JEE Main
Admission to BE/BTech, BArch and BPlanning at NITs, IIITs, other centrally funded institutes and many state and private colleges through JoSAA and state counselling. It is also the qualifying test for JEE Advanced: the top 2.5 lakh candidates become eligible.
Eligibility
You must have passed Class 12 or be appearing in it, with Physics and Mathematics plus one of Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology or a technical vocational subject. There is no age limit. You can appear in the year you pass Class 12 and in the two years after it, so three consecutive years in all. NIT, IIIT and CFTI admission also requires 75% in Class 12 (65% for SC/ST) or a place in the top 20 percentile of your board.
Age limit: No age limit
Exam pattern
Paper 1 (BE/BTech) is a 3-hour computer-based test with 75 questions: 25 each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Each subject has 20 multiple-choice questions and 5 numerical-value questions, and all are compulsory. Every question carries +4 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one, numerical questions included, for a maximum of 300. Results are reported as normalised NTA percentile scores across shifts. Paper 2A (BArch) and Paper 2B (BPlanning) are separate papers.
Syllabus at a glance
The syllabus is the NTA-notified version of Class 11 and 12 Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, closely aligned with NCERT after the 2024 rationalisation. Physics covers mechanics, electrodynamics, optics, modern physics and experimental skills. Chemistry is split into physical, organic and inorganic. Mathematics covers algebra, calculus, coordinate geometry, vectors and 3D, statistics and probability.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Session 1 notification and registration opens | Late Oct to early Nov 2026 (about 4-week window) | expected |
| Session 1 exam (per NTA calendar notice of 16 Sep 2026, tentative) | 22-24 and 28-30 Jan 2027 (31 Jan buffer) | confirmed |
| Session 1 result | Mid-Feb 2027 | expected |
| Session 2 registration | Early Feb 2027 | expected |
| Session 2 exam | Early to mid-Apr 2027 | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- Concepts of Physics (Vols 1-2) – H.C. Verma
- Understanding Physics series – D.C. Pandey (Arihant)
- NCERT Chemistry Class 11-12 plus Physical Chemistry – O.P. Tandon / N. Awasthi
- Organic Chemistry – M.S. Chouhan (Elementary Problems) / Morrison & Boyd for theory
- Concise Inorganic Chemistry (JEE adaptation) – J.D. Lee, adapted by Sudarsan Guha
- Objective Mathematics – R.D. Sharma, or Cengage Mathematics series – G. Tewani
How toppers play it
- All 75 questions are compulsory and numerical answers also lose a mark when wrong, so attempt a question only when you can rule out at least two options or are confident of the number.
- Attempt Chemistry first (15-20 minutes for 25 questions is realistic), then the faster of Physics or Maths, so the hardest section gets the remaining time.
- Read the NCERT Chemistry textbooks line by line. A large share of inorganic, biomolecules and polymer questions is lifted almost verbatim.
- Take both sessions. Session 1 doubles as a full rehearsal, and only your better percentile counts.
- From December, solve the previous two years' shift-wise NTA papers under timed CBT conditions on NTA Abhyas.