Is Offline JEE Main Returning? Panel Flags Serious NTA Issues

After multiple failures by NTA while conducting the exams in 2024, a standing parliamentary committee has suggested a push for rolling back the computer-based tests to traditional pen-and-paper-based tests. Read the complete story below.

Is Offline JEE Main Returning? Panel Flags Serious NTA Issues

According to reports, a standing parliamentary committee has highlighted that in 2024, at least five out of the 14 competitive exams held by the NTA faced major problems. Exams like CSIR NET, UGC NET, and NEET UG were postponed. Also, NEET UG had controversies like paper leaks, and CUET (UG/PG) saw the postponement of the results. Apart from that, the panel also highlights failures of NTA in JEE Main exam in 2025, where at least 12 questions had to be withdrawn from the final answer keys due to errors.

Will JEE Main go offline?

As of now, taking the exams offline is just a recommendation by the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports. They have recommended the exams to be held following the models of CBSE and UPSC exams that have remained leak-proof for several years.

Between the computer-based test mode and the pen-and-paper-based mode, the panel supported pen-and-paper-based tests. It recommended NTA to study the pattern followed by CBSE and UPSC and try to implement them in its exams.

Further, the panel recommends CBT exams to be hosted only in government or government-controlled centres.

However, the panel has urged NTA to get their act together, so that such instances do ot occur in the upcoming sessions of the exams. This affects the students' trust in NTA and the system.

Additionally, the panel also pointed out that NTA was allotted an estimated INR 3,512.98 crore and spent Rs 3,064.77 crore on conducting exams over the last six years. This leads to INR 448 crore in their reserve.

NTA will hold JEE Main 2026 session 1 exam between January 21 to 30, and the session 2 will be held from April 2 to 9. The session 1 registration is over ,and applications for session 2 will commence in the last week of January 2026.

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