What is JEE Main?
JEE Main, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), is India's largest engineering entrance exam and the gateway to NITs, IIITs and GFTIs through JoSAA counselling. It is also the qualifying exam for JEE Advanced — the route to the IITs. It runs in two sessions (January and April); your better NTA score counts.
Scale, for context: about 15.4 lakh candidates appeared across JEE Main 2026, with roughly 10.3 lakh in Session 2 alone. Twenty-six candidates scored a perfect 100 percentile.
JEE Main 2026: how the cycle went
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Session 1 exam (Paper 1) | 21–29 Jan 2026 |
| Session 1 result | 16 Feb 2026 |
| Session 2 exam (Paper 1) | 02–08 Apr 2026 |
| Session 2 result | Late Apr 2026 |
| JEE Advanced 2026 | 17 May 2026 (result Jun) |
| JoSAA 2026 Round 1 allotment | Out · rounds continuing Jun–Jul |
Qualifying cutoff for JEE Advanced 2026 (General category): 93.41 percentile. Category-wise cutoffs were published with the Session 2 result.
JoSAA counselling: what to do right now
The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) runs unified counselling for IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs. If you hold a valid 2026 rank:
- Check your Round 1 allotment on josaa.nic.in with your application number.
- If allotted, choose Freeze (accept and exit), Float (accept but stay eligible for upgrades), or Slide (accept but stay eligible for a better branch in the same institute).
- Pay the seat acceptance fee and upload documents within the round's deadline — missing it cancels your seat.
- If you didn't get a seat, stay registered; vacancies open in later rounds, and CSAB special rounds follow JoSAA for NIT+ system seats.
Exam pattern (stable across recent cycles)
| Feature | Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech) |
|---|---|
| Mode | Computer-based test |
| Subjects | Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics |
| Questions | 75 (25 per subject) |
| Marks | 300 |
| Marking | +4 correct · −1 incorrect |
| Duration | 3 hours |
Paper 2A (B.Arch) and 2B (B.Planning) are held separately for architecture and planning aspirants.
JEE Main 2027: expected schedule
These dates are expected, projected from the 2025 and 2026 cycles, and will be confirmed by NTA's information bulletin:
| Event | Expected timing |
|---|---|
| Information bulletin + Session 1 registration | Oct–Nov 2026 |
| Session 1 exam | Jan 2027 |
| Session 1 result | Feb 2027 |
| Session 2 exam | Apr 2027 |
| Session 2 result | Late Apr 2027 |
If you're in Class 12 now, the syllabus is the NTA-notified Class 11+12 PCM syllabus. Build on NCERT, add a standard problem book per subject, and start full-length mocks by October — the exam rewards time management as much as concepts.
JEE Main FAQs
Do both sessions count?
How many attempts do I get?
Is 75% in boards mandatory?
What is CSAB?
Sources & verification
This page was last verified on 2 July 2026 against:
- jeemain.nta.nic.in — official JEE Main website (2026 session records, results, answer keys)
- josaa.nic.in — Joint Seat Allocation Authority (Round 1 allotment status)
- NTA press releases for JEE Main 2026 Sessions 1 and 2
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