Becoming an IITan is a dream of many ambitious students. IITs are the best technological institutes in the country. Appearing for JEE Main (Joint Entrance Test) is mandatory. The JEE is a national-level competitive exam for the higher secondary students in science stream.
Through the JEE Main results, IITs select the best talent from across the country. Aspiring students need to score well in this entrance exam in order to get on the merit list. Yet, there are some technical aspects regarding the evaluation of candidates that you need to understand.
What is Normalisation of Marks?
The examination authority conducts tests on multiple dates, with two sessions per day. The candidates appear for their tests on one of the days, answering a defined set of questions. Yet, the similarity in the difficulty level of these questions is doubtable. Eventually, the difficulty level of the questions affects the overall score of the candidates.
The candidates who get easy questions may score more, and the candidates answering difficult questions may have a disadvantage. This difference in the difficulty level of questions and JEE Main sessions needs proper consideration to prepare a merit list. The candidates appear from all over India, and the merit list must be unbiased.
It is crucial to overcome the difference due to the difficulty level of questions. So, the authority follows a systematic process to normalise the JEE Main results.
About the Authority Normalising JEE Main Results:
National Testing Agency (NTA) is the authority that conducts the tests and follows a procedure to normalise marks for JEE Main results. The significant intention behind normalisation is to compare candidates’ scores based on multiple sessions and questions.
The normalisation of scores in JEE Main is a common practice adopted by various examination authorities to bring the candidates on a similar platform for an unbiased evaluation. Ultimately, NTA ensures that candidates will never be disadvantaged or even benefitted, due to the difference in the difficulty level of the questions in JEE Main.
Normalisation Procedure Based on Percentile Score:
The normalisation process for JEE Main results begins with determining the percentile score for the candidates. The toppers in each session will get the same percentile of 100. Now, NTA determines the percentile score of all the students. The authority considers the highest and the lowest score obtained.
Then, the NTA prepares the merit list based on the percentile scores of the candidates. Thus, instead of the raw marks obtained in JEE Mains 2021, the normalised score based on the percentile would derive the national level’s merit list.
The percentile score indicates the percentage of students scoring equal to or below the percentile in that examination. So, the percentile score is not the average or aggregate of the marks obtained by a candidate. The NTA considers the highest raw score as 100. Again, the lowest percentile depends upon the number of candidates appearing in the exam.
In short, the normalised score in the JEE Main results indicates a particular candidate’s performance, compared to the score of the other candidates appearing in the test.
The Accuracy of the Percentile Score:
NTA determines the percentile score to seven decimal digits. This level of accuracy helps in avoiding ties. Yet, there may be instances when two or more candidates score equal percentile. The NTA analyses subject-wise performance and age of the candidates, giving preference to older candidates.
Finally, the authority compiles the percentile scores in all the sessions to prepare the merit list. The final merit list for JEE Main displays the raw score and NTA score secured by the candidates, ranking them accordingly.
