Hyderabad: Engineering Agricultural Medical Common Entrance Test of Andhra Pradesh has been advanced to May 8, as the earlier date of May 10 clashed with the dates of two other important admission tests — the DSC and Karnataka Private Colleges Test (COMEDK-UGET).

AP HRD minister Ghanta Srinivasa Rao announced the change in date at a media conference here on Monday, saying several parents, students and organisations had pressed for it.

He made another important announcement, Along with the off-line mode, for the first time the examination would also be conducted online. Officials were clueless about this, and they told the media after the press conference that it will be impossible to conduct Eamcet online in such a short span of time.

Later some officials, including Prof. L. Venugopala Reddy, the chairman of the AP Higher Education Council, and Vijay Prakash, the vice-chairman, met the minister to tell him that the online exam cannot be conducted for this year.

“We were caught unawares. Online exams require a lot of preparation and some budget as well. It is not possible this time. We can get ready for 2016,” an official who is dealing with the affairs of conducting the test said.