The offline All India Engineering/ Architecture Entrance Examination (AIEEE) for 2011 has been postponed to May 1, a week later than the previous date of April 24, said a circular from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) dated December 10. The CBSE conducts the AIEEE, which is the entrance criteria for admission to the prestigious National Institutes of Technology, IIITs and other state government institutes.

However, the date for AIEEE 2011 online examination will remain the same. The online exam will be conducted for the first time, for one lakh students May 1-15, 2011. As per sources, students from 20 cities will be taking the online exam, with a maximum of 5000 per city, on first-come-first-served basis.

The circular from the board states that the postponement is “due to the Easter festival, but that the “rest of the schedule will remain unchanged”. It also states that the sale of information bulletins will begin from all centres on December 22, instead of December 15.

Last month, the board had announced that it would make provisions for up to one-lakh candidates of B.E and B.Tech to appear for the exam online. The circular does not mention the exam date for candidates appearing for the online exam, but the AIEEE website says they will be informed separately about the exam date. Last year 10-lakh odd candidates appeared for the AIEEE, which was held at 1,623 centres in 68 cities.

The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) online registration has already begun from November 23, 2010. The students, who are expected to appear for the entrance exam to be held next year, should register themselves at the earliest.

The online application form can be filled at the official website of the AIEEE, the link for which has been provided below.

http://aieee.nic.in/

The AIEEE 2011 will be conducted in two parts: online and written. The exam committee has announced that only one lakh students are eligible to sit for this exam and that completely depends on the first come and first serve basis.  The earlier the students register themselves, the better are their chances to be able to sit for the AIEEE exam.

The students have the option to pay the registration fees either by DD (Demand Draft) or by Credit Card.

Although the last date of registration is January 14, 2011,  students are advised to not wait till the last moment or else they might lose the golden opportunity.