Joint Entrance Examination (Main) (JEE Main)

National Testing Agency has released the JEE Main result 2020 for Paper I on January 17 in online mode.  The result of JEE Main 2020 Paper 2 (January session) will be released by NTA on January 31. The fianl answer key 2020 (January session) was released along with the JEE Main result at  jeemain.nic.in on January 17. National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the JEE Main exam dates for April session. The exam will be conducted on April 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11, 2020. JEE Main 2020 application form for April session will be made available from February 7 to March 7. Candidates can download the JEE Main 2020 admit card from March 16. JEE Main 2020 result for April session will be declared on April 30. This will also be the final result where better of the two scores will be considered to allot the JEE Main All India ranks. Admissions to 30814 seats in B.Tech/B.E., B.Arch and B.Plan programmes offered by 31 NITs, 25 IIITs and 28 CFTIs will be on the basis of the ranks declared in the JEE Main result.

NTA had conducted JEE Main 2020 (January session), from January 6 to 9 in computer based mode across 570 exam centres in 233 cities. A total 8,69,010 candidates appeared for the exam out of the 9,21,261  candidates who had registered for B.Tech/B.E. Check the JEE Main 2020 toppers for the January session. The provisional answer key was released on January 13 offering candidates the chance to challenge the same. Candidates appearing for the the April session can check the analysis of JEE Main 2020 (January) to get an idea of the difficulty levels to expect. JEE Main 2020 application form was available online from September 3 to October 10, 2019.  Candidates applying for B.Tech must appear for JEE Main 2020 Paper-I while candidates aspiring for B.Arch/B.Plan admissions have to appear for JEE Main Paper-II.  

States like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand and Nagaland and many other private universities and institutes use JEE Main ranks for admissions. The eligibility criteria of these will be separate.

New Changes in JEE Main 2020:

• JEE Main Application Form - There is a change in the registration process. Application fee has been increased. Offline mode has been discontinued.
• Number of JEE Main 2020 exam centres have been reduced to 233. Last year they were 264 in India.
• The new JEE Main exam pattern shows the introduction of numerical questions
• Paper 1 now has only 75 questions from Physics, Chemistry and Maths instead of the earlier 90. Each section has 20 MCQs and 5 numerical questions. Total marks for Paper 1 have also been reduced to 300.
• Paper 2 has been segregated to separate papers for B.Arch and B.Plan where Maths and Aptitude is common for both. B.Arch applicants must take the drawing test and B.Plan aspirants must take up Planning test. Total marks have increased to 400
• There is no negative marking for numerical questions.
• From 2021, JEE Main is expected to be held in 11 regional languages - Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
• UPSEE will no longer be held from the year 2021. Instead JEE Main will be the exam for undergraduate engineering admissions in Uttar Pradesh.

All aspirants must adhere to the prescribed NTA JEE Main eligibility criteria. It includes guidelines for age, requisite academic qualifications, subjects studied in qualifying exam, pass percentage etc. The detailed JEE Main eligibility criteria to appear for the entrance exam are specified below

Age Criteria: There is no age limit for JEE Main. 

Qualifying Examinations: Candidates must have passed class 12 or equivalent exam in 2018 or 2019. Candidates appearing for class 12 board examination in 2020 will be also eligible for JEE Main.

Subjects to be Qualified in Qualifying Examination: Candidates must have studied a minimum of 5 subjects which will be considered. They are Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry/Biology/Biotechnology/Technical Vocational Subject, Language and any other subject. Candidates who have taken four subjects will not be eligible.

Number of attempts: All aspirants can appear twice in a year. Students can appear for JEE Main for three years consecutively therefore the total attempts allowed for each student will be six in three years

For JEE Main Paper II- Candidates applying for B.Arch programme must have passed 10+2 or equivalent examination with 50% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics individually and in aggregate. Diploma holders are not eligible for the entrance exam.

Qualifying Marks for Admission into IITs, NITs, IIITs and CFTIs: Gen/OBC candidates must have scored a minimum of 75% marks or should be in the top 20 percentile of their respective boards. Candidates belonging to SC/ST category must have minimum scores of 65% or be in the top 20 percentile of their boards.

Reservation Criteria for JEE Main

Note: Reservation for the NITs, IIITs and GFTIs will be as per the central list and not as per the state of eligibility.

