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JEE Main

1. Brief

Target Field

  • Engineering

Tentative Month(s)

  • January to July

Duration

  • Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech.)
    OR
    Paper 2A (B.Arch.)
    OR
    Paper 2B (B.Planning)
3 Hours
  • Paper 2A (B.Arch.) and
    Paper 2B (B.Planning) both
3:30 Hours

Eligible Candidates

  • Candidates appearing for Class 12 or equivalent examinations

OR

  • Candidates who have passed Class 12 or equivalent examinations in the last two years.

Applicants

  • Over 12 Lakhs

Exam Medium

  • English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

Subjects

  • Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech.): Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. 
  • Paper 2A (B.Arch): Mathematics, Aptitude test, Drawing test.  
  • Paper 2B (B.Plan.): Mathematics, Aptitude test, Planning based Questions. 

Age Limit

  • There is no upper age limit for students taking the JEE Main 2024 exam. Candidates who passed the class 12 or equivalent examinations in last two years, or who are appearing in class 12 or equivalent examinations in the current year, regardless of their age, are eligible to take the JEE Main exam.

Question Type

  • Objective Type – Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and questions for which the answer is a numerical value.
  • Questions to test drawing aptitude.

Mode of Exam

  • Paper 1: Computer-Based Test mode only. 
  • Paper 2A: Computer-Based Test mode for Mathematics and Aptitude test and “Pen & Paper Based” (offline) mode to be attempted on a drawing sheet of A4 size for Drawing Test. 
  • Paper 2B: Computer-Based Test mode only. 

Number of Attempts

  • 3 consecutive years

Exam Authority & Website

What is JEE Main Exam?

The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) is computer-based and one of the most prestigious and challenging entrance examinations in the country. Over 12 lakh students in India appear for this exam each year to secure admission to various technical undergraduate programs such as Engineering, Architecture and Planning. It has been conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) since 2019. The JEE Main rank is used to determine admission to Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.), Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.), Bachelor of Planning (B. Plan), as well as programs at prestigious institutions like NITs, IIITs, Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) and numerous private institutions. JEE Main is also the qualifying exam for JEE Advanced, which is the eventual gateway for admission to any of the IITs.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) publishes a brochure or information bulletin for the exam which can be downloaded on its official website.

JEE Main Exam Papers

The JEE Main exam is further divided into three papers based on the course:

  • Paper 1: For admission to B.E./B.Tech. courses 
  • Paper 2 A: For admission to B. Arch. courses 
  • Paper 2 B: For admission to B. Planning courses 

Subject Combinations Required to Qualify

JEE Main exam performance is the basis of admission to various courses in engineering in all central institutions (NITs, IIITs and CFTIs).

The subject combination requirements for attempting JEE are as follows:

Course Required Criteria Based on Class 12/Equivalent Qualifying Examination
B.E/B.Tech. Passed qualifying examination (Paper – 1) with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as subjects.
B. Arch. Passed qualifying examination (Paper – 1 and Paper – 2A) with Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Drawing for admission to IITs. 

(Paper – 1 not necessary for admission to B. Arch. in NITs, IIITS and CFTIs).

B. Planning Passed qualifying examination with Mathematics, Aptitude test and Planning questions (Paper – 2B).

 

Exam Paper Pattern

In 2021, the JEE Main exam paper pattern changed as detailed in the table below:

Paper & Course Exam Pattern
Paper 1 – B.E./B.Tech.  All subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Math) divided into Section A & B.

  • Section A had 20 MCQs in each subject, there was negative marking of -1 marks for every incorrect answer and +4 marks for every correct answer.
  • Section B had questions with answers to be filled in as a numerical value. Candidates had to attempt any 5 questions out of 10. There was no negative marking for this section.
Paper 2A – B.Arch. 
  • Part I: Mathematics Test, 20 MCQs (+4 for correct and -1 for incorrect response) 10 Numerical value-based questions (out of which only 5 are to be attempted, +4 for correct and 0 for incorrect response).
  • Part II: Aptitude Test (50 Questions with +4 for a correct and -1 for an incorrect response).
  • Part III: 2 Questions on Drawing Test to be evaluated out of 100 marks.
Paper 2B – B.Planning 
  • Part I: Mathematics Test, 20 MCQs (+4 for correct and -1 for incorrect response), 10 Numerical value-based questions (out of which only 5 are to be attempted, +4 for correct and 0 for incorrect response).
  • Part II: Aptitude Test (50 Questions with +4 for a correct and -1 for an incorrect response).
  • Part III: 25 Planning based MCQs (+4 for correct and -1 for incorrect response).

