Candidates who qualified in the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) will now have increased flexibility during the admission process for engineering programmes. Under the revised counselling framework announced after the publication of results, applicants may participate as new entrants in every counselling round. They will also be allowed to revise both course selections and institutional preferences at each stage of the process.

Out of 94,901 candidates who appeared for the engineering entrance examination, 92,753 secured qualifying scores.

To support informed decision-making, the counselling portal will provide access to previous admission trends and seat-allotment patterns across participating institutions. This information is intended to help students assess their chances of admission before finalising their choices.

According to WBJEE Board Chairman Goutam Pal, the counselling process is expected to begin after the Higher Education Department submits the official seat matrix. The portal is likely to become operational shortly thereafter.

Several of the highest-ranked candidates indicated a preference for pursuing higher education at premier national institutions such as the IITs and other centrally funded institutes, many of which are located outside West Bengal. When questioned about the growing trend of students seeking opportunities beyond the state, Pal noted that the board's role is limited to conducting the entrance examination.

Performance of Top Rank-Holders

Education observers highlighted that none of the first five rank-holders came from schools affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. Among the top ten candidates, only two completed their higher secondary education under the state board system, both from institutions in West Midnapore district.

Shaswat Banerjee secured the top rank after completing higher secondary studies at Nalanda Academy Senior Secondary School in Kota, Rajasthan. Souriddha Mandal of Vivekananda Mission School obtained second place, followed by Umang Bhoot from PURV International School, Durgapur. Rahul Konar of DPS Newtown secured fourth position, while Sarban Bhattacharya of Garden High School and IISER Kolkata Campus, Nadia, ranked fifth. These institutions are affiliated with either CBSE or CISCE boards.

The two state-board students among the top ten performers were Arha Bhattachary of Chandrakona Jirat High School and Manish Senapati of Midnapore Collegiate School, both located in West Midnapore.

Changes to Counselling Rules

Board officials explained that the revised counselling guidelines were introduced to minimise the impact of mistakes made during the choice-filling process. Candidates are no longer required to remain bound by their initial selections and may update their preferences during each counselling round.

Students who miss the initial registration period will also be able to join later rounds of counselling instead of waiting until the final mop-up stage. In addition, applicants may include an unrestricted number of college preferences when submitting their choices.

By reviewing historical admission data available through the portal, candidates can better evaluate their prospects at specific institutions and make more strategic decisions regarding their applications.

Participation Statistics

The board reported that 19,088 qualified candidates this year came from outside West Bengal. In the previous examination cycle, approximately 23,850 out-of-state candidates had appeared for the test.