JEE Main
Admission to BE/BTech, BArch and BPlanning at NITs, IIITs, other centrally funded technical institutes and many state and private colleges through JoSAA and state counselling. It is also the qualifying screen for JEE Advanced, as the top 2.5 lakh BE/BTech candidates become eligible.
Eligibility
Candidates who passed Class 12 or equivalent in 2025 or 2026, or are appearing in 2027, may apply. There is no age limit. For NIT, IIIT and CFTI admission you also need 75% in Class 12 (65% for SC/ST) or a place in the top 20 percentile of your board. Physics and Mathematics are compulsory for BE/BTech.
Age limit: No age limit; Class 12 must be passed in 2025, 2026 or 2027
Exam pattern
Computer-based test of 3 hours (3 hours 30 minutes if taking both BArch and BPlanning), offered in 13 languages. Paper 1 (BE/BTech) has 75 compulsory questions, 25 each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, split into 20 multiple-choice (Section A) and 5 numerical-value (Section B) questions per subject, for 300 marks. Marking is +4 for a correct answer and -1 for a wrong answer in both sections. Paper 2A (BArch) adds a 50-question Aptitude test and a 2-question pen-and-paper Drawing test; Paper 2B (BPlanning) adds Aptitude and a 25-question Planning section. Results are reported as normalised NTA percentile scores.
Syllabus at a glance
Covers the NCERT Class 11 and 12 syllabus in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, as rationalised by NTA in 2024. Physics leans on mechanics, electrodynamics, optics and modern physics. Chemistry is roughly balanced across physical, organic and inorganic, with heavy NCERT-text inorganic questions. Mathematics stresses calculus, algebra, coordinate geometry and vectors/3D.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Session 1 online application window (opened 24 Oct 2026) | 24 Oct - 22 Nov 2026 (up to 11:50 PM) | confirmed |
| Session 1 late submission with late fee | 23-26 Nov 2026 | confirmed |
| Session 1 application form correction | 27-29 Nov 2026 | confirmed |
| Session 1 exam city intimation | 30 Dec 2026 | confirmed |
| Session 1 admit card | 13 Jan 2027 | confirmed |
| Session 1 exam | 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 28 Jan 2027 | confirmed |
| Session 2 registration | Early Jan - early Feb 2027 (tentative schedule in the information bulletin) | expected |
| Session 2 exam | Early Apr 2027 | expected |
| Final result and all-India rank | Late Apr 2027 | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- NCERT Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics textbooks, Class 11 and 12
- Concepts of Physics (Vol 1 and 2) by H.C. Verma
- Physical Chemistry by O.P. Tandon (or Physical Chemistry by N. Awasthi for numericals)
- Organic Chemistry by M.S. Chouhan (problem book) with Morrison and Boyd for concepts
- Objective Mathematics for JEE Main by R.D. Sharma
- Chapterwise Solutions JEE Main by Arihant (previous-year questions)
How toppers play it
- Since 2024 every numerical question carries -1 negative marking and there is no internal choice, so skip numerical questions you cannot pin down rather than guessing.
- Learn NCERT Chemistry thoroughly, especially inorganic tables, p-block and coordination compounds. Chemistry is the fastest-scoring section and should take 45-50 minutes.
- Solve every NTA paper from 2019 onwards under timed conditions. Shift-wise papers repeat themes and difficulty patterns.
- Treat Session 1 as a full attempt, not a trial. Use the analysis from it to target weak chapters in the roughly ten weeks before Session 2.
- Common attempt order is Chemistry, then Physics, then Mathematics, saving the longest calculations for last. Do a second pass only for questions you flagged.