Presidency University to end JEE tie-up and hold its own UG entry
Telegraph | 8 January 2026
Presidency University will conduct its undergraduate admissions independently, ending its decade-old arrangement with the state JEE board.
All 16 departments told the admissions committee on Wednesday that they want to either admit students through department-led tests or based on (Plus-II) marks.
Until last year, the JEE board conducted the admission tests and counselling for undergraduate programmes on behalf of Presidency, a system that began in 2015. Before that, Presidency held its own tests, which many academics said was a tested method to identify bright students.
At Wednesday’s meeting, nine departments — chemistry, Bengali, political science, history, economics, life science, astrophysics, statistics, and philosophy — said they want to admit students via tests conducted by the departments themselves.
The other seven — physics, mathematics, English, sociology, geology, performing arts, and Hindi — opted to select students based on Plus-II scores.
Arnab Halder, head of the chemistry department, who attended the meeting, said: “The unanimous opinion across departments was that we want to come out of the JEE board-led admission process. Each department wants to screen students through its own mechanism — admission tests or based on Plus-II marks.”
He said that the chemistry department would admit students based on a combined score of admission test results and Plus-II marks.
“We are still finalising the weightage for the two components, but the department believes that an admission test designed by our own teachers is the best way to identify bright students,” Halder said.
Presidency teachers have expressed concerns over the JEE board-led system, alleging that it diluted the university’s academic standards. The board’s tests were conducted entirely by its own officials, with no involvement of Presidency faculty in setting the questions, teachers alleged.
In August last year, teachers wrote to vice-chancellor Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty: “In initial years, Presidency faculty members were involved in setting question papers, ensuring academic rigour and conceptual accuracy. We had expressed our reservations when the board opted to take over the entire question-setting process.”
The letter added: “While we acknowledged the logic of expanding access and reach across the state, recent developments marked by inefficiencies and opacity force us to reconsider our arrangement with the JEE board.”
Most departments at Jadavpur University admit students through tests conducted by the departments themselves. The three autonomous colleges under the Ramakrishna Mission also hold their own admission tests. Presidency registrar Debajyoti Konar confirmed that most academic departments favour conducting their own admissions. “Their proposal will be placed before the highest body (the governing board) for consideration and an appropriate decision,” he said.
When the university outsourced admissions to the JEE board in 2015, then VC Anuradha Lohia cited Presidency’s inability to arrange enough test centres across the state and country. A Presidency teacher said the situation has improved with a second campus in New Town and a third campus in Kurseong set to open. “Getting test centres for departments that want to hold their own admission tests should not be much of a problem,” the teacher said.