JEE Main 2026: India's largest engineering entrance exam — gateway to 31 NITs, 26 IIITs, and 33 GFTIs, plus eligibility for JEE Advanced (IIT admission).Session 1: Jan 2026. Session 2: Apr 2026. Seats (NITs): ~25,000. Applicants: 12+ Lakh.JEE Main (Joint Entrance Examination Main) is conducted by NTA (National Testing Agency) for admission to undergraduate engineering programs (B.Tech/B.E.) at NITs, IIITs, GFTIs, and other participating institutions. It also serves as the qualifying exam for JEE Advanced — only the top 2.5 lakh JEE Main qualifiers can appear for JEE Advanced, which is the gateway to 23 IITs.
Registration OpenUpdated: March 2026
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JEE Main 2026
India's largest engineering entrance exam — gateway to 31 NITs, 26 IIITs, and 33 GFTIs, plus eligibility for JEE Advanced (IIT admission)
Session 1
Jan 2026
Session 2
Apr 2026
Seats (NITs)
~25,000
Applicants
12+ Lakh
📋Key Details
Conducting BodyNTA (National Testing Agency)
Education12th pass or appearing with Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics
Age LimitNo age limit (removed from 2019). Must have passed 12th in 2024, 2025, or appearing in 2026.
Attempts3 consecutive years (maximum 6 sessions — 2 per year)
Exam ModeComputer Based Test (CBT) — online at NTA exam centers
Scoring300 marks (Physics 100 + Chemistry 100 + Maths 100). MCQs + Numerical Answer Type.
JEE Advanced eligibilityTop 2,50,000 JEE Main qualifiers (category-wise) can appear for JEE Advanced for IIT admission
📝Paper 1: B.E./B.Tech (3 hours)
Each subject has 30 questions: 20 MCQs (4 marks each, -1 for wrong) + 10 Numerical (4 marks each, no negative, attempt any 5). Total 90 questions, attempt 75.
Physics (20 MCQ + 10 Numerical, attempt 5)25 Qs · 100 marks
Chemistry (20 MCQ + 10 Numerical, attempt 5)25 Qs · 100 marks
Mathematics (20 MCQ + 10 Numerical, attempt 5)25 Qs · 100 marks
Total75 Qs · 300 marks · 180 minutes
⚠️ Negative marking: MCQs: -1 for wrong answer. Numerical: No negative marking.
💰Posts & Salary
B.Tech at top NITs(NIT Trichy, NIT Warangal, NIT Surathkal, NIT Allahabad)
Top NITs: ₹10-20 LPA average packageB.Tech at IIITs(IIITs across India)
IIIT Hyderabad, IIIT Bangalore: ₹15-30 LPA⚖️JEE Main vs JEE Advanced — Key Differences
| Feature | JEE Main | JEE Advanced |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | NIT/IIIT/GFTI admission + JEE Advanced eligibility | IIT admission only |
| Conducted by | NTA | One of the 23 IITs (rotating) |
| Sessions | 2 per year (Jan + Apr) | 1 per year (May/Jun) |
| Difficulty | Moderate — NCERT + some beyond | Very High — conceptual + application |
| Attempts | 6 sessions over 3 years | 2 attempts in 2 consecutive years |
| Top colleges | NIT Trichy, IIIT Hyd, NIT Warangal | IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur |
| Applicants | 12+ lakh | 2.5 lakh (top JEE Main qualifiers) |
| Seats | ~60,000 | ~17,000 |
📅Important Dates
Session 1January 2026
Session 2April 2026
JEE Advanced 2026May-June 2026 (for top 2.5L Main qualifiers)
📚Preparation Strategy
1.NCERT textbooks (11th + 12th) for Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics are the foundation. 60-70% of JEE Main questions are directly from NCERT level. Master NCERT before touching coaching material.
2.Chemistry is the easiest to score in JEE Main — especially Inorganic and Physical Chemistry. Many students neglect Chemistry and over-focus on Physics/Maths. Chemistry can give you 80+ marks with relatively less effort.
3.Numerical Answer Type questions have no negative marking — attempt ALL of them. Even a rough approximation or educated guess has value since there's zero penalty for wrong NAT answers.
4.Take both sessions (January and April). Use January as practice and April as the real attempt. Your better score counts. Many toppers score 20-30 marks higher in Session 2 due to the experience from Session 1.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
🔗Related Exams
JEE Main — NTA
jeemain.nta.nic.in