JEE Main 2019: NTA Launches Applications for Mock Tests

In a recent Lok Sabha Session, the Union Minister of State for HRD Mr.Satyapal Singh reiterated in a statement that the National Testing Agency (NTA) has launched a mobile application for Android phones. The application will enable JEE Main 2019 candidates to register and schedule practice sessions at the TPCs as well as download and practice mock tests on their computers or smartphones. The said application can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. JEE Main 2019 April Session is very important for most of the candidates and this application will surely be helpful.

The app was released by NTA on August 31, 2018. It has already been downloaded more than 1 lakh times. At a download size of 6.8 MB, the app promises not to take up a lot of your phone memory space. It will be of immense help in terms of registering at the nearest JEE Main TPC and scheduling mock test sessions there as well as accessing the mock tests hosted by the NTA official website and solving them comfortably on your smartphone. However, as per user reviews, the app has some major technical glitches that need to be taken care of by the developers for complete ease of usage.

NTA, with its newly acquired mantle of conducting the major competitive entrances for higher education in India, is determined to make the entire process smooth, glitch-free and convenient for test-takers. With several new initiatives like converting the paper-based JEE Main into a completely computer-based one to conducting the examination twice in one admission season etc., candidates did find themselves on shaky grounds prior to the first phase of testing in January this year.

NTA must be given credit for going an extra mile to give the candidates the required technological exposure in terms of simulated computer-based mock tests at Test Practice Centers throughout the country. As per records, the agency had deployed 2,72,348 computers at 3,406 TPCs across 622 districts, particularly rural ones to facilitate free-of-cost acclimatization process of candidates with the computerized-based mode of testing.

However, one drawback of the TPCs is that they cannot accommodate the humungous number of candidates that register for JEE Main. Moreover, the network of TPCs has been placed more in the rural areas of the country to familiarize the underprivileged candidates from such areas. As such, for candidates who have no or limited access to the TPC but have access to a personal computer, laptop or smartphone can make use of their devices to register for the mock tests hosted at the NTA website. They can attempt them either online or download the tests and take them offline.

Majority of candidates that appear in various competitive examinations swear by the effectiveness of attempting mock tests in order to get the much-required feel and practice of solving a test paper in a timed and simulated exam-hall like scenario. The experience can undoubtedly give the candidates a boost in confidence to handle the real examination. A huge percentage of the Indian student population is not digitally aware or are comfortable with attempting an online examination thus NTA initiated the setting up of the TPCs in the first place and then released the mobile application as a support to the network. Making the mock tests available on the website was another step forward so that no student would be left behind in getting acquainted with the CBT mode or lack in practice of mock tests.  

JEE Main candidates across the country can now download and register online via the NTA Students App or directly through the NTA Website for practicing at the TPCs. The candidates are not charged a paisa for attempting a mock test at the TPC. All the services provided by NTA via the mobile application or its website are totally free of cost for registered candidates. NTA claims that so far, more than one lakh candidates have benefitted through the TPCs while more than one crore candidates have used the Web and App of the organization. 

The second phase of JEE Main is scheduled for April 2019 and the registrations are currently open for the same. The application deadline for JEE Main April session is March 7. NTA is allowing candidates who have already appeared for JEE Main in the first phase to appear in the second phase of testing as well. Only the best of the two JEE Main scores will be considered for a candidate who appears in both the phases of testing. Candidates planning to appear in the test may check the detailed information bulletin for JEE Main-April 2019 available official website.