New Delhi: Out of approximately 2.5 lakh eligible candidates, only 1,60,864 have applied for JEE Advanced 2020, as per official data released by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.
The number is the lowest in last three years. If we talk about 2019, approximately 1.73 lakh and in 2018, 1.65 lakh students had applied for the JEE Advanced Examination.
However, in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the number was expected to be lower this year.
Earlier for JEE Main in the first week of September, over one lakh candidates skipped the prestigious examination.
The number of applicants for JEE Advanced has been declining over the years. Those who are eligible to appear for Advanced can now directly seek admission to any other college as well. Students and experts claim that the rising popularity of metro-based NITs is also one of the reasons.
This year, IIT-Delhi is holding the JEE Advanced 2020 on September 27. The examination will be conducted in 222 cities across the country. Also, the examination centres have been increased from 600 to 1150, according to the IIT.