 

Exam Mode and Sessions

In 2021, the exams were conducted in four sessions in the months of February, March, July, and August to give multiple opportunities for improving scores and ensure that candidates did not lose one whole year if they missed the exam due to reasons beyond their control.

The sessions were as listed in the table below:

Paper & Course Exam Mode Frequency
Paper 1 – B.E./B.Tech.  Online Three sessions each in February, and March and four sessions each in July and August.
Paper 2A – B.Arch.  Drawing Test in Pen & Paper (offline) mode Two sessions each in February and August.
Paper 2B – B.Planning  Drawing Test in Pen & Paper (offline) mode Two sessions each in February and August.

 

  • Candidates could apply for one or more sessions together and pay the exam fee accordingly.

  • Candidates could choose to apply for one session at a time and apply again for the remaining session when the application window reopens after the declaration of the result of the last held session.

  • If a candidate doesn’t want to appear for the session for which the fee was already paid, they need to make a request during the application process and the amount would be refunded by NTA.

  • If any candidate appears for more than one session, then their best score out of the multiple attempts will be considered while preparing the merit list/ranking.

2. Eligibility Criteria

What is the Eligibility Criteria for Appearing for JEE Main Exam?

While the eligibility criteria is expected to remain the same for 2024 as detailed below. It is always advisable to check the form while registering for the exam on the National Testing Agency (NTA) website.

Criteria Details
Age Limit
There is no upper age limit for students taking the JEE Main exam. Candidates who passed the class 12 or equivalent examination in last two years, or who are appearing in class 12 or equivalent examination in the current year, regardless of their age, are eligible to take the JEE Main exam.
Qualifying Exam Should have passed class 12 or an equivalent exam/Intermediate or a Two-Year Pre-University Exam/Senior Secondary School Examination/Joint Services Wing of The National Defence Academy Exam/Higher Secondary Certificate Vocational Examination, a diploma recognized by AICTE or a State Board/General Certificate Education (GCE) Examination (London/Cambridge/Sri Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level/High School Certificate Examination of The Cambridge University or International Baccalaureate Diploma of The International Baccalaureate Office, Geneva.
Subjects in Qualifying Exam  B.E./B.Tech.
Passed qualifying examination with Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects along with one of the Chemistry/ Biotechnology/ Biology/ Technical vocational subjects.
B.Arch.
Passed qualifying examination with Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
B.Planning
Passed qualifying examination with Mathematics.
Qualifying Marks No minimum marks. However, should have passed class 12 or an equivalent exam. Should have secured 75% in class 12 or an equivalent exam or should have been within the top 20 percentile of their respective boards. NTA might choose to waive or keep the minimum marks criterion. For 2024, this criteria has been removed for B.Tech. however for B.Arch. the candidate must score at least 50% in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and 50% in aggregate of the qualifying exam. For B.Plan, the candidate must score at least 50% in Mathematics and 50% in aggregate of the qualifying examination.
Nationality Must be a citizen of India. NRIs, PIOs, OCIs can also apply.
No. of Attempts Can appear for three consecutive years, one with the class 12 exam and the two following consecutive years.
Reservation OBC (non-creamy layer) candidates: 27% reservation.
SC candidates: 15% reservation.
ST candidates: 7.5% reservation.
PWD (with more than 40% disability) candidates: 5% reservation.
GEN – EWS candidates: 10% reservation.
Women candidates: Almost all engineering colleges in India reserve a minimum of 5% seats for women candidates.

3. Important Dates

What are the Important Dates for JEE Main Exams?

The JEE Main exams will be held in two sessions in 2024. The registration process on the National Testing Agency website for session 1 began on 1st March.

The registrations for session 2 started on 1st July.

