Engineering · Entrance Exams

JEE Mains 2027 Exam Date, Registration and Syllabus; JEE Main 2026 Result, Cut-off, Toppers, Exam Pattern, Eligibility and Free JEE Main Mock Tests

JEE Main — searched far more often as JEE Mains — is the national engineering entrance for the NITs, IIITs and centrally funded technical institutions, and it is also the qualifying examination for JEE Advanced and therefore for the IITs. It is held in two sessions a year, and a candidate who sits both is credited with the better result.

Two features shape how it should be approached. Scores are reported as normalised percentiles rather than raw marks, because the paper runs across many shifts. And the two-session structure changes the strategic picture entirely: the first session is a genuine attempt that costs nothing to make.

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JEE Main · checked 19 September 2026

JEE Main at a glance, from the official notices

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

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19September 2026

Checked 19 September 2026

JEE Main: the facts that matter now

  1. 01

    Session 1: notice 31 October 2025, applications to 27 November, examination 21, 22, 23, 24 and 28 January 2026 in ten shifts, result 16 February.…

    2026 cycle

  2. 02

    16,04,854 unique candidates registered for Paper 1 and 15,38,468 appeared; 13,04,653 appeared in January and 10,34,330 in April; 8,00,516 sat both…

    2026 numbers

  3. 03

    Top 2,50,000: UR 93.4123549 percentile, EWS 82.4164528, OBC-NCL 80.9232583, SC 63.9172792, ST 52.0174712, UR-PwBD 0.0023186

    JEE Advanced 2026 cut-off

  4. 04

    Not yet notified; the 2026 Session 1 notice came on 31 October 2025 with the examination from 21 January — expect the 2027 notice in late October…

    JEE Main 2027

Notification

JEE Main notification and key dates

Checked 18 September 2026 on jeemain.nta.nic.in and nta.ac.in. NTA’s examination calendar of 16 September 2026 proposes JEE Main 2027 Session 1 for 22, 23, 24, 28, 29 and 30 January 2027 with 31 January in reserve; the calendar is indicative and the information bulletin, expected in late October or November, fixes the dates. JEE Main 2026 is complete: Session 2 for Paper 1 was held on 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 April 2026 in nine shifts at 584 centres in 319 cities (15 abroad), the final answer keys and the result were published on 20 April, and the Paper 2A/2B scores on 5 May 2026. JoSAA 2026 counselling ran from June into July. The JEE Main 2027 bulletin and registration have not been published.

JEE Main 2026 — the cycle as it ran.
EventSession 1 (January 2026)Session 2 (April 2026)
Public notice and bulletin31 October 20251 February 2026; portal re-opened 12 March
Applications31 October – 27 November 2025February 2026, with a correction window from 21 February
City intimation and admit cardsEarly January; admit cards 17 and 24 January21 March; admit cards 29 March and 1 April
Paper 1 examination21, 22, 23, 24 and 28 January 2026 — ten shifts2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 April 2026 — nine shifts
Provisional key and challenge4 February 202611 April 2026
Paper 1 result16 February 202620 April 2026 (final keys the same day)
Paper 2A/2B result24 February 20265 May 2026
JEE Main 2026 Paper 1 in numbers, from the NTA press release of 20 April 2026.
ItemFigure
Unique candidates registered / appeared16,04,854 / 15,38,468
Session 1 registered / appeared13,55,293 / 13,04,653
Session 2 registered / appeared11,10,904 / 10,34,330 (93.11 per cent attendance)
Appeared in both sessions8,00,516
Registered by categoryGeneral 5,64,457; OBC 6,34,923; EWS 1,83,699; SC 1,65,912; ST 55,863; PwBD 4,994
100 NTA percentile26 candidates, from Andhra Pradesh (5), Telangana (5), Rajasthan (4), Delhi (3), Haryana (2), Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Odisha and Tamil Nadu
Languages13 — English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu
Category-wise cut-off of NTA score for JEE Advanced 2026 eligibility (top 2,50,000).
CategoryPercentile rangeCandidates
UR100 – 93.412354996,873
UR-PwBD93.3244144 – 0.00231864,391
EWS93.4105172 – 82.416452825,009
OBC-NCL93.4105172 – 80.923258367,597
SC93.4105172 – 63.917279237,522
ST93.4041748 – 52.017471218,790

JEE Main 2027

Not notified as of mid-September. On the 2026 calendar the Session 1 notice and bulletin appeared on 31 October 2025 with applications to 27 November and the examination from 21 January; the 2027 cycle should follow the same shape. The 2026 bulletin — 75 compulsory questions, +4/−1 in both sections, the two-session best-score rule and the 75 per cent board condition — is the best guide until the 2027 bulletin appears. NTA has also clarified (notice of 2 November 2025) that no calculator, on-screen or otherwise, is available in JEE Main.

