The Ministry of HRD department has recently formed a foundation of National Testing Agency (NTA). The agency will act as an autonomous organization which will conduct entrance exams like JEE  or NEET that are currently conducted by CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education). This formation will provide better chances and opportunities to the candidates. 

The official notification for NTA NEET 2019 and JEE NTA 2019 have been released now. – Click Here

Official Website of NTA: http://nta.ac.in 

As per the updates, NTA will only organise the competitive exams namely JEE, NEET, UGC NET, CMAT and GPAT. The High-Level Committee said that the agency can only declare the Percentile Score and on the basis of which institutions may or may not take the admission test.

JEE exam will be held in Jan & April and NEET will be conducted in Feb & May.
Practice module will be made available at https://t.co/cbXk3oYpaZ from 1st August’2018. From august end, students can practice, if needed in the nearby engg. colleges, CBSE/KV schools, etc. #NTA

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) July 7, 2018

"The NTA will initially conduct those entrance exams which are held by the CBSE. The exams will be conducted online at least twice a year, thereby giving an adequate opportunity to the candidates to bring out their best," said, Mr. Kushwaha told Lok Sabha.

Introduction to NTA

The is to bring all testing under the ambit of one central agency and standardization of all entrance examinations. This will give CBSE the time and resources to focus on improving the quality of education. NTA would ensure that the test “will be online, duly scrutinized and standardized”.

#NTA will conduct computer based test. It will make exams safe, leak proof, scientific & transparent
The syllabus, nature of questions, choice of language & exam fee will not change .It will remain as it is.#Transformingeducation #48MonthsOfTransformingIndia

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) July 7, 2018

The main feature is that student will not lose one year because there will be 2 examinations before admission. He/She can appear in either of the two or both. The best score will be taken into account for the result. #NTA#Transformingeducation

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) July 7, 2018

Why National Testing Agency - NTA?

With the introduction of NTA, the two major national level entrance exams after twelfth- JEE Main (Joint Entrance Exam) and NEET (National Eligibility Entrance Test), might be conducted twice a year. This would benefit aspirants in bringing out their best performance. NEET is an entrance examination for admission into MBBS and BDS courses after class 12^th while JEE Main is conducted for admission to B.E./B.Tech & B.Arch courses.

NTA is likely to conduct all the entrance exams in online mode and twice a year. The agency will ensure that the entrance exams have a standardized difficulty level and would cater about 40 lakh students who appear in various entrance exams. Check other exams

Currently, the exam is held in both online and offline modes, giving students the chance to pick between the two as per their comfort. Now that the exam is expected to be conducted only in online mode, candidates need to start taking mock tests from early stages to get familiar with exam process. Another factor, i.e. the exam being conducted twice a year has its pros and cons. On one hand, a candidate now gets to rely on two attempts to score well.

The greatest confusion, however, is whether a student can or can’t appear for the exam twice in the same year. In case they can appear twice, then which of the two scorecards will be considered for admission- the better one or the latter one. Also, there will be concern over normalizing scores of candidates who appear in more than one session.

NTA 2019 Official Notification

The Press Information Bureau (PIB), GOI released an official notification on March 12, 2018 informing about NTA. 

NTA 2019 – JEE and NEET Exam Notification

As per the official press release by Timesgroup, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will take over most of the exams previously held by CBSE. It will conduct NTA NEET 2019 Exam, JEE NTA 2019, NET and CTET 2019 Exam. CBSE and AICTE will be freed by NTA from conducting Entrance Examinations from 2019. The news is as follows:

NTA 2019 Exam List

With the introduction of NTA to replace the Entrance Exam burden from AICTE, CBSE and other bodies. Listed below are NTA 2019 Exams that will be conducted twice in an year.

How will it affect students?

This is sure to relieve CBSE of multiple responsibilities, such as having to manage competitive exams along with 10th and 12th board exams each year. Also, a centralized agency will bring in a level of reliability in the conduct of examination, with greater accuracy and transparency. Also, it is rational to conduct exams in the online mode as that makes logistics easier and there is no cost of printing. It is also in accordance with the Digital India plan of the government.

A central organization will also ensure the standardized level of difficulty of the exam across various slots, dates and languages. When the air clears up, we’ll also get to know whether the students will be allowed to appear for the exam, twice in the same year. This will make it easier for the aspirants as this will give them an opportunity to get admission in the same year, without having to wait until the next one to re-appear for the exam.

However, the final word is yet to be out. Let’s wait till it does and then analyze the good and bad in it!

As per reports, even the IITs are not too excited about the proposal. Their primary concern is that NTA is still very young and has not had any operational experience as yet. The officials, however, decided not to make any serious comments and just added that all the IITs would meet to consider the proposal. The IITs have been given the time till December 15 to assess and revert.