Engineering entrance to be conducted twice a year

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From next year onwards, the Kerala engineering entrance exam (KEAM) will also be conducted twice a year on the pattern of the JEE exam conducted for engineering admissions in IITs and NITs. Applicants can write either one or both exams. Students who are unable to appear for the exam after applying for the first can appear for the second exam. Applicants can also write to improve their scores.

The highest score or the average of the scores from the two exams will be used to determine the rank list. Applicants can pick which one to consider. Aside from JEE, the Undergraduate National Entrance Examination and PG NEET are also held twice a year. Conducting the exam twice a year will help reduce the students' mental stress.

The entrance exam will be held early next year to complete the counselling in June and start the class. Proceedings will begin in September. Applications will be accepted in January. The exam will be conducted online in April and May. The class will start in mid-June.

The government estimates that more students will take admissions in Kerala as the admission process in the state will be completed earlier than other entrance exams. There will be more centres next year for the online exam using C-DIT's software. Those who do not get a score of at least 10 will not be included in the engineering rank list. This does not apply to Scheduled Tribes.