The pending editions of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Main will be held from July 20 to 25 and July 27 to August 2, education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced on Tuesday.

The results of the two editions, which were postponed in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, are likely to be announced in August.

“The third edition of JEE Main will be conducted from July 20 to 25 while the fourth edition will be held from July 27 to August 2. The exams will be conducted by following all Covid protocols and keeping the safety of the candidates in mind,” Pokhriyal said.

According to an official notification issued by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the candidates who had applied for the postponed phases can modify their particulars from July 6 to 8 for the third edition and from July 9 to 12 for the fourth.

“In order to address the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the number of cities has been increased from 232 to 334. The number of examination centres in every shift will also be increased from 660 to 828,” said Sadhana Parashar, senior director of the NTA.

“The total number of candidates who have already registered for the April session is 6.80 lakh and 6.09 lakh for the May session,” she added.

JEE Main, through which admissions are made to engineering colleges, is being conducted four times a year from the coronavirus-hit current academic session to offer flexibility to students and a chance to improve their scores.

The first phase in February was followed by the second in March, while the next editions were scheduled for April and May. But the latter two were postponed after a spike in Covid cases during the second wave of the pandemic.

The JEE Advanced exam, which is conducted for admission to the IITs, was also postponed.