Mode of Application : Online

Mode of Payment : Net Banking | Credit Card | Debit Card | Paytm | BHIM

NTA will release JEE Main application form for April session from February 7 in online mode at jeemain.nta.nic.in. The last date to fill the application form of JEE Main 2020 is March 7. Candidates who hace appeared for the JEE MainJanuary 2020 exam need not register again. They can use their January credentials to fill the JEE Main application form. Asprirants filling the JEE Main 2020 application form for the first time in April will have to follow all the steps mentioned below starting from registration to payment of application fee and printing the confirmation page. The application form of JEE Main 2020 will be the same for both Paper I and Paper 2.

JEE Main 2020 application for January session was available in online mode from September 3 to October 10, 2019. Candidates could fill the application form either for Paper 1 or Paper 2 or for both. To fill the application form of JEE Main, the candidates have to follow the given below steps:

Step 1: Registration- Candidates who are filling the JEE Main application form for the first time in April have to register first by entering personal and contact details. Candidates who have already applied in January can skip this step and login directly. Next the password must be input as per the given specifications.On successful registration, the JEE Main application number is generated.

Password specifications are - It must have 8 to 13 characters with at least one Upper case, one lower case alphabet, one numeric value and one special character - !@#$%^&*

Step 2: Fill JEE Main 2020 Application Form – Candidates have to enter the following details

• Examination Related Details: Paper appearing for (Paper 1 or 2 or both), choice of any 4 examination centres , preferred language for exam (English/ Hindi/ Gujarati). Next other details have to be entered as follows
• Academic details
• Guardian Income

Step 3: Upload Scanned Images of Documents – The third step in the application process of JEE Main is to upload the scanned images of the specified documents in the prescribed format and dimensions. 

Specifications of Scanned Documents

Step 4: Make Fee Payment- Candidates will have to pay the requisite fee of JEE Main 2020 either in online mode only

JEE Main Application Fees

Mode of Payment: Debit card/Credit card/Net Banking/ UPI and Paytm services. 

Step 5: Print out of Acknowledgement/ Confirmation Page: Once the JEE Main application form is submitted, take 4 print out the acknowledgement page and keep it safely for future use.

Check JEE Main Payment Status -

Candidates may login to see if their payment status is "OK". Only then can they print the confirmation page. The following steps have to be followed if the payment status is not "OK":

• In case of online payment:  This means that the transaction has been cancelled. While the amount will be refunded automatically within 7 to 10 days, candidates have to pay the fees once again.

JEE Main 2020 Correction Window- NTA had opened JEE Main application correction facility from October 14 to 20, 2019. During this time period, candidates could edit some of the prescribed information in their application form. In case of category change from reserved to general, the difference in fee had to be paid online. However in case of a change from general to reserved category, there was no refund of the difference in fee.

JEE Main Registration Statistics

Application Fees

It is a known fact that JEE Main sees more than 12 lakh candidates every year vying for a seat in the NITs, IIITs or GFTIs . It is important that preparation for the largest engineering entrance exam be fruitful. JEE Main preparation tips specify the steps to be followed by students wishing to crack the exam and taste success in it. Some of the preparation tips suggested by experts and toppers are

• Use the syllabus and study all topics thoroughly
• Understand and know the exam pattern well
• Prepare a study plan and adhere to it well
• Check and refer important books and topics recommended by experts and toppers
• Prepare short notes while studying to use as reference at the last minute
• Practice well by solving previous year sample papers
• Revise and analyze after each test
• Attempt JEE Main 2020 mock test to feel actual exam environment
• Revise regularly to avoid missing or forgetting any topic
• Go for small breaks to avoid monotony and tiredness
• Stay positive and be confident; avoid comparisons with others
• Keep healthy and fit

Important Topics to keep in mind during JEE Main preparation

Chapters in Physics with weightage 

Chapters in Mathematics with weightage  

Chapters in Chemistry with weightage 

Best books for JEE Main

While NCERT help in cementing the foundation, the edge in JEE Main preparation comes from referring that extra study material. The following books are recommended by students and experts

Best Books for JEE Main Chemistry 

• Modern Approach to Chemical Calculations by R.C. Mukherjee
• Organic Chemistry by O P Tandon
• Concept of Physical Chemistry by P Bahadur
• Concise Inorganic Chemistry by J D Lee
• Physical Chemistry by P.W. Atkins
• Organic Chemistry by Morrison & Boyd

JEE Main - Best Books for Maths

• Objective Mathematics by R D Sharma
• Plane Trigonometry by S L Loney
• The Elements Of Coordinate Geometry by S L Loney
• Algebra by Dr S K Goyal Arihant Publications
• Play with Graphs by Amit M Agarwal (Arihant Publications)
• Differential Calculus by Amit M Agarwal (Arihant Publications)
• Integral Calculus by Amit M Agarwal (Arihant Publications)
• Complete mathematics for JEE Main TMH

