KOLKATA: Next year’s IIT-JEE (Advanced), set to go online, as reported by TOI on Monday, will also do away with the only-multiple-choice question (MCQ) pattern. Short answer-type questions may be set, for which examinees will need to key in answers.Till 2017, JEE (Advanced) had only MCQ, with either one or multiple correct answers. Examinees had to shade in the correct answer bubbles in an optical response sheet with a pencil. “Now, with the introduction of a computer-based test, candidates will have access to keyboards. They will be able to write and provide correct answers through calculations, if necessary,” said a source in the Joint Admission Board (JAB), which conducts the examination. “When the question pattern was multiple-choice, examinees often used the process of elimination to guess the answer. Now, such opportunities will be limited.”Since there is no order about framing questions in a particular way, question-setters will be at liberty to introduce a variety of questions, breaking trends. Examinees will be required to think harder, and not just rely on techniques or memorisation to crack the questions, said a JEE official. “Concept-based questions will increase. The question pattern will change,” the official added.The decision to shift to a computerised testing system had been taken to eliminate printing errors and translation goof-ups, which had caused severe loss of face for the board, creating problems for candidates and necessitating grace marks this year. “The printing and transportation of question papers, which was a huge logistical exercise, will also be done away with,” the source said.The shift from pen-and-paper to online was met with some resistance from JEE implementation committee members during Sunday’s meeting at IIT Madras “JAB members feared rural candidates would be at a loss and may have difficulties with accessing computers,” said another official. To address such fears, JAB has set up a sub-committee to explore options of holding mock exams a week before the actual test so that rural candidates get acquainted with the new test pattern.“It has been proposed that if necessary, these candidates from villages and rural areas will be allowed to appear in mock tests at the selected exam venues. The sub-committee will be set up under the guidance of IIT Kanpur, which will conduct the next IIT-JEE (Advanced),” the official explained.Till this year, examinees were allowed to take a copy of the optical response sheets back home as proof of their appearance in the exam. From next year, the computer will record the responses and a soft copy will be mailed to each candidate’s registered email.“The next steps will be similar. Like every year, the answer keys will be uploaded and candidates will be allowed to challenge the answers. The results will take a shorter time to be published,” the official added.