Kerala Entrance Engineering Normalization - What is it?

There was a furor when Kerala CEE introduced normalization of engineering marks in 2011. Starting from 2012 KEAM started using standardization of marks instead of normalization. Yes you heard it right we do not have normalization process anymore. But people still call it as Normalization. Read page page 26 of 2015 KEAM prospectus. See a snippet below about the process described in the prospectus-

KEAM Standardization Rule - From 2015 Prospectus

In short CEE uses statistical data to standardize marks across all Class 12 boards (yes, including Kerala HSE). For engineering rank calculation-

• Your paper 1 and paper 2 marks are computed to 300 ([Your Mark/960]*300)
• Class 12 mark is calculated using the formula given above

Every year the statistical information for formula changes. It is based on the marks each candidate received in class 12 in every stream. After the results are published CEE publishes the statistical variable used for rank calculation for that year. Most rank predictor on the web uses that statistical information to predict your rank.

We used to Parinama Insights to compare the marks for three streams. This is based on the 2014 data published by CEE. Please use the data below only for reference. We took an example of 80% for HSE, CBSE& ISCE. Statistical data for 2015 will change.

Based on 2014 data		Before Standardization			After Standardization			Difference
Stream 12	Subject	Max Marks	Your Marks	%	Max Marks	Marks	%	%	Marks
Kerala HSE	Physics	120	96	80.00%	100	80.6713	81.94%	1.94%	5.8202
	Chemistry	120	96		100	81.4503
	Mathematics	100	80		100	83.6986
CBSE	Physics	100	80	80.00%	100	82.2488	78.91%	-1.09%	-3.2715
	Chemistry	100	80		100	78.4249
	Mathematics	100	80		100	76.0548
ISCE	Physics	100	80	80.00%	100	76.1365	74.95%	-5.05%	-15.1381
	Chemistry	100	80		100	81.9982
	Mathematics	100	80		100	66.7272

Observation: 

• HSE student gains approx 5.82 marks
• CBSE student loses approx 3.27 marks
• ISCE student loses approx 15.15 marks

We took another example. This time we wanted to find the range of difference in marks. We took only 2 streams for comparison- HSE & CBSE. We have converted marks for both CBSE and HSE to 300 (before standardization).

Before Standardization				After Standardization
Maths	Physics	Chemistry	Total	Total (CBSE)	Difference (CBSE)	Total (HSE)	Difference (HSE)
40	40	40	120	120.89	0.89	125.09	5.09
45	45	45	135	135.37	0.37	140.16	5.16
50	50	50	150	149.85	-0.15	155.26	5.26
60	60	60	180	178.81	-1.19	185.26	5.26
70	70	70	210	207.77	-2.23	215.63	5.63
80	80	80	240	236.73	-3.27	245.82	5.82
90	90	90	270	265.69	-4.31	276	6
100	100	100	300	294.65	-5.35	306.19	6.19

Observation:

• HSE student gains a minimum of 5 marks across the mark range of 40 to 100
• Marks of CBSE student varies from 0.89 to -5.35 across the mark range of 40 to 100
• CBSE student with minimum marks (50%) loses the least (.15 marks)

Below is the summary in a graph. Blue line is for CBSE and Red line is for HSE. You can see the graph for HSE remains almost constant at 5. But that is not the case for CBSE.

Please note the difference is caused by Mean and Standard Deviation for respective streams. Global Mean and Global Standard Deviation remains same for all candidates. In short, your class 12 marks is affected to some extended depending on the performance of all the candidates in the respective stream.

The above calculations were made using the formula provided by CEE and the statistical information published by CEE. If you see any error in my calculation, please let me know in the comments. The above study is just for reference. What do you think? Please leave comments and feedback.