Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court has quashed the results of the KEAM engineering entrance examination, delivering a major setback to the Kerala government and its revised weightage formula.

The court ruled against the government's change in the exam prospectus, which had altered the subject weightage for ranking students. Previously, marks were considered in a 1:1:1 ratio across Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. However, the prospectus introduced a new ratio of 5:3:2, giving more weight to Mathematics, followed by Physics and Chemistry.

The revised weightage drew strong criticism from across students and parents, who claimed it to be unfair.

Several petitioners approached the High Court arguing that the changes were discriminatory and that students with higher aggregate marks were being unfairly penalised.

In its verdict, the court observed that the change was implemented without adequate justification or transparency and that the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) had a moral obligation to inform students of such major changes well in advance. It concluded that the reordering of ranks based on the 5:3:2 formula was unjust and directed that the KEAM rankings be annulled and recalculated using the earlier 1:1:1 subject weightage.

This decision has sparked sharp criticism of the Kerala government's handling of the admission process, with education experts calling for more inclusive and standardised evaluation methods.