National Board of Examinations (NBE) issued a public notice on April 30, 2021, announcing the postponement of the Diplomate of National Board Post-Diploma Centralised Entrance Test (DNB PDCET) 2021. The notice was published on the official website natboard.edu.in yesterday. According to the notice, NBE has decided to postpone the exam to a later date. The revised schedule shall be announced once the COVID-19 situation normalises in the country. The decision was taken due to the imposition of lockdowns, restrictions, night curfews and containment instructions in various parts of India.
Authorities previously issued a public notice on April 23, 2021, announcing that the DNB PDCET 2021 examination shall be conducted on May 09, 2021. The exam was to be conducted through the computer-based format in assigned centres across the country. The notice further clarified that the exam shall be conducted as per schedule by abiding by COVID-19 protocols.
In continuation to the notice issued on April 23, 2021, NBE announced the postponement of the DNB PDCET 2021 exam until further intimation. The exam was postponed to prevent any inconvenience to students and to safeguard their health amid the second wave of coronavirus. Additionally, candidates were advised to visit the official websites natboard.edu.in and nbe.edu.in to access the revised schedule, once published.
According to the previous schedule, the DNB PDCET 2021 registration process was conducted from March 25, 2021, to April 14, 2021. Following this, the correction window was open on April 24 and 25, 2021. Candidates were permitted to use this facility only to correct their photograph, signature, and thumb impression. NBE was scheduled to release the exam admit cards on May 03, 2021. However, given the postponement of the exam, admit cards are not likely to release on the specified date.
This year, NBE has introduced certain changes in the DNB PDCET 2021 paper pattern. Accordingly, the computer-based exam shall comprise of 120 multiple-choice questions rather than 200. Furthermore, the duration has also been reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours (120 minutes). Questions in the exam shall cover the entire diploma curriculum of the speciality for which the candidate has opted.
The entire paper shall be for a total of 480 marks i.e., each question shall be for 4 marks. 1 mark shall be deducted for every wrong answer while zero marks shall be given to unanswered questions. During the exam, candidates shall be given the option to keep questions for review, irrespective of whether they are answered or not. They can visit these questions later before the examination ends. However, the questions marked for review shall be evaluated based on the existing marking scheme.
