If you think the 11+ is competitive, think again!!!!!
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 3:11 am
Whilst browsing I came across this gem in Wikipedia. I have pasted some bits below:
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The Joint Entrance Examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology is an annual engineering college exam in India. It is used as the sole admission test by the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). It has a very low admission rate (about 10,000 in 660,000 in 2012), and was thus one of the toughest examinations in the world.
Between 2000 and 2005, an additional screening test was used alongside the main examination, intended to reduce pressure on the main examination by allowing only about 20,000 top candidates to sit the paper, out of more than 450,000 applicants.
In September 2005 directors of all the IITs announced reforms to the examination. The revised test consisted of a single test, replacing the two-test system. In order to be eligible for the main examination, candidates had to secure 60% in the qualifying examination, while candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Disabled (PD) categories must secure a minimum of 55%.
In 2008, the Director of IIT Madras called for revisions to the examination, arguing that the coaching institutes were "enabling many among the less-than-best students to crack the test and keeping girls from qualifying". They expressed concern that the present system did not allow for applicants' 12 years of schooling to have a bearing on admissions into IITs.
Coaching
Preparing for the Joint Entrance Exam normally begins two years before students take the test. 95% of students who pass this exam attend coaching academies, which has created a $3.37 billion industry with annual tuitions of up to $1,700. These academies include tests multiple times a week, up to 200 students per class, and long hours, in addition to regular high school work. There are hundreds of academies across the country and the most famous—in Rajasthan—attracts 125,000 students each year. Coaching programs have become major corporations and are now not only listed on the stock market, and attract millions of dollars of investment from private equity firms. The high-pressure environments, with much competition and high expectations, have been blamed for the significant number of suicides that occur in these academies.
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Now that is TOUGH! (and cruel)
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The Joint Entrance Examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology is an annual engineering college exam in India. It is used as the sole admission test by the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). It has a very low admission rate (about 10,000 in 660,000 in 2012), and was thus one of the toughest examinations in the world.
Between 2000 and 2005, an additional screening test was used alongside the main examination, intended to reduce pressure on the main examination by allowing only about 20,000 top candidates to sit the paper, out of more than 450,000 applicants.
In September 2005 directors of all the IITs announced reforms to the examination. The revised test consisted of a single test, replacing the two-test system. In order to be eligible for the main examination, candidates had to secure 60% in the qualifying examination, while candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Disabled (PD) categories must secure a minimum of 55%.
In 2008, the Director of IIT Madras called for revisions to the examination, arguing that the coaching institutes were "enabling many among the less-than-best students to crack the test and keeping girls from qualifying". They expressed concern that the present system did not allow for applicants' 12 years of schooling to have a bearing on admissions into IITs.
Coaching
Preparing for the Joint Entrance Exam normally begins two years before students take the test. 95% of students who pass this exam attend coaching academies, which has created a $3.37 billion industry with annual tuitions of up to $1,700. These academies include tests multiple times a week, up to 200 students per class, and long hours, in addition to regular high school work. There are hundreds of academies across the country and the most famous—in Rajasthan—attracts 125,000 students each year. Coaching programs have become major corporations and are now not only listed on the stock market, and attract millions of dollars of investment from private equity firms. The high-pressure environments, with much competition and high expectations, have been blamed for the significant number of suicides that occur in these academies.
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Now that is TOUGH! (and cruel)