JEE Main 2024 date are as follows:

(a) Session-1 (January): JEE Main 2024

Events Dates
Online Submission of Application Form 01 November 2023 to 30 November 2023 (up to 09:00 P.M.)
Last Date For Successful Transaction of Prescribed Application Fee 30 November 2023 (up to 11:50 P.M.)
Announcement of the Cities of Examination By the second week of January 2024.
Downloading of Admit Cards from NTA Website 03 days before the actual date of the Examination.
Dates of Examination Between 24 January and 01 February 2024.
Display of Question Paper Attempted by the Candidate and Answer Keys for Inviting Challenges Can be accessed on the NTA website.
Declaration of Result The results can be accessed on:testservices.nic.in

(b) Session-2 (April): JEE Main 2024 :

Events Dates
Online Submission of Application Form 02 February 2024 to 02 March 2024 (up to 09:00 P.M.)
Last Date For Successful Transaction of Prescribed Application Fee 02 March 2024 (up to 11:50 P.M.)
Announcement of the Cities of Examination By the third week of March 2024.
Downloading of Admit Cards from NTA Website 03 days before the actual date of the Examination.
Dates of Examination Between 01 April and 15 April 2024.
Display of Question Paper Attempted by the Candidate and Answer Keys for Inviting Challenges Can be accessed on the NTA website.
Declaration of Result The results can be accessed on:examinationservices.nic.in

(c) Duration of Examination for Each Session: JEE Main 2024:

Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech. 
or
Paper 2A (B.Arch. 
or
Paper 2B (B.Planning)
3 Hours
B.Arch. & B.Planning (both) 3 Hours 30 Mins

(d) Timing of Examination for Each Session: JEE Main 2024:

Duration of Examination First Shift Second Shift
For 3 Hours Paper 09.00 A.M. to 12.00 Noon (IST)  03.00 P.M. to 06.00 P.M. (IST) 
For 3 Hours 30 Mins Paper 09.00 A.M. to 12.30 P.M. (IST)  03.00 P.M. to 06.30 P.M. (IST) 

4. Application Process

What is the Application Process for JEE Main Exams?

The application for JEE Main is done online on the National Testing Agency website. Before filling out the application, go through the brochure and the instructions carefully.

The process needed to be followed to submit the application typically involves the following steps:

  1. Register for JEE Main Exam: Visit the JEE Main page on the NTA. Enter personal information and contact details to register and create a password. A JEE Main Application Number will be generated.
  2. Fill the Application Form: Once registration is done, one can start filling the application form with academic details, choice of paper (B.E./B.Tech. or B.Arch./B. Planning), mode of examination, exam center, and exam medium, etc. The form can also be reviewed once it is filled, and edits can be made if required. Once the form is reviewed it can be submitted.
  3. Upload Pictures and Documents: After submission of the application form, to corroborate some of the details scanned, digital photograph, class 12 mark sheet, and signature need to be uploaded in the specified dimensions and format.
  4. Pay Application Fee: Once the application form and documents have been submitted, the application fee needs to be paid on the website via debit/credit card, net banking or UPI. The exam date and slot will be automatically booked once the application fee is paid.
  5. Download Confirmation Page: Once the process is complete, a confirmation page pops up. This should be downloaded and kept as an acknowledgement for reference. Applicants can also register their contact details to receive regular updates regarding the exam from NTA.

5. Cut-Off Marks

What is the JEE Main Cut-Off Mark and How is it Calculated?

  • Number of candidates
  • Difficulty level of the examination
  • Overall performance of candidates
  • Number of available seats in B.Tech./B.E/B.Arch. courses

The JEE Main Cut-Off mark or simply cut-off is announced every year after the results of all sessions in the year have been declared. The All-India Merit List is prepared on the basis of this cut-off and only those candidates who secure the cut-off marks are considered.

The cut-off marks are calculated based on various factors:

There are two types of cut-off marks:

1. Admission Cut-Offs: Published by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) for its centralized counseling that enables admission to all colleges participating in the admission process and accepting JEE Main marks. 

  • This can be checked on the JoSAA website after each round of seat allotment. 
  • Admission cut-offs change depending on the college and course.