Overview

What JEE Main is, and who it suits

JEE Main serves two purposes at once. Its ranks feed admission to the National Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Information Technology and other centrally funded institutions through the joint counselling process. Separately, the top band of its qualifiers becomes eligible to sit JEE Advanced, which is the route to the IITs.

Paper 1 is for engineering admissions and covers physics, chemistry and mathematics. Paper 2A and Paper 2B cover architecture and planning respectively, adding an aptitude test and, for architecture, a drawing test. Most candidates sit Paper 1 alone.

What the two-session structure means in practice

  • The better of the two results counts — so a session that goes badly costs you nothing except the time spent sitting it.
  • The first session is a free calibration — a real examination under real conditions, which no mock can fully replicate.
  • It reduces the cost of a bad day — illness, nerves or an unlucky paper in one session is recoverable in the other.
  • It rewards being ready earlier — candidates who plan only for the second session forgo the calibration the first would have given them.

Percentiles, not marks

Because the examination runs across many shifts with papers of slightly differing difficulty, scores are normalised and reported as percentiles. Your percentile reflects the proportion of candidates who scored at or below you in your session, not a raw mark. Comparing raw scores with candidates from other shifts tells you very little.

Eligibility

Who can apply for JEE Main

JEE Main eligibility, from chapter 3 of the 2026 information bulletin. NTA sets the conditions for appearing; JoSAA and CSAB apply the board-marks condition at admission.

Who may appear in JEE Main 2026.
ConditionRule
AgeNo age limit; institutions may apply their own
Year of class 12Passed in 2024 or 2025, or appearing in 2026; candidates who passed in 2023 or earlier are not eligible. The passing year is the year the result was first declared as a pass
Qualifying examinationThe 10+2 final examination of a recognised board, or the equivalents the bulletin lists (intermediate, pre-university, NIOS with five subjects, three-year diploma, GCE A-level, IB and others)
Subjects for Paper 1 admissionPhysics, Mathematics, a language, one of Chemistry, Biotechnology, Biology or a technical vocational subject, and any other subject
AttemptsTwo sessions a year, both may be taken; the better total NTA score counts
Admission condition for the NIT+ system (NITs, IIEST, IIITs and other GFTIs through JoSAA/CSAB).
CategoryClass 12 requirement
General, EWS, OBC-NCLAt least 75 per cent aggregate in five subjects, or within the category-wise top 20 percentile of the board
SC, ST, PwDAt least 65 per cent aggregate, or the top 20 percentile

Other rules from the bulletin

  • State of eligibility — the state from which the class-12 examination is passed, used for home-state quotas; it does not change with the examination centre.
  • Aadhaar and documents — Aadhaar, UDID and category certificates should be updated before applying (advisory of 1 October 2025); photograph must match the identity document (advisory of 2 January 2026).
  • PwD candidates — a scribe and one hour of compensatory time under the Office Memoranda of 2018 and 2022.
  • Session 2 only — a fresh candidate may apply for Session 2 alone; a Session 1 candidate logs in with the same application number to add Session 2.

Selection process

How JEE Main selection works

Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.

Stages change between cycles. Confirm the structure in the notification for the cycle you are sitting.
StageFormatWhat it involves
Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech.) — Session 1 and Session 2Computer-based, 75 questions, 300 marks, 3 hours per sessionTwo sessions a year; a candidate may sit either or both and the better total NTA score counts. Each subject has Section A (20 MCQs) and Section B (5 numerical-value questions), all compulsory, +4/−1 throughout. Raw marks are converted to NTA percentile scores shift by shift and merged.
Paper 2A (B.Arch.) and 2B (B.Planning)Mathematics and Aptitude on computer; Drawing on paper (2A); Planning MCQs (2B); 3 hours, 3 hours 30 minutes for bothSeparate papers for architecture and planning admission at NITs and other institutions; results as NTA scores, with the 2026 Session 2 scores declared on 5 May 2026.
Rank, JEE Advanced eligibility and counsellingAll India Rank from the merged NTA scores; top 2,50,000 to JEE Advanced; JoSAA and CSAB roundsThe overall merit list merges both sessions on the best total score, with ties broken on Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry scores and then fewer wrong answers. The category-wise cut-off for JEE Advanced is published with the Session 2 result; JoSAA allots NIT+ seats on the JEE Main rank from June, and CSAB fills the remaining seats.

