Patna: The online form filling process for IIT JEE Mains examination (I) will commence on September 1 and continue till September 30.

This year the JEE Mains examination, being conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) which took over from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), will be held twice. Those who are applying from September 1 will have to appear in the Mains test to be held from January 6 to 20, the results of which will be declared in the first week of February. Similarly, the JEE Mains (II) will be held from April 6 to 20, online applications for which will be filled from February 8 to March 7.

Results of JEE Mains (II) will be declared in the last week of April. Candidates having best of two exam scores will be considered for JEE Advanced test. The JEE Advanced test will be held in the second week of May. There were mixed reactions from students to the JEE Mains exam being held twice in a year. Anupam Lal, who is preparing for IIT JEE, said: "Students will lose focus. Earlier, when there was only one Mains test, students' entire focus was on cracking the Mains test held in April, but now when there are two examinations in a year, students are confused whether to prepare for the January test or the April one." Echoing him, Kumar Vikrant, another student, said: "As the exam is to be held twice a year, students will rush through trying to complete their syllabi, overlooking many topics for the January test."

Some students, however, welcomed the decision. "There is no compulsion on students to write both exams. A candidate, based on his preparation, can sit for either of the two Main exams," said Swapnil Suman, a student preparing for IIT-JEE. "If a candidate sits for both Mains test, best of two will be considered for the Advanced test."

This year the Mains examination, which is being conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA), will be an online exam. The offline process of the test has been done away with. A candidate can choose any date for the online test, which is from January 6 to 20 for Mains (I), and from April 6 to 20 for Mains (II).

The NTA will slot exam schedules for both the tests.