Best Books for JEE Main Maths

• Concepts of physics (Vol. 1 and 2) by H.C Verma
• Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick & Walker
• Understanding Physics by D C Pandey (Arihant Publications)
• Problems in General Physics by I.E Irodov
• Understanding physics by Freedman and Young
• Problems in physics by SS Krotov
• Problems and solution of physics by Shashi Bhushan Tiwari

Success Mantras of JEE Main Toppers

JEE Main Toppers 2020 - January

Some of the JEE Main 2019 Topper interviews have been listed below to allow students to read about the success mantras of the students who have managed to beat all competition and crack the exam to reach the top in 2019.

JEE Main Paper 1 Exam Pattern

JEE Main 2020 Exam Pattern for Paper 1- NTA has detailed the exam pattern of JEE Main Paper 1 which is for the B.Tech aspirants. Familiarity with exam pattern is a mandatory factor in preparation as the exam is the toughest with more than 12 lakh students appearing for it. The JEE Main exam pattern for Paper 1 specifies the types of questions expected, number of questions, duration of exam, marking scheme and language of test etc. The details of the exam pattern of JEE Main Paper 1 are given below.

JEE Main Exam Pattern (Paper 1)

* MCQs- Multiple Choice Questions
*NQs - Numerical Questions

JEE Main Paper 2 Exam Pattern

JEE Main 2020 Exam Pattern for Paper 2- Aspiring architects appearing for Paper 2 of JEE Main Paper must know the exam pattern well if they wish to crack the exam. The JEE Main exam pattern (Paper 2) has aptitude and mathematics in addition to drawing therefore its partly a computer based test and partly a pend and paper one. Exam Pattern of JEE Main Paper 2 details the types and number of questions asked, exam duration, marking methodology etc. Candidates can check the Paper 2 JEE Main exam pattern 2020 below.

 JEE Main 2020 Exam Pattern (Paper 2) for B.Arch

JEE Main 2020 Exam Pattern (Paper 2) for B.Plan

Practice is the key to improve on what one has studied. This is possible with constant practice with the help of past question papers, mock tests and such for JEE Main. The mock tests are available on the NTA website where one can download the same or practice online. Students can even register and book to go to the Test Practice Centres (TPCs) near to their place. Accordingly to the officials, 2,697 TPCs have been established in various schools and engineering colleges with computer centres. To avail this facility, candidates will have to do online registration and visit these TPCs as per the slot allotted to them. The TPCs have a downloaded Computer Based Test (CBT) which is similar to the actual JEE Main exam. Also, authorities have developed an app which enables candidates to choose the nearest JEE Main mock test centres.

To practice on the JEE Main Mock test on the NTA website click here 
Candidates can access the mock test of JEE Main 2020 without the need to login. They must simply press enter on the login button without any inputs. JEE Main Mock tests are available for both Paper I and Paper II. However, in case of Paper II, mock test for drawing section or B.planning is not available. 

NTA has released sample numerical questions of JEE Main 2020. Candidates can use these to understand the type of questions that may be asked in the actual exam. 

JEE Main 2020 Sample Papers

JEE Main Question Papers of Past Years

It is important to check all JEE Main question papers from the past years. This will allow students to gauge the important topics, understand how the exam will be like, improve their time management skills as well as increase their speed of answering on the JEE Main exam day.

Question Papers of JEE Main January 2019

JEE Main Question Papers- April 2019

NTA will release the admit card of JEE Main April 2020 in online mode on March 16. To download their JEE Main 2020 admit card, candidates have to login using their application number, date of birth or password. Details like name, exam centre address, admit card number, roll number, timing of examination, paper appearing for, gender and more will be displayed on the admit card of JEE Main 2020.

The JEE Main admit card 2020 for January was released by NTA on December 6. 

How to download the JEE Main admit card?

Candidates can download the JEE  Main admit card by two methods:

• Using their Application Number and Password
• Using their  Application Number and Date of Birth

However, before downloading the admit card candidates must check all the information furnished on it.  JEE Main admit card is an important identity document. Without admit card of JEE Main 2020 candidates will not be allowed to enter the examination hall. 

What to carry to the exam hall along with the admit card of JEE Main?

• A valid photo id proof (College/ School ID Card, Driving License, Passport) to the exam centre.
• A passport size photograph (same as in application form)
• PwD certificate if applicable

Details mentioned in JEE Main 2020 admit card

• Name of Candidate
• Father's Name
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• Category
• State of Eligibility
• Roll Number
• Paper for which appearing
• Application Number
• Exam Centre Name
• Exam Centre Address
• Date of Exam
• Timing of Exam (Shift)
• Photograph of Candidate
• Signature of Candidate
• Candidate's parent signature

Unable to download the admit card?

