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Joint Entrance Examination – Main

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Not to be confused with Joint Entrance Examination – Advanced.

Joint Entrance Examination – Main
AcronymJEE-Main (formerly AIEEE)
TypeComputer based test (CBT) and pen and paper Mode (For B. Arch paper only)
AdministratorNational Testing Agency
Skills tested
PurposeAdmission to undergraduate engineering and architecture courses in 32 NITs, 26 IIITs, and 40 GFTIs and some others State Government and Private Institutes. Also serves as a preliminary selection and eligibility test for appearing JEE-Advanced for admission to 23 IITs
Year started2002 (23 years ago) (2002) Formerly known as AIEEE
Duration3 hours
Score range-75 to +300 in Paper 1 and -82 to +400 in Paper 2A & 2B
OfferedTwice a year (Except for the year 2021 where it was conducted 4 times due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Restrictions on attemptsMaximum six attempts in three consecutive years as it is conducted twice a year, with no age limit
Regions India
LanguagesEnglish
Hindi
Assamese
Bengali
Gujarati
Kannada
Malayalam
Marathi
Odia
Punjabi
Tamil
Telugu
Urdu
Annual number of test takers
PrerequisitesClass 12 or equivalent with Mathematics, Physics and any one of the technical subjects prescribed by AICTE from recognised board/university
Fee₹1,000 for General candidates

₹900 for General-EWS/OBC-NCL (Central List) candidates

₹500 for SC/ST/PwD/Third Gender candidates
Qualification rate2,50,284(17.68%) qualify for JEE-Advanced (2024)
Websitejeemain.nta.nic.in
As per 2025 information bulletin[1]

The Joint Entrance Examination – Main (JEE-Main), formerly All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), is an Indian standardized computer-based test for admission to various technical undergraduate programs in engineering, architecture, and planning across colleges in India. The exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admission to B.Tech, B.Arch, B.Planning etc. programs in premier technical institutes such as the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and Government Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs) which are based on the rank secured in the JEE-Main. It is usually conducted twice every year: Session 1 and Session 2 (commonly known as January session and April session). It also serves as a preliminary selection and eligibility test for qualifying JEE (Advanced) for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Since mid 2019, the JEE has been conducted fully online as a computerized test. Before the NTA, the JEE was administered by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

History

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The AIEEE was introduced in 2002, since the newly established NITs, IIITs and GFTIs wanted an entrance examination paper of a higher standard than the Common Engineering Test (CET), which was formerly used for admission to all non-IIT engineering colleges and some state government colleges also in few states, including even RECs and IIITs, owing mostly to the rising competition and the goal of maintaining the exclusiveness of such institutes of national importance. It was renamed to JEE-Main in 2013.

Until 2018, the exam was held both in pen and paper and CBT modes,[2] as well as was held in the first week of April by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It is conducted by National Testing Agency in CBT mode only from 2018 onwards.

The 2020 and 2021 exams were postponed and conducted later in the same years, due to the coronavirus pandemic.[3] 2021 was the only year throughout JEE-Main history, when a maximum of 4 attempts were given to students.[4] In general, for the rest of the years, most students took the JEE-Main exam in either 1 or 2 attempts, even though a maximum of 3 attempts is allowed during two consecutive years.

Structure

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The examination consists of only two papers: Paper 1 for B.E./B.Tech courses and Paper 2 for B.Arch and B.Planning courses.[5] A candidate can opt for any or both the papers. Paper 1 is mandatory a computer based test (CBT) (called online mode) from 2018 onwards. Until 2018, there was an option between offline pen and paper mode and online computer mode. The examination was conducted only in offline pen and paper mode till 2010. In 2011, as per the orders of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, CBSE conducted Paper 1 in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode for the first one lakh candidates who opted for the same, while the remaining students took the examination in the conventional pen and paper mode.[6] The number of attempts which a candidate can avail at the examination is limited to three in consecutive years. As of 2018, the top 2,24,000 rankers of JEE-Main will qualify to take the second and final level of examination: JEE-Advanced. this number of 2.24 lakh is not fixed this may vary as per difficulty level of paper of JEE-Main.[7]

In 2010, the Ministry of Human Resource Development announced plans to replace JEE with a common entrance test for all government engineering colleges which will be called Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test (ISEET), by 2013.[8] Accordingly, MHRD proposes to set up National Testing Service, which will be an autonomous and self-sustained agency to conduct this new common entrance test.

The JEE-Main also serves as a preliminary requisite examination for JEE-Advanced.

In 2024, NTA reduced JEE Main syllabus to reduce pressure and stress among students and to meet the same syllabus structure as that of the NCERT revised books.

In the latest 2025 Information brochure, the syllabus remained same as of 2024 but NTA reduced the number of question in Section - B of Paper - 1 (B.E/B-Tech) from 5 out 10 questions (to be attempted) to 5 out of 5 questions (compulsory) with negative marking.

