The number of aspirants is up by 16,000 from the previous year when 4.86 lakh Class XII students took the exam. In 2010, the count of test takers was 4.56 lakh. Officers in all JEE offices, spread across the seven old IITs, said applications were still being scrutinized and the final tally of test takers is projected to be anywhere between 4.75 lakh and 5.02 lakh.
Yet, JEE 2012 has seen the smallest increase in applications in any two corresponding years. "We feel the number of aspirants applying to sit for the JEE is stabilizing. There was a sudden spurt in the applications when the eight new IITs started," said R V Shevgaonkar, IIT-Delhi director.
JEE 2012 will be held on April 8 and this will probably also be the last of the JEE as we know it.
The Bombay zone comprising Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Goa, Gujarat and north of Karnataka has topped the chart in the recent past with the largest pool of applications. But this year, Kanpur took pole position, followed by the Madras zone.
"Unlike the old days when most students applied from the metro-centric areas and from the upper middle class, we are now seeing a trend where, thanks to the proliferation of secondary schooling, there is a big upsurge in demand for quality education from students of middle or tier two cities," said Sanjay Dhande, IIT-Kanpur director. Clearly, he added, the rise in applications from the middle-India belt points to the demographic changes where a large young population resides.
Andhra Pradesh, that falls in the Madras zone, is home to a large number of coaching academies and has contributed to the increase in the number of JEE applications, said experts.
Officials at JEE offices said there has been a slight rise in the number of female candidates this year; since last year, there is no application fee for girls. "Otherwise, there isn't any big change in the number of reserved category students. Also, there will be no change in this year's paper pattern," added a JEE chairman.
For next year, the JEE will go by in the recommendations of a committee, headed by secretary of science and technology department T Ramaswamy, which emphasises the fact that Class XII scores must be factored in the overall JEE scores.
But whichever way the Ramaswamy report goes, IIT faculty believe that there is another crucial factor that is likely to alter the JEE: the composition of the candidates who sit for it. "With the implementation of the core science curriculum for all schools across the country, we are likely to see a large share of state board students from every corner of India to take the JEE.
Currently, the test is dominated by CBSE students," said an IIT director.
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