NTA to only conduct entrance tests as part of exam reforms: Dharmendra Pradhan

The National Testing Agency will, from 2025, conduct only entrance exams for higher education institutions and not recruitment exams, a move aimed at improving its functioning –– the agency has been roiled by controversies, mostly around paper leaks –– and in keeping with the recommendations of a high-level committee set up in June 2024. He added that the ministries of education and health are discussing whether the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate, for admission to medical colleges, be conducted in online or offline mode. Established in 2017, NTA conducts major entrance examinations such as the Joint Entrance Examination Main for engineering; the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate for medicine; and the Common University Entrance Test for general Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes in central universities. It also conducts recruitment exams for several government agencies including National Highway Authority of India, Delhi High Court, Employment Provident Fund Organisation and for several posts in central government universities.