IIT JEE means Indian Institute of Technology, Joint Entrance Examination. The Indian Institutes of Technology are institutions of national importance established through an Act of Parliament. These Institutes play a leading role in technological manpower development and have research programmes comparable to the best in the world.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) conduct a Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) every year for the admission to its B-Tech and other courses offered at the IIT Mumbai, IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, IIT Chennai, IIT Kharakpur, IIT Guwahati, IIT Roorkee, IT Varanasi and ISM Dhanbad. It is the toughest engineering entrance exam in the world with a success
rate of around 1 in 60. Candidates who successfully pass the IIT-JEE can apply for admission to the BTech (Bachelor of Technology), Dual Degree (Integrated Bachelor of Technology and Masters of Technology) and Integrated MSc (Master of Sciences) courses in the various institutes.


Number of Seats : The number of seats available in total is about 5500, indicating a selectivity of about 1 in 50. The number of students taking this examination has increased substantially each year with the JEE-2006 registering about 300,000 candidates (the number of exam-takers in each of the previous five years was under 200,000).

Age Criteria for appearing in IIT JEE: The age limit for appearing in IIT-JEE is 25 years. For candidates belonging to SC, ST and PD categories, the relaxed age limit is 30
years. Also, starting 2007, a candidate can take the JEE two times at the most. This has been done mainly to reduce stress on students. From 2007 onwards, students who are selected for admission to an IIT cannot attempt the examination again in the future.

Eligibility Criteria for appearing in IIT JEE: The candidates belonging to the general category must secure a minimum of 60% marks in aggregate in the qualifying examination of the XIIth

standard organized by various educational boards of India. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Disabled (PD) categories must secure a minimum of 55% in aggregate in the Qualifying Examination.

Current Examination Format : As per the new format, IIT JEE has two papers of three hours duration each. The two papers each contains Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry sections. The syllabus of the examination is based on topics covered by the CBSE Board Examination (AISSCE) and the ISC Board Examination. The pattern of questions in JEE is deliberately variable so as to minimize the chance of students getting selected by cramming up the probable questions. Currently, the examination has objective type question paper for all the subjects and uses machine readable Optical mark recognition answer sheets.

Today, alumni of IITs occupy key positions in industry and academia in India and abroad. IITians have achieved success in a variety of professions, resulting in the establishment of the widely recognised Brand IIT. The success of the IITs has led to the creation of similar institutes in other fields, such as the National Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT).