take paper 1; those who aspire to enter a B Arch or B Planning course would have to take paper 2. Both the tests would be three-hour-long.

There is also confusion among teachers and students about how their ranks would be calculated after they take the JEE (Advanced). Neeraj Jain, a director of Patna-based coaching institute, said: “We read in newspapers that Class XII board examination marks would be considered for the JEE (Advanced). But there is no official notification. The picture is still unclear.”

According to the JEE (Main) website, a student who qualifies JEE (Advanced) would be admitted to the IITs or ISM, Dhanbad, only if he/she is among the top 20 percentile in her board.

Confusion apart, teachers have welcomed the single test replacing the plethora that students had to take earlier. NIT, Patna, director Asok De said: “The new format will help students to concentrate on only one examination.”