Application to counselling

How JEE Main runs, from the NTA form to the percentile score, the JEE Advanced cut-off and JoSAA

The steps follow the JEE (Main) 2026 information bulletin and the notices of the two sessions.

The JEE Main process

  1. Register on jeemain.nta.nic.in One registration for the year with the candidate’s own or a parent’s mobile number and e-mail; the form takes the personal details as on the class-10 certificate, the category and PwD status, the class-12 details and state of eligibility, the paper(s), the medium and up to four city choices. Upload the photograph and signature to specification, and the category or PwD certificate where claimed.
  2. Pay the session fee Per session: ₹1,000 (General male), ₹800 (General female), ₹900/₹800 (EWS and OBC-NCL), ₹500 (SC, ST, PwD, third gender); more for two papers; ₹5,000 to ₹2,500 for centres abroad; processing charges and GST extra. The application counts only when the payment succeeds.
  3. Correction window A short window after each closing date for the fields NTA allows; NTA does not change forms on request afterwards.
  4. City intimation and admit card The city slip about two weeks before the session and the admit card three to four days before each date, on the portal; carry the admit card, the photo-ID used in the form and a passport photograph. The advisory of each session lists the permitted items.
  5. The computer-based test Two shifts a day (9 a.m. – 12 noon and 3 – 6 p.m.); the on-screen keypad for numerical answers, rounded to the nearest integer; no virtual calculator. Questions marked for review with an answer are evaluated.
  6. Answer key challenge, NTA score and result The provisional key with the recorded responses is displayed for about three days at ₹200 per challenge, refundable if accepted; the final key and the session’s NTA scores follow. After Session 2 the merged All India Rank, the JEE Advanced cut-off and the 100-percentile list are published together.
  7. JEE Advanced registration and JoSAA Candidates within the top 2,50,000 register for JEE Advanced in the last week of April; everyone with a JEE Main rank registers on josaa.nic.in in June for the NIT+ rounds, with CSAB special rounds for vacant seats afterwards. The class-12 marks condition is verified at admission.

Exam pattern

JEE Main exam pattern and marking

The JEE Main exam pattern below is chapter 2 of the 2026 information bulletin: Paper 1 of 75 compulsory questions for 300 marks in three hours, with Section A multiple-choice and Section B numerical-value questions in each subject and negative marking in both. The optional questions of 2021–2024 are gone.

JEE Main Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech.). 3 hours, computer-based.
SubjectSection A (MCQ)Section B (numerical)Marks
Mathematics205100
Physics205100
Chemistry205100
Total6015300
Marking, scoring and merit.
ItemDetail
MCQ marking+4 correct, −1 wrong, 0 unanswered or marked for review without an option
Numerical marking+4 correct, −1 wrong, 0 blank; the answer is rounded to the nearest integer and entered on the on-screen keypad
Dropped questionsFull marks to everyone as the bulletin provides
NTA scoreRaw marks in each subject and in total converted to percentile scores shift by shift; the overall merit merges all shifts of both sessions on the best total
Tie-breakHigher NTA score in Mathematics, then Physics, then Chemistry; then the lower proportion of wrong to right answers overall and by subject; then the same rank
Medium13 languages; bilingual with English
Paper 2A / 2BMathematics and Aptitude on computer plus Drawing on paper (2A) or Planning MCQs (2B); 3 hours, 3 hours 30 minutes for both

What the percentile means

A 93.41 percentile — the 2026 UR line for JEE Advanced — is the score better than 93.41 per cent of the candidates in the same shift; because 16 lakh candidates sit across 19 shifts, the same raw marks can carry slightly different percentiles by shift, and only the percentile is used for merit. The 26 candidates at 100 percentile each topped their own shift.

Study plan

How to prepare for JEE Main

JEE Main is a speed-and-accuracy paper on the class 11 and 12 syllabus with a −1 mark that makes 55–60 accurate attempts out of 75 a top-percentile score. Two sessions ten weeks apart give a second chance at the better score. A class-12 candidate has the school year to January and the February–March gap to April; a dropper has the full year.

