Joint Entrance Examination for Polytechnics West Bengal (JEXPO)

JEXPO 2020 is a pen-paper-based entrance exam that will be conducted for admission to various diploma courses offered by polytechnic institutes in the state of West Bengal, including engineering and technology. Around 19,000 seats will be offered through the exam, excluding management quota seats. The conducting body of the exam, also known as WB Polytechnic, is West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development. The application form of JEXPO 2020 was released by West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development on January 2 and could be filled in both online and offline modes. However, the fee was different depending on which mode the candidate chooses. Also, there was a special fee concession for female candidates. The result of the entrance exam will be declared tentatively in the first week of June in the form of merit lists.  

Candidates who get short-listed based on the merit list only will be eligible to participate in the counselling and seat allotment process. Please note, the first four-seat allotment rounds will be held online, which will be followed by a special offline round to fill vacant seats.

It is important that candidates go through the eligibility criteria of JEXPO 2020 before they start preparing for the exam. It is because, if they don’t meet the prescribed eligibility criteria, they will not be considered for admission even if they qualify in the exam. So, it will be a loss of valuable time and effort on the part of the candidate. Among the important eligibility criteria that the candidate is required to fulfil include that of nationality, qualifying exam, minimum marks, subject combination, and age limit. 

Eligibility criteria of JEXPO 2020

• Nationality – Indian nationals are eligible to apply
• Qualifying exam – The candidate needs to have passed Class 10 exam conducted by West Bengal Board of Secondary Education or an equivalent exam with minimum 35% aggregate marks in English, Physical Science/Science and Mathematics, among others.
• Age limit – The candidate must be born no earlier than July 1, 2005.

Mode of Application : Online and Offline

Mode of Payment : Bank Challan

The official authorities had released the application form of JEXPO 2020 on January 2 in both online and offline mode. To fill the application form online, the candidates simply had to go the online application portal and start the application process right away. However, to apply offline, using OMR-based application forms, the candidate had to first obtain it on cash payment of Rs. 500 (female candidates need to pay only Rs. 250). The application process for both the modes is described in brief below.

Procedure to fill Online Application form of JEXPO 2020 

• Registration – One requires a valid email id and mobile number to register. 
• Filling of application form – In this step, the candidate had to fill different sections of the application form, like personal, academic and contact details.
• Uploading of documents – When uploading scanned images of photograph and signature, care had to be taken that they were in the prescribed format. 
• Payment of application: The application fee for male candidates applying through online mode was Rs. 450; fee for female candidates was Rs. 250.
• Submission of application form: Just check that the application form was complete in all respects before submitting it.

Filling of JEXPO application form – Offline mode

To apply using printed OMR Application Form, the candidate had to first obtain it along with the information booklet from:

• Designated Polytechnics and ITIs on cash payment of Rs. 500 (female candidate need to Rs. 250 only).

The candidate had to duly fill the printed application form – including filling all relevant sections, pasting photograph and signature at the appropriate space – and submit it before the last date. Applications received after the last date will not be considered. 

Application Fees

To get a good score it is not sufficient to simply complete one’s school syllabus, because the diploma exam is a different ball game altogether. For example, unlike board exams which is subjective in nature, the entrance exam will instead have objective type questions. Also, there is also some difference between the two as far as subjects are concerned. It is therefore recommended that the candidate takes some time out and checks out the syllabus of JEXPO 2020 before they start with their exam preparation.

JEXPO Exam Pattern 2020

• The exam will be conducted in offline (pen-paper-based) mode
• Answers have to be entered on OMR answer sheets by darkening circles using black/blue ball-point pen. 
• The duration of the paper will be 2 hours
• Question type will be multiple choice.
• The paper will be of 100 marks

Admit cards for the pen-and-paper exam will be released in online mode; it will not be sent by post or any other means to the individual candidates. On the day of the exam, the candidate has to bring along the admit card and also a valid and original photo ID. Without these documents, the candidate will not be allowed inside the exam hall. The admit card would carry important information like the name of the candidate, roll and application number, date and time of the exam, and also exam centre details. It must be noted that the admit card will be required even after the exam is over, for example at the time of counselling, so one mustn’t lose or damage it until at least the admission process is over.

How to download the admit card of JEXPO 2020

• Click on the admit card download link.
• Login to the portal by entering application number 
• The admit card will be displayed on the screen

Check that the details mentioned on the admit card is correct and legible. If satisfied, download and take a printout.

Exam conducting authorities will release the answer key of JEXPO 2020 a week or so after completion of the exam; answer keys will be available for all the four question sets - A, B, C and D. JEXPO 2020 answer key and will contain the correct answers to questions in each set, so candidates will be able to compare their answers and calculate probable scores. 

Also, various coaching institutes will come up with unofficial answers keys of JEXPO before the release of the official version. But candidates must note that the final authority on the correct answers will be the official version only.

The result of JEXPO 2020 will be declared online for all candidates who attempt the entrance exam. The result will be available in the form of merit list, which though includes only those candidates who scored positive marks in the entrance exam. Also, the result so declared is final and exam officials will not accept any request for review.

Mode of Counselling: Online, Offline

The counselling of JEXPO 2020 will be conducted in online mode, but if there are vacant seats left after online rounds, a special manual (offline) round will be held to fill those vacant seats. Some 19,000 self-finance diploma seats will be offered through the counselling process, not including management quota seats. 

Online counselling is open to valid rank holders only, who have to register for counselling and participate in the choice filling. There are around 565 choices to pick from; please note here choice is a combination of institute and branch. It is recommended that candidates pick as many choices – in the order of priority – to maximize their chances of admission. The allotment of seats will be based on the merit rank of the candidates and also choices filled by them.

Meanwhile, the special offline counselling will be open to only those candidates who haven’t been offered a seat in any of the online rounds.