" ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯ ವೈದಿಕ ಪಾಠಶಾಲ - ಗಯಾ ತೀರ್ಥ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ "

 The single-window test for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) — the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced — observed a rise in pass percentage this year with qualifying cut-offs, too, increasing across categories. As many as 48,248 candidates have qualified for admission to 17,740 seats available in 23 IITs, as per the results that were declared Sunday. A total of 1,80,200 candidates appeared for the entrance test, held on May 26. The pass percentage this year was 26.77 per cent. Last year, it had fallen to 24.26 percent from 26.17 percent in 2022.

Lahoti, originally from Madhya Pradesh, prepared for the entrance examination at the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan. “A positive pressure, combined with healthy competition is necessary to clear an exam like JEE Advanced,” said Lahoti, who lived alone in Kota, where his mother visited him every two months. Dwija, meanwhile, prepared from her home. “Shifting to any other place means you will take a while to adjust to the new set-up. At home, you can just focus on studies. I joined a nearby coaching institute so that I can stay comfortably at home,” she said. Like many others in the all-India merit list of the JEE Advanced, Ved and Dwija, too, wish to take admission to the Computer Science Engineering branch at IIT Bombay. Most toppers are looking to join IIT Bombay. The IIT Madras zone is the highest contributor to qualified candidates — 145 of its 11,180 candidates feature in the top 500. Four out of the top 10 are also from this zone.

The Madras zone — which comprises Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry — is also known as the IIT Hyderabad zone and was the biggest contributor of qualifying candidates in JEE Advanced 2023 as well. Last year, there were 10,432 qualifying candidates from this zone, with 174 candidates featuring in the top 500 and six out of top 10 candidates.

The distribution of qualifying candidates among seven zones this year shows that as many as 10,255 are from IIT Delhi and 9,480 are from the IIT Bombay zones. From the IIT Roorkee zone, 5,136 students have qualified, followed by 4,928 from IIT Kanpur, 4,811 from IIT Bhubaneshwar and 2,458 from IIT Guwahati zone.Out of 48,248 candidates who cleared JEE Advanced this year, 7,964 are girls. The number of foreign candidates clearing the exam has dropped to seven this year from last year’s 13 candidates. There are 179 candidates with OCI/PIO status. According to information shared by IIT Madras — the organising IIT for JEE Advanced this year — the Joint Seat Allotment Authority counselling process will have a prepayment provision. “Candidates can pay their fees before “mock round” and seat allotment starts,” it said in a statement.