Twelve-month plan for JEE Main 2027.
MonthsWorkOutput
1–4Class 11 syllabus in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry from NCERT plus one problem book per subject; chapter tests with +4/−1Formula sheets; error log by chapter
5–8Class 12 syllabus the same way; numerical-value practice for Section B (answers to the nearest integer, no options to eliminate)Weekly timed sectional tests
9Previous papers — all 19 shifts of 2026 and the 2025 shifts — as full three-hour computer mocksAttempt count fixed per subject
10Session 1 (January): two mocks a week in the 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. slots; revision from the error logSession 1 score and percentile
11–12Between sessions: fix the two weakest chapters per subject; mocks on the Session 1 papers; Session 2 in AprilBest-of-two score; JEE Advanced registration if inside the cut-off

What 99-percentile candidates do

  • They treat Section B as the differentiator — numerical questions cannot be guessed and carry the same +4/−1; 4 of 5 right per subject is 60 clean marks.
  • They attempt by accuracy, not by count — with −1 per wrong answer, 55 attempts at 90 per cent accuracy (198 net) beats 75 at 70 per cent (195) with far less risk.
  • They know the NCERT for Chemistry — inorganic and organic chemistry questions track the textbook closely and are the fastest marks in the paper.
  • They use both sessions — the better total counts and the second session comes with the first’s papers as practice.

Practice on this site

JEE Main syllabus JEE Main previous year papers JEE Main mock tests JEE Main study material JEE Advanced guide

Sources

Official notifications and sources

Checked 15 September 2026 against the JEE (Main) 2026 information bulletin, the NTA press releases and public notices on jeemain.nta.nic.in and nta.ac.in.

Official documents

JEE (Main) — NTA portal Press release: declaration of the JEE (Main) 2026 Paper 1 result and NTA scores, 20 April 2026 (PDF) JEE (Main) 2026 Session 1 and Session 2 for Paper 1 — shift-wise data (PDF) Final answer keys, JEE (Main) 2026 Session 2 Paper 1 (PDF) Declaration of final NTA scores for Paper 2A and 2B, 5 May 2026 (PDF) Declaration of Session 1 NTA scores for Paper 1, 16 February 2026 (PDF) Public notice: inviting applications for Session 2, 1 February 2026 (PDF) Information bulletin, JEE (Main) 2026 (PDF) Syllabus, JEE (Main) 2026 (PDF) Public notice: inviting applications for Session 1, 31 October 2025 (PDF) Clarification on the virtual calculator in JEE (Main) 2026 (PDF) JoSAA — Joint Seat Allocation Authority CSAB — Central Seat Allocation Board

Exam resources

Everything for JEE Main

Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.

JEE Main SyllabusJEE Main syllabus — physics, chemistry and mathematics topics drawn from the class 11 and 12 curriculum.JEE Main Exam PatternJEE Main exam pattern 2026 and 2027 — 75 compulsory questions, 300 marks, Section A MCQs and Section B numerical, +4/−1, percentile scoring, cut-offs.JEE Main Previous PapersJEE Main previous year papers — building a topic weighting table and practising the numerical value question format.JEE Main Mock TestsJEE Main mock tests — full three-hour computer-based practice with the correct marking scheme and numerical sections.JEE Main PreparationJEE Main preparation strategy — sequencing the three subjects, using the two sessions, and building speed alongside board study.JEE Main Study MaterialJEE Main study material — physics, chemistry and mathematics notes mapped to the class 11 and 12 syllabus.

Related

More Engineering preparation

All Engineering examsEvery exam in this categoryPrevious-year papersPast papers with solutionsCurrent affairsDaily, weekly and monthlyExam updatesNotifications and results

Questions

JEE Main — FAQs

How does the two-session system work in JEE Main?

The examination is held twice a year and a candidate may sit either or both. Where both are attempted, the better result is counted for ranking. This makes the first session effectively a free attempt: a bad day costs nothing, while the experience of sitting a real paper under real conditions is something no mock fully reproduces. Candidates who plan only for the second session give up that calibration for no benefit.

Why are JEE Main results given as percentiles?

Because the examination runs across many shifts whose papers differ slightly in difficulty, raw scores are normalised so that no candidate is disadvantaged by drawing a harder shift. Your percentile reflects the proportion of candidates in your session who scored at or below you, not a raw mark out of 300. This is why comparing raw scores with candidates who sat other shifts tells you very little about relative position.

