Udaipur, February 14, 2025 - A record 12 questions were dropped from the final answer key of JEE-Main 2025 due to errors. This is the highest number in recent history and has raised serious concerns about the National Testing Agency's (NTA) ability to conduct a fair and transparent exam. JEE-Main 2025 had 75 questions instead of 90, but the error rate increased to 1.6%, much higher than the usual 0.6%. Earlier, the highest number of dropped questions was six in 2024 (Session 1) and four in 2024 (Session 2).

NTA’s Lack of Transparency

NTA initially claimed that six questions were dropped in 2023, 2024, and 2025, but the official answer key for 2025 showed 12 dropped questions. TOI’s investigation found errors in past claims as well. NTA officials did not respond to queries about these discrepancies.

Translation and Syllabus Issues

Experts found translation errors in the final answer key. Students who attempted the exam in Hindi and Gujarati had two correct answer choices, while others had only one. Also, out-of-syllabus topics like the Carnot Cycle and Newton’s Law of Cooling appeared in the exam, causing confusion.

Students’ Frustration Over Wasted Time

Students spent 10-15 minutes on incorrectly framed questions, which affected their performance and rankings. An engineering aspirant said, "It's not just about dropping the wrong questions. It's about the time we wasted on them."

NTA's Past Failures and Credibility Issues

NTA has previously faced criticism for mismanaging exams like NEET-UG and UGC-NET due to paper leaks and irregularities. The Radhakrishnan Committee had recommended that JEE-Main questions should have "uncontested answers," but NTA seems to have repeated its mistakes.

Due to these errors and inconsistencies, the credibility of JEE-Main 2025 has been questioned, and students are demanding better exam management in the future.

Source: Media Reports