Languages

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The exam is offered in thirteen languages, namely English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.[9]

Irregularities and Misconduct

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2011 incident

[edit]

In 2011, CBSE postponed the exam by a few hours after the questions were leaked in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh the night before. The CBSE sent alternative questions to exam centres. CBSE announced the postponement of the exam 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the examination.[10][11]

JEE (Main) 2020 Assam topper scam

[edit]

In 2020, Neel Nakshatra Das, a candidate for JEE Mains used a substitute to give the exam. He subsequently scored 99.8 percentile in the exam and topped in his state, Assam.[12][13] Seven people have been arrested, including Bhargav Deka, the owner of a city-based coaching institute, Global Edu Light and Tata Consultancy Services employees [14] The candidate (Neel Nakshatra Das), Neel's father, Jyotirmoy Das, and an invigilator.[15][16][17]

JEE (Main) 2022 technical glitches

[edit]

The National Testing Agency was widely criticized for the improper conduction of the JEE (Main) 2022 examination. Many students faced technical glitches during the examination, which resulted in lower scores.[18] Glitches in answer key and response sheet of the exam were also a serious problem for the students. The agency has not considered the re-conduction of the examination.[19]

Apparent Misconduct and Irregularity in JEE (Main) 2024

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The NTA has been criticized for irregularities in the difficulty level of question papers of JEE(Main), which leads to the normalization of marks and ultimately, lower scores of candidates.[20]

JEE(Main) 2024 Session 1 (January)

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The discrepancy of appearing students in the initial four shifts of January 27(Shift 1 and 2) and January 29(Shift 1 and 2) has been reported by many students. The NTA allegedly distributed candidates erratically over the 10 shifts. Claims state that an absurdly larger appearance of students on the first two days was observed which caused major disparities in percentiles of the candidates. A surge in cutoff was also observed which further caused despair among some students. Multiple requests under the RTI Act have been filed, seeking evidence-backed statistical records of the number of students appearing in the respective shifts.[21] [22][23][24] [25] However, the NTA released the data in which no uneven distribution of candidates was found.[26]

JEE(Main) 2024 Session 2 (April)

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The agency stated that one case of impersonation and nine cases of cheating or other unfair means were reported on 4 April. It was later reported that the impersonation case was reported in Noida, while the other nine cases were reported in various parts of the country. The offenders were detected through artificial intelligence enabled monitoring and biometric verification.[27][28] In its concluding press release, the agency highlighted that 39 candidates have been disqualified for a period of three years due to their involvement in unfair practices during the examination.[29]

JEE(Main) 2025 Session 2 (April) Irregularities in the Final Results

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Following the release of the JEE Main 2025 Session 2 results by the National Testing Agency (NTA), concerns were raised by students and educators regarding discrepancies in the NTA percentile scores. Several students reported a mismatch between their raw scores and the percentiles allotted, with instances where candidates with lower scores received higher percentiles, while those with higher raw scores were awarded comparatively lower percentiles.[30]

This anomaly sparked confusion and dissatisfaction, particularly among students who narrowly missed the eligibility cutoff for JEE Advanced 2025 due to their reported percentiles. Many candidates took to social media platforms to share their experiences, and the issue gained wider attention after it was first highlighted by a YouTuber in his video and in the comments section, who analyzed and compared scorecards submitted by affected students.[31]

As the issue gained traction, demands for clarification from the NTA increased, with some students urging a review or reevaluation of the percentile normalization process used for multi-shift exams. At the time, the NTA had not issued a formal statement addressing the specific mismatches reported in Session 2.[32]

Mode of Exam

[edit]
Official website of NTA JEE Main 2025

Participating institutes

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Institutes participating in the 2022 centralized seat allocation process included:

Number of applicants by year

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The number of applicants taking the JEE-Main has varied over the years, with a peak of over 1.35 million in 2014.

B.E./B.Tech

[edit]
Year Phase No. of registered

applicants

No. of appeared

applicants

No. of unique

registered applicants

No. of unique

appeared applicants

Reference(s)
2002 Once

a year

212,000 190,000 N/A [34]
2003 328,000 298,000
2004 418,000 357,000
2005 436,000 399,000
2006 524,000 493,000
2007 645,000 602,000
2008 863,000 791,000
2009 1,010,000 962,119
2010 1,120,000 1,070,000
2011 1,110,000 1,050,000
2012 1,137,256 1,061,854 [35]
2013 1,282,000 [36]
2014 1,356,805 [37]
2015 1,304,495 [38]
2016 1,194,934 1,128,633 [39]
2017 1,186,454 1,122,351 [40]
2018 1,259,000 1,043,000 [41]
2019 1 929,198 874,469 1,237,892 1,147,125 [42]
2 935,741 881,096
2020 1 921,000 869,000 1,174,000 1,023,000 [43]
2 841,000 635,000
2021 1 652,628 621,033 1,048,012 939,008 [44]
2 619,641 556,248
3 709,611 543,553
4 767,700 481,419
2022 1 872,970 769,604 1,026,799 905,590 [45]
2 622,034 540,242
2023 1 860,064 823,967 1,162,398 1,113,325 [46][47][48]
2 931,510 883,372
2024 1 1,221,624 1,170,048 1,476,557 1,415,110 [49][50][51]
2 1,179,569 1,067,959
2025 1 1,311,544 1,258,136 1,539,848 1,475,103 [52][53]
2 1,061,840 992,350

