The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released a data-driven analysis of the JEE Main session 2 examination on its official X handle, detailing the relationship between percentile scores and raw marks. According to the data, the marks required to achieve the 99th percentile varied significantly across shifts, ranging from 165 in the most challenging shift to 196 in the easiest shift, resulting in a gap of 31 marks out of a total of 300.
Variation in Percentile Scores
At the 98th percentile, the variation in marks was 27, while at the 97th percentile, it stood at 26. The agency further noted that only two shifts recorded a perfect score of 300. In another shift, a score of 285 was sufficient to secure the 100th percentile, as it was the highest score achieved in that particular session.
Multi-Shift Exams and Difficulty Levels
The NTA emphasized that such variations are not unusual in large-scale examinations conducted across multiple days and shifts. Despite several layers of moderation and calibration, it is impossible to ensure that question papers are perfectly identical in difficulty. The percentile score reflects a candidate's performance relative to others in the same shift, indicating the percentage of candidates outperformed within that session. This ensures that each shift is assessed independently.
Normalization Process for Merit List
The agency clarified that raw marks alone cannot be used to prepare a common merit list, as this would disadvantage candidates appearing in tougher shifts and benefit those in easier ones. To address this, the NTA follows a normalization process in which percentile scores are calculated for each shift and then combined to generate the final ranking. Candidates with similar percentiles across different shifts are treated equally, irrespective of differences in raw scores.
This analysis provides crucial insights for students and educators, highlighting the importance of understanding percentile-based evaluation in multi-shift examinations.
