JEE Main 2026 New Rules: NTA Changes in Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Guidelines

JEE Main 2026 New Rules Announced by NTA

Any new changes by NTA for 2026 session of the JEE Main exam will be mentioned on the official webste. These changes will also be mentioned here when released.

JEE Main Previous Year Important Changes

The changes made by the authorities include the change in the url of the official website, changes in the JEE Main exam pattern, reduced syllabus, Changes in the tie-breaking policy, increase in time for the PwD candidates, and rectification of mismatch while entering the Aadhar card name. The detailed information about the JEE Main new policy according to the previous year is given below.

JEE Main Revised Exam Pattern

Any new changes in the JEE Main 2026 exam pattern will be mentioned here when released. NTA has revised the JEE Main exam pattern from the previous year session. The following are the changes that were made to the JEE Main exam pattern

• Optional questions removed: The 5 optional questions out of 10 in the Section B of the JEE Main paper 1 & 2 pattern have been removed. Hence the JEE Main Section B question paper will contain only 5 questions and all of them will be compulsory

• Change in total number of questions: As the number of questions in the JEE Main 2026 section B have been reduced to 5 from 10, the total number of questions in the JEE Main question paper have also been reduced.

Paper 1 (BE/BTech): Total of 75 multiple-choice questions (MCQs)

Paper 2A (BArch): Total of 77 questions

Paper 2B (BPlan): Total of 100 MCQs

• Negative marking for Numerical based questions: The authority has also introduced negative marking for the Numerical based questions in Section B of the JEE Main exam. Candidates will be awarded +4 for correct answers and -1 will be deducted for incorrect answers.

JEE Main 2026 Reduced syllabus

NTA will publish the JEE Main 2026 syllabus on the official website. In the previous year, the JEE Main syllabus was reduced. Candidates can check the reduced JEE Main 2026 syllabus on the official website. Certain topics have been reduced from Physics in the JEE Main syllabus. The topics from the deleted chapters include Scalars & vectors, Vectors, Addition & Subtraction, Scalar & Vector products, Unit vectors, Resolution of vectors.

Aadhar card & School Certificate mismatch during JEE Main application

In the previous session, NTA had released steps to help aid the candidates who are experiencing the problem of Aadhar and educational certificate name mismatch during the JEE Main application process. The same process can be expected to be implemented in the JEE Main 2026 registration process. They can follow the below steps to correct the Aadhaar and school certificate name mismatch error.

• In case of error message/ popup about name mismatch on the aadhar card, candidates should first close the message/popup.

• Then , they should enter their name exactly as mentioned on the Aadhar card in the “Proceed with Aadhar Authentication” step

• The name of the candidate both on the educational certificate and the Aadhar will be captured through this method, allowing the candidates to continue with the JEE Advanced 2026 application.

Also Check: How to Correct Aadhaar Name Mismatch in JEE Mains 2026

JEE Main 2026 Exam Centres Reduced

NTA will soon release information about the JEE Main 2026 exam centres. In the last year, the total number of JEE Main exam centres twere decreased to 284 centres from 300 of the previous year. In the previous year, the authority has also added Germany as an international JEE Main exam centre.

JEE Main 2026 Tie-Breaking Policy

NTA will publish the JEE Main 2026 tie-breaking policy on the official website. A JEE Main new policy for tie-breaking was announced in the previous year online. The following are the new JEE Main tie-breaking guidelines

JEE Main 2026 paper 1 tie-breaking guidelines

• NTA score in Mathematics,

• NTA score in Physics,

• NTA score in Chemistry,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in all the subjects ,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Mathematics ,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Physics ,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Chemistry

• If there is a tie even after this, candidates will be assigned the same rank.

JEE Main 2026 paper 2A tie-breaking guidelines

• NTA score in Mathematics,

• NTA score in Aptitude Test,

• NTA score in Drawing Test,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in all the subjects ,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Mathematics (Part-I) ,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Aptitude Test (Part-II)

• If there is a tie even after this, candidates will be assigned the same rank

JEE Main 2026 paper 2B tie-breaking guidelines

• NTA score in Mathematics,

• NTA score in Aptitude Test,

• NTA score in Planning Based Questions,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in all the subjects ,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Mathematics (Part- I) ,

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Aptitude Test (Part- II)

• less proportion of attempted incorrect answers and correct answers in Planning Based Questions (Part-III)

• If there is a tie even after this, candidates will be assigned the same rank.

Increase in Exam time for PwD Candidates:

NTA had also increased the total exam time for PwD/Divyang candidates in the previous year. The following are the changes that have been made.

• Extra Time: PwD and PwBD applicants will be given an hour extra for the exam. Hence, the total exam time for these candidates will be 4 hours instead of 3.

• Compensatory Time: “Extra time” is now termed as “compensatory time.” Candidates using a scribe will be allotted at least 20 minutes extra for every hour of the exam.

• General Additional Time: All applicants with benchmark disabilities are eligible for an extra hour during the three-hour exam, regardless of whether or not they use a scribe.

• Shorter Exams: For exams shorter than an hour, extra time will be allocated in smaller increments, but the minimum time allotted should be 5 minutes.

JEE Main 2026 Official website URL

In the previous session, the authority had also reverted the url of JEE Main official website from jeemain.nta.ac.in to the original website url, jeemain.nta.nic.in.