B.Arch

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(From 2021)

Year Phase No. of registered

applicants

No. of appeared

applicants

No. of unique

registered applicants

No. of unique

appeared applicants

Reference(s)
2021 1 59,962 48,836 91,468 62,035Decrease [54][55]
2 74,479 29,004
2022 1 61,534 39,639 77,849 46,336Decrease [56]
2 32,724 14,924
2023 1
2
2024 1 68,147 51,570 99,086 (B.Arch+B.Planning) 71,009 (B.Arch+B.Planning) [57][58]
2 73,362 36,707

B.Planning

[edit]

(From 2021)

Year Phase No. of registered

applicants

No. of appeared

applicants

No. of unique

registered applicants

No. of unique

appeared applicants

Reference(s)
2021 1 25,810 19,352 40,346 24,351Decrease [54][55]
2 32,108 10,551
2022 1 25,820 15,371 33,048 17,817Decrease [56]
2 12,758 4,912
2023 1
2
2024 1 36,672 24,876 99,086 (B.Arch+B.Planning) 71,009 (B.Arch+B.Planning) [57][58]
2 38,105 16,228

Common Paper (B.Arch/B.Planning)

[edit]

(Before 2021)

Year Phase No. of registered

applicants

No. of appeared

applicants

No. of unique

registered applicants

No. of unique

appeared applicants

Reference(s)
2019 1 180,052 145,386 275,913 227,907 [59]
2 169,759 144,032
2020 1 145,189 118,732 207,369 147,983Decrease [60]
2 112,139 76,889