Candidates who are unable to download their admit card must call the helpline numbers from 10 am to 5 pm OR send an email to jeemain-nta@nic.in giving their application number and also the confirmation page.

NTA will release the answer key of JEE Main 2020 on April 15 (tentative) in online mode. The answer key of JEE Main caries the correct responses of the questions asked during the examination. The authorities will release the provisional JEE Main answer key along with the candidates response sheets.  The recorded responses of all candidates are released through candidate login for candidates to cross verify their answers.  Candidates can calculate their probable scores with the help of JEE Main 2020 answer key.  Candidates can also challenge the answer key released by NTA within the given specified dates. To challenge the answer key, candidates will have to fill the online application form and pay the processing fees of Rs.1000 per question. Candidates must note that challenge of answer key will also be in online mode. Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the final JEE Main 2020 answer key and the result will be compiled on the basis of the same.

The National Testing Agency had released the JEE Main 2020 answer key on January 13 in online mode. Candidates were allowed to raise objections to any of the answers specified in the JEE Main answer key last by January 15. The final answer key of JEE Main January 2020 was released on January 17. Three questions - two from Physics and one from Maths were cancelled as per the final answer key.

How to download the JEE Main answer key?

• Candidates must use their application number and date of birth/password to login.
• They must click on the challenge answer key link given there.
• The IDs of the correct answers will be displayed along with the options to challenge the answer key.
• Take a printout of the same. 
• Match the IDs with the downloaded question paper available in the candidate's account.

Before candidates challenge the answer key of JEE Main, it is imperative to ensure that they know the question IDs that are given therein. So the first step candidates must do is to download the JEE Main question papers that are also available in the candidate login. Then they must check the JEE  Main answer key (provisional) for the correct answers and match them. In case of discrepancy, they must note the question ID and the answer ID that they think is correct.

How to challenge the JEE Main 2020 answer key?

• Login to the JEE Main account.
• Click on the "challenge answer key" link displayed.
• Go to the question to be challenged and click on the answer ID option that is correct.
• Save and pay Rs 1000 per question challenged.

What if the challenge is accepted and the answers are correct?

Candidates whose challenge has been found to be correct will be refunded the amount paid for that question only. In case all questions are found correct, the entire amount will be refunded.

Since the exam is a computer based test held in multiple sessions on different days, candidates can use the JEE Main exam analysis to get an idea of the difficulty levels of the exam and what to expect in their own session. While the JEE Main 2020 exam analysis is available from January 6, candidates can check the exam analysis of JEE Main 2019.

JEE Main  Exam Analysis by Coaching Institutes

Afternoon Shift Analysis of JEE Main Paper 1 (April 12, 2019)

• Students in this shift felt that Physics was the most difficult, Chemistry easiest and Mathematics moderate with a mixture of various topics

JEE Main Paper 1 Forenoon Shift Analysis (April 12, 2019)

• This session was felt to be moderate with Chemistry questions from NCERT books. Mathematics was deemed as lengthy and Physics of moderate difficulty

Afternoon Shift Analysis of JEE Main Paper 1 (April 10, 2019)

• Students here found Physics section of average difficulty, Mathematics the toughest and Chemistry the easiest. Most felt that the paper was a bit above the NCERT levels.

JEE Main Paper 1 Forenoon Shift Analysis (April 10, 2019)

• The paper was found to be moderate where Physics was the hardest section, Mathematics moderate to easy and Chemistry easiest. The topics were balanced equally.

Afternoon Shift Analysis of JEE Main Paper 1 (April 9, 2019)

• Mathematics ranged from moderate to difficult, Physics was lengthy and difficult while Chemistry was easiest.

Forenoon Shift Analysis of JEE Main Paper 1 (April 9, 2019)

• Physics was the most difficult and Chemistry the easiest. Most questions were from 11th standard syllabus. Mathematics was of moderate levels

JEE Main Paper 1 Afternoon Shift Analysis (April 8, 2019)

• Chemistry was easy while Mathematics was of moderate difficulty. Physics was comparatively difficult with questions from Mechanics, Modern Physics and more for the Physics section.

Forenoon Shift Analysis of JEE Main Paper 1 (April 8, 2019)

• Mathematics was easy to moderate while Physics was the toughest. Chemistry was easy with some fact based questions directly from NCERT.