JEE Main exam pattern: papers, sections, marking and timing

Summary: Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech) has 75 questions for 300 marks: 25 each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Every question carries +4 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one, including the numerical questions. The paper is three hours long, computer based, and no calculator of any kind is allowed.

Every year we meet Class 11 students who have studied hard for months and still do not know how many numerical questions JEE Main has, or whether those carry negative marks. It matters. The pattern decides how you practise, how you guess and where your marks leak. This page is based on the JEE (Main) 2026 information bulletin, which is the latest one NTA has published at the time of writing. The bulletin for the 2027 cycle usually comes out around October or November, so check it on jeemain.nta.nic.in when it appears and look for any change before you plan around these numbers.

The three papers

JEE Main has more than one paper, and students sometimes confuse them.

• Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech): Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. This is the paper for NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded institutes, and it is also the qualifying route to JEE Advanced.
• Paper 2A (B.Arch): Mathematics, an Aptitude Test and a Drawing Test. The drawing part is done on paper.
• Paper 2B (B.Planning): Mathematics, an Aptitude Test and a Planning section.

The rest of this page is about Paper 1, since that is what almost every engineering aspirant writes.

Paper 1 at a glance

Section A questions are single-correct MCQs with four options. Section B questions need a numerical answer that you type using the mouse and an on-screen keypad. The bulletin asks for the answer rounded off to the nearest integer, so a value of 12.6 should be entered as 13.

Until the 2024 cycle, Section B gave you 10 questions and you answered any 5. That choice was removed from the 2025 bulletin and the 2026 bulletin kept it that way: there are 5 numerical questions per subject and all of them count. Older mock papers and some books still show the 10-question format, so do not be surprised if your printed test series looks different from the real exam.

Marking scheme

If a question is dropped after the answer key challenge, the bulletin says all candidates in that shift get full marks for it. If an MCQ turns out to have more than one correct option, those who marked any of the correct options get the four marks.

What −1 does to a guess

Take a Section A question where you can rule out nothing. A blind guess is right one time in four, so over four such guesses you expect one +4 and three −1s, a net of +1. That is a small gain on paper, but in practice a tired student's "blind" guess is often pulled towards a trap option, and the average falls.

Now suppose you can eliminate two options with confidence. You are choosing between two, so over two such guesses you expect one +4 and one −1, a net of +3, or +1.5 per question. That is worth taking. Our rule for students is simple: guess in Section A only after eliminating at least one option, and prefer to eliminate two.

Section B is different. Since there are no options, a guessed number is almost never right, and each wrong entry costs a mark. Enter a numerical answer only when you have worked it out.

Timing and shifts

Paper 1 is three hours long (four hours for eligible PwD candidates with a scribe). In the 2026 cycle each session ran in two shifts a day: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The exam is held on many days across each session, and each shift gets a different paper. Your raw marks are converted into a percentile within your shift and then merged, which our guide on marks vs percentile vs rank explains in detail.

There are two sessions, normally in January and April. In 2026 Session 1 was scheduled for 21 to 30 January and Session 2 for 2 to 9 April. You may write one or both, and the better of your two NTA scores is used.

Other rules worth knowing

• Mode: computer based test for Paper 1. You click options and type numerical answers with the mouse.
• Calculator: none. In November 2025 NTA issued a notice clarifying that the on-screen calculator mentioned in a generic appendix does not apply to JEE Main, and that calculators in any form are not permitted.
• Rough work: done only on the rough sheets given at the centre, which you hand back at the end.
• Language: the 2026 bulletin offered the paper in 13 languages, including English, Hindi and Marathi. You choose the language in the application form and cannot change it later.
• Ties: NTA breaks ties using the Mathematics score first, then Physics, then Chemistry, and after that the ratio of wrong to right answers. Careless wrong answers can therefore cost you even in a tie.

What the pattern means for your preparation

With 25 questions in three hours for three subjects, you have about 2 minutes 24 seconds per question on average. Nobody spends time evenly, of course. Most students who score well finish Chemistry quickly (often in 40 to 50 minutes), which leaves more time for lengthy Mathematics and Physics questions.

Since Section B now has negative marking and no choice, every numerical question you skip is a question the toppers of your shift may be answering. Practise numericals with the same seriousness as MCQs, and practise rounding to the nearest integer so you do not lose marks over a decimal.

No calculator means arithmetic speed is part of the exam. A student who can work out 3.2 × 0.082 × 300 mentally without fuss saves minutes over a paper. Do your daily practice without a calculator from Class 11 itself.

Finally, write mocks on a computer. Clicking, scrolling and typing numbers with a mouse feels different from writing on paper, and it is better to get used to it long before January. Our previous year papers online let you attempt real JEE papers in the same kind of interface.

Common questions