The eligibility criterion for students seeking BTech admission at the IITs this year will be simply to pass their Class XII board exams, the premier institutes have decided.

Earlier, general category students had to score at least 75 per cent in their Class XII exams or figure among the top 20 percentile from their boards — apart from cracking the IITs’ own JEE Advanced entrance test — to secure BTech admission.

But with the Covid-19 outbreak affecting the board exams this year, the tech schools have decided to do away with the board-marks-based eligibility rules.

“Due to partial cancellation of Class XII exam by several boards, JAB has decided to relax the eligibility criteria for #JEE Advanced qualified candidate this time,” human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal tweeted on Friday. “JAB” is the Joint Admission Board, a pan-IIT body that decides on admission issues.

“Qualified candidates who have passed class-XII exam will now be eligible for admission irrespective of marks obtained,” Pokhriyal tweeted.

For Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, the eligibility criterion was 65 per cent board marks.

This year’s Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main, to be conducted by the National Testing Agency, is scheduled for September. The top 2.5 lakh performers from the JEE Main will be allowed to take the IIT-conducted JEE Advanced, whose merit list will decide selections provided the rank holders have met the eligibility criterion.