2. Qualifying Cut-Offs: The minimum qualifying mark for appearing for JEE Advanced exam is published by NTA.

  • This can be checked on the NTA website using the results or scorecard.
  • Over 2,50,000 candidates qualified for JEE Advanced 2021.

JEE Main 2021 Cut-Off for Qualifying JEE Advanced

Category Cut-Off Score
General – CRL 87.8992241
Gen – EWS 66.2214845
OBC – NCL 68.0234447
Scheduled Caste 46.8825338
Scheduled Tribe 34.6728999
PWD 0.0096375

JEE Main Cut-Off Trends of Past Years

Category General – CRL OBC NCL SC ST PWD
2021 88 69 46 34 0.009
2020 91 73 51 39 0.06
2019 90 74 54 44 0.1
2018 74 45 29 24 -35
2017 81 49 32 27 1
2016 100 70 52 48 1
2015 105 70 50 44

6. Counseling Procedure

What is JEE Main Counseling and How is it Done?

Counseling refers to the management and regulation of the admissions to over 110 institutes including 23 IITs, 31 NITs, 26 IIITs, IIEST and 29 Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTI). The counseling process starts after the final cut-offs of JEE Main are announced and is managed by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) established by the Ministry of Education (earlier known as MHRD). Seat allocation is based on the merit list in JEE Main All India Rank and the branch and institute preference of the candidate. The counseling is completely online and to start the process, candidates have to register on the JoSAA website.

Besides the counseling done by JoSAA for IITs, IIITs, NITs, IIEST Shibpur and other CFTIs, there are three other counseling levels that are handled by the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) for NIT+ system colleges. If seats are vacant even after JoSAA counseling ends, two special rounds called CSAB-Special Rounds, will be conducted by the CSAB-2024 through its own online portal (csab.nic.in). In addition, CSAB will also conduct a separate CSAB-Supernumerary round through its online portal (csab.nic.in) for admission to supernumerary seats for Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli in selected NITs.

The procedure of counseling by JoSAA starts with:

  • Registration and Choice Filling: Over 10 days are given to applicants to register and indicate their preferences. Post registration, seat allocation rounds start. There are usually 6 rounds of seat allocation.
  • Seat Allocation Rounds 1-6: Over 4-5 days are given to students to report and respond in each round. At the end of each round the list of filled and available seats is displayed. In each round when the seat is allotted, applicants have to choose one of the options below to accept or move to the next round.
  • Freeze: This option should be chosen if the allotted seat is the desired seat and if the applicant does not want to participate in any more rounds of counseling.
  • Float: This option should be chosen if the applicant likes the allotted seat but also wants to see if there’s a chance to upgrade it in further rounds.
  • Slide: This option is for indicating that the applicant likes the allotted institute but wants to upgrade to a higher ranked course in the same college.
  • Withdraw: This is for those applicants who have got a seat in the institute and course but do not want admission.

Once the seat is accepted and payments have been made, the verification of documents has to be done with the institute directly either online or offline according to the institute’s policy. 

The documents required at this institute usually include:

  1. JEE Main Provisional Seat Allocation Letter
  2. JEE Main Rank Card
  3. JEE Main Counseling Form
  4. JEE Main Admit Card
  5. 2 Passport Size Photos
  6. Category Certificate (if any)
  7. 10th & 12th Marksheet
  8. Medical Fitness Certificate

Post verification, the applicant has to visit the institute for final reporting and make the balance payment for admission. The seat is cancelled if the applicant fails to report before the last date.

7. Preparation Procedure

The JEE Main exam is one of the toughest entrance exams designed to choose only those students who can take the rigour of an engineering course.

The preparation for this exam requires focus and early planning. Students who are interested in appearing for the JEE Main exams must ensure that they pay attention to all the relevant subjects being taught in school and cover all the topics in the syllabus as per NCERT. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which administers the JEE Main exams, provides content-based lectures on its website. However, students can often feel overwhelmed with the pressure of test preparation and anxious about their performance.

A new and breakthrough approach to preparation is to begin the learning with testing and assessment-led learning.

Besides taking the stress of the exam away, assessment-led learning also speeds up the learning process. It helps students diagnose their strengths and weaknesses in each subject, topic, and sub-topic and builds their competitive muscle in a gradual manner to help them achieve their best outcomes.

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