How is JEE Main related to JEE Advanced?

JEE Main ranks feed admission to the NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded institutions, and separately a defined top band of Paper 1 qualifiers becomes eligible to register for JEE Advanced, which is the entrance for the IITs. Eligibility for Advanced is also subject to conditions on class 12 performance and on the number of attempts. The two examinations share a syllabus in outline but differ sharply in depth and in question style.

When is JEE Main 2027?

Not yet notified. NTA published the JEE (Main) 2026 Session 1 notice and bulletin on 31 October 2025 with applications to 27 November and the examination from 21 to 28 January 2026, and Session 2 in the first week of April; the 2027 cycle is expected on the same calendar, with the notice on jeemain.nta.nic.in in late October or November 2026.

What was the JEE Main 2026 cut-off for JEE Advanced?

The category-wise NTA-score cut-offs for the top 2,50,000 were UR 93.4123549 percentile (96,873 candidates), EWS 82.4164528 (25,009), OBC-NCL 80.9232583 (67,597), SC 63.9172792 (37,522), ST 52.0174712 (18,790) and UR-PwBD 0.0023186 (4,391), published with the Session 2 result on 20 April 2026.

How many candidates appeared in JEE Main 2026?

15,38,468 unique candidates appeared for Paper 1 out of 16,04,854 registered — 13,04,653 in January and 10,34,330 in April, with 8,00,516 sitting both sessions. Twenty-six candidates scored 100 NTA percentile, five each from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

What is the JEE Main exam pattern?

Paper 1 is a three-hour computer-based test of 75 compulsory questions for 300 marks: in each of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, 20 multiple-choice questions (Section A) and 5 numerical-value questions (Section B), with +4 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one in both sections. Raw marks become NTA percentile scores by shift, and the better of the two sessions counts.

Who is eligible for JEE Main, and is there an age limit?

No age limit. For JEE Main 2026 a candidate must have passed class 12 in 2024 or 2025 or be appearing in 2026 — those who passed in 2023 or earlier are out. Admission to the NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded institutions additionally needs 75 per cent aggregate in class 12 (65 for SC, ST and PwD) or a place in the board’s top 20 percentile.

What is the JEE Main fee?

Per session for one paper in India: ₹1,000 for General male and ₹800 for General female candidates, ₹900 and ₹800 for EWS and OBC-NCL, and ₹500 for SC, ST, PwD and third gender; ₹2,000 to ₹1,000 for two papers; ₹5,000 to ₹2,500 for centres abroad; processing charges and GST extra.

Is there negative marking in JEE Main numerical questions?

Yes, since 2024: Section B numerical-value questions carry the same +4 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one as the MCQs, and all five per subject are compulsory. The answer is rounded to the nearest integer and typed on the on-screen keypad; a blank scores nothing.

When is the JEE Mains 2027 exam date and registration?

Not yet notified as of 16 September 2026. NTA posted the JEE Main 2026 Session 1 notice on 31 October 2025 with registration to 27 November and the examination from 21 to 28 January 2026, then opened Session 2 registration on 1 February for the 2–8 April examination. On that calendar the JEE Mains 2027 registration should open in late October or November 2026 on jeemain.nta.nic.in, with Session 1 in the second half of January 2027 and Session 2 in April 2027.

What is the JEE Mains 2027 syllabus?

The syllabus NTA published with the 2026 information bulletin — Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at the class 11 and 12 level, with the topics dropped in 2024 still excluded — is the working syllabus for JEE Mains 2027 until the 2027 bulletin says otherwise. The topic-wise list is on the JEE Main syllabus page here, and the 2027 bulletin PDF, when it appears, will be linked from the sources section above.

How do I check the JEE Mains result and rank card?

On jeemain.nta.nic.in with the application number and date of birth or password. The 2026 Session 1 result came on 16 February and the Session 2 result, with the final NTA scores, All India Ranks and the JEE Advanced cut-off (93.41 percentile for the unreserved list), on 20 April 2026. The scorecard shows the percentile in each subject and overall; the rank card used by JoSAA is issued with the Session 2 result.

Are there free JEE Main mock tests?

Yes. The free JEE Main mock tests here follow the 2026 pattern — 75 compulsory questions with the 20 + 5 split per subject, three hours, +4 and −1 in both sections — and report a subject-wise score with an estimated percentile against the 2026 JEE Advanced cut-offs. Work through the 19 shifts of 2026 first.

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