Counselling

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Earlier, counselling for the JEE-Main was conducted through the CSAB; but, now, the authorities have made changes in the counselling procedure. The JAB (Joint Admission Board), representing IITs, and the CSAB (Central Seat Allocation Board), making agreements on behalf of the NITs (National Institutes of Technology) and other CFTIs (Centrally Funded Technical Institutes), are now united to conduct counselling (common counselling) for the two exams of the IIT-JEE. The memo for the same was signed on 2 May 2015. These two together are known as the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA).[61] The ministry of education constituted Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) consisting of the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) and the Joint Admission Board of IITs (JAB-IITs) for joint counselling and seat allocation to IITs and the NIT+ system, which consists of 31 NITs, IIEST Shibpur, 26 IIITs, three Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) and 37 GFTIs (Central/State Government Funded Technical Institutions).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "JEE (MAIN) 2025" (PDF). gov.in. National Testing Agency.
  2. ^ "JEE Main results 2018 date and time: Results declared at cbseresults.nic.in, jeemain.nic.in". The Indian Express. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  3. ^ "IIT-JEE Mains April session deferred due to rise in COVID-19 cases". Businesstoday.in. 18 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  4. ^ "JEE Main 2021: NTA clears doubts regarding multiple attempts, exam dates". India Today. 26 December 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  5. ^ "JEE revamp: Science no more must for BPlanning – Times of India". The Times of India. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  6. ^ The Times of India (22 November 2010). "1L students to take AIEEE online". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012.
  7. ^ Bhandary, Shreya (30 October 2017). "Eligibility criteria for JEE Advanced 2018 released, more students can appear for exam". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  8. ^ "IIT-JEE likely to be abolished by 2013". sify.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  9. ^ Gohain, Manash Pratim (28 November 2019). "JEE Main to be conducted in 11 languages from January 2021". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  10. ^ Central Board of Secondary Education (1 May 2011). "AIEEE-2011 Important Press Release" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  11. ^ Times of India. "AIEEE question papers leaked, test postponed". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  12. ^ "Prime accused in JEE fraud case absconding in Assam". The Hindu. 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020 – via www.thehindu.com.
  13. ^ "Prime accused in Assam JEE Main scam arrested - Times of India". The Times of India. 2 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  14. ^ Tata Consultancy Services provides infrastructural and human resources support to the NTA for conducting the exams.
  15. ^ "Prime Accused In Assam JEE (Main) Scam Arrested From Guwahati Airport". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  16. ^ "JEE scam: Assam Police launch manhunt to nab coaching centre owner, IT professional". DNA India. 31 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  17. ^ anand, manoj (30 October 2020). "JEE topper used proxy to write paper, arrested". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Server glitch sparks chaos at JEE centre in Hyderabad". The New Indian Express. 24 June 2022. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  19. ^ "'Technical glitches denied the candidates a fair attempt at the JEE Main 2022', writes Karti P Chidambaram". 6 December 2022. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  20. ^ "JEE Mains Result 2024: Students raise concerns over an alleged error in percentile calculation". The Times of India. 13 February 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  21. ^ "JEE Main 2024 results at jeemain.ntaonline.in; students claim error in percentile calculation". 13 February 2024. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  22. ^ "JEE Mains Result 2024: Students raise concerns over alleged error in percentile calculation". The Times of India. 13 February 2024. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  23. ^ "JEE Main 2024 Result: Students allege error in percentile calculation, NTA dismisses claims". 13 February 2024. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  24. ^ "JEE Main 2024 Results: Students Express Concerns over Alleged Errors in Percentile Calculation". Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  25. ^ "JEE Main 2024 Session 1 Result: Students Allege 'Error' in Percentile Calculation by NTA". 15 February 2024. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  26. ^ "NTA: No uneven distribution of candidates within shifts in JEE (Main)". The Times of India. 16 February 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  27. ^ "AI helps catch impersonator on Day 1 of JEE (M)". The Times of India. 5 April 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Press Release : Case of impersonation using unfair means caught during the conduct of the JEE Main 2024 Session 2 Examination" (PDF). National Testing Agency. 4 April 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  29. ^ "Press Release" (PDF). National Testing Agency. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  30. ^ Solanki, Saumya (19 April 2025). "JEE Main 2025 results: Students and educators allege widespread irregularities". EdexLive. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  31. ^ Solanki, Saumya (19 April 2025). "JEE Main 2025 results: Students and educators allege widespread irregularities". EdexLive. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  32. ^ Solanki, Saumya (19 April 2025). "JEE Main 2025 results: Students and educators allege widespread irregularities". EdexLive. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
  33. ^ a b c "Mode of exams/Type of exams : Jee Main". June 2024.
  34. ^ "Number of Candidates in JEE Main". jeepage.in. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  35. ^ "The result of All-India Engineering/Architecture Entrance Examination (AIEEE) 2012 conducted by CBSE has been declared. Candidates can look out for their All India Rank on www.cbse.nic.in and www.aieee.nic.in . This year as many as 1137256 students registered for paper I for BE/BTech out of which 1061854 appeared. for paper II BArch/B Planning 83049 candidates registered out of which 71316 candidates appeared". The Times of India. 10 June 2012. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  36. ^ "Number of applicants for JEE Main decreased in 2015". Jagranjosh.com. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  37. ^ Basu, Sreeradha D. (20 June 2014). "Race to IITs just got tougher; number of candidates who qualified in JEE advanced 6,360 more than last year". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  38. ^ "Over 13 lakh aspirants for JEE Main 2015". 14 January 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  39. ^ "CBSE JEE Main 2016: Check out the result analysis here!". India Today. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  40. ^ "JEE(MAIN) 2017 Press Release" (PDF). 26 July 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  41. ^ "JEE Main Answer Key 2018 Released". NDTV.com. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  42. ^ "JEE(MAIN) 2019 Paper 1 Press Release" (PDF). 29 April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  43. ^ "JEE(MAIN) 2020 Paper 1 Press Release" (PDF). 19 June 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  44. ^ "JEE(MAIN) 2021 Paper 1 Press Release" (PDF). 9 March 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  45. ^ "JEE(MAIN) 2022 Paper 1 Press Release" (PDF). 8 August 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  46. ^ "JEE (Main) 2023 Session 1". Twitter. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  47. ^ "JEE (Main) 2023 highlights". Twitter. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  48. ^ "JEE Main 2023 Press Release" (PDF). 5 June 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  49. ^ "JEE Main 2024 Session 1 Press Release" (PDF).
  50. ^ "75% of JEE(M) candidates taking both shots to maximise scores". The Times of India. 30 March 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  51. ^ "JEE Main Session 2(BE/B Tech) Results" (PDF).
  52. ^ "Declaration of Joint Entrance Examination [JEE (Main) – 2025] Session-1" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2025.
  53. ^ "JEE Main (B.E./B.Tech) 2025 Result" (PDF).
  54. ^ a b "JEE(MAIN) 2021 Paper 2A/2B Press Release session 1" (PDF). 16 July 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  55. ^ a b "JEE(MAIN) 2021 Paper 2A/2B Final Press Release" (PDF). 16 July 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  56. ^ a b "JEE(MAIN) 2022 Paper 2A/2B Press Release" (PDF). 3 September 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  57. ^ a b "Declaration of JEE (Main) - 2024 Session 1 NTA Scores for Paper 2 (B.Arch