AIEEE going to be on line from 2011

New Delhi: Following the successful attempt of Common Aptitude Test (CAT) that was converted to an online test in 2009, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced that the all important  All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) will follow the path  and go online from next year.

The AIEEE test is conducted by the CBSE for admission  to Bachelor of Engineering (BE) and Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) at various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) as well as other state-level engineering institutions of repute.

However the board has not yet decided whether the entrance exam for Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.), which is also a part of the AIEEE, will be conducted online or not.

CBSE has decided to involve an outside agency for the smooth conduction of this national level online test, similar to how the CAT had been conducted by Prometric.

According to a CBSE official, the board has invited proposal by various agencies which have adequate experience and are quality-oriented in the designing and conduction large scale professional examinations on Computer-Based Testing (CBT) mode for AIEEE, 2011. "We will soon be deciding upon once agency for the conduction of this test," he said.

Besides the online conduction of the AIEEE, it had also been decided to merge the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) with the AIEEE from 2011.

The AIPMT is conducted by the CBSE every year  to fill up 15% of the seats in MBBS and Bachelor in Dental Surgery (BDS) courses in government medical and dental colleges against the all-India quota.

AIEEE is responsible for drawing up a combined merit list for different categories of engineering colleges. CBSE officials have not yet clarified about the online format of the AIPMT from next year.