IIT-JEE 2012 had Incorrect Questions worth 14 Marks

Students appearing for IIT-JEE, the country's top entrance exam, may not have expected this - wrong questions! Questions worth 14 marks were found to be having errors in IIT-JEE 2012. The IITs admitted that the IIT-JEE 2012 paper had questions worth 14 marks wrong.

The blooper was spotted during the evaluation of the optical response sheets (ORS).

IIT-JEE 2012 was conducted on 8th April 2012 and the answer-keys to the question papers were declared earlier this month after the evaluation of all optical response sheets (ORS).

(Also read: IITs reveal IIT-JEE 2012 cut-offs)


Scrutiny of answer-sheets has revealed that four questions were wrongly set. Of the four questions, all candidates were awarded zero marks for two questions and there was no negative marking for the remaining two.

(Also read: 8 Last-Minute Preparation Tips for IIT-JEE 2012)

The students, however, will not be penalised for the error. Of the 4 wrong questions, there will be zero marks for two & no negative marking for the remaining two. Students said they were not able to answer other questions properly because of the wrong set.


The "wrong" questions were very confusing for students. In question no. 6 of Physics, there were two correct answers of the total four given. And, in question no 12 of the Physics paper I and question no 56 of Mathematics in paper II, all the four choices given were correct due to ambiguity in the question.


"In all there are 11 such questions in paper I and II," said a senior IIT professor, who had analysed the question paper after IIT-JEE board made it public with answer keys.


A Delhi student, who appeared for IIT-JEE 2012 exam, said: "I had spent a lot of time analyzing which was the correct answer as all of them appeared to be correct. In the end, I marked one of the correct answers". For many like him, it meant wastage of lot of time after IIT admitted of the errors.


The incorrect answers also highlight the random change in IIT evaluation policy. In JEE exam of 2011, 12 free marks were awarded for wrong questions but, this year, no free marks were given.


But, a senior IIT professor associated with IIT-JEE examination system said the policy cannot be uniform as it depends on evaluation of errors in question paper every year. "Situation differs every year. Errors take place as questions papers cannot be peer reviewed to maintain secrecy," he explained.


To make the system fair, many parents have been demanding that answer keys to IIT-JEE questions should be announced before evaluation is done so that they can give their feedback.


Some state governments announce answer keys immediately after the examination. The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board announced provisional answer keys to all question papers immediately after the examination in May 1. The UP Technical Education Board also follows a similar practice.


"It is difficult to understand why IITs cannot declare the answer keys immediately," said Akshit Khanna, whose son appeared for IIT-JEE 2012 exam.

The IIT-JEE 2012 results are expected to be out on 18th May 2012.

Source: Chetan Chauhan, hindustantimes.com

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