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JEE Main

Evidence status: 🟢 official. Every number below is from the NTA Information Bulletin for JEE (Main) 2026 (IB 2026), the official JEE (Main) 2026 syllabus, and NTA's examination-calendar notice dated 16 September 2026, all fetched from official domains on 2026-09-28. Session dates for the next cycle are tentative until the JEE (Main) 2027 bulletin is published.

JEE Main is the national entrance test for B.E./B.Tech at NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded institutes, and the qualifying test for JEE Advanced (IITs). It is held in two sessions a year. Paper 1 is for B.E./B.Tech; Papers 2A and 2B are for B.Arch and B.Planning.

At a glance
Conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA)
2026 sessions (per IB 2026) Session 1: 21–30 January 2026; Session 2: 2–9 April 2026 (tentative). Appearing in both is optional; the best NTA score counts for the merit list
Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech) 75 questions, 300 marks, 3 hours, computer-based (CBT)
Papers 2A (B.Arch) / 2B (B.Planning) 2A: 77 questions, 400 marks, 3 hours (drawing test offline); 2B: 100 questions, 400 marks, 3 hours
Marking (all papers) +4 correct, −1 wrong (including numerical-value questions), 0 for unanswered
Eligibility (per IB 2026) No age limit; passed Class XII / equivalent in 2024 or 2025, or appearing in 2026 (institutes may add age criteria)
Medium 13 languages (English + Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, as per centre)
Next cycle (tentative) NTA's 16 September 2026 calendar slots the next Session 1 on 22–24 and 28–30 January 2027 (buffer 31 January); dates may change

Official sources

Exam pattern

Paper 1: Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, 25 questions each, all compulsory.

Per subject Questions Type
Section A 20 Multiple choice
Section B 5 Numerical value

Marking: +4 correct, −1 wrong, 0 for unanswered — for both MCQs and numerical-value questions (IB 2026 confirms negative marking in Section B). Total 300 marks. Merit is prepared from NTA scores merged across all shifts and both sessions; ties break by NTA score in Mathematics, then Physics, then Chemistry, then fewer incorrect attempts. Paper 1 runs in two shifts (9:00–12:00 and 15:00–18:00); eligible PwD/scribe candidates get 4 hours.

Papers 2A/2B (per IB 2026): 2A (B.Arch) has Mathematics (20 MCQ + 5 numerical, 100 marks), Aptitude Test (50 questions, 200 marks) and an offline Drawing Test (2 questions, 100 marks): 77 questions, 400 marks. 2B (B.Planning) has Mathematics (100 marks), Aptitude Test (200 marks) and Planning-based questions (25 questions, 100 marks): 100 questions, 400 marks. Same +4/−1 marking (except the drawing test, evaluated out of 100).

Syllabus

Paper 1 follows the unit-wise Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry syllabus in NTA's official syllabus document (14 Mathematics units from sets to trigonometry, plus the Physics and Chemistry units), which closely follows NCERT Class 11–12. Treat the NTA syllabus PDF linked above as the authority, not any coaching list.

How to prepare (free, in order)

  1. NCERT Class 11–12 first: most questions are NCERT concepts, and the chemistry is close to NCERT wording.
  2. Then NCERT exemplar problems for depth, and timed full papers in the last months.
  3. Numerical questions now carry −1: treat them like MCQs and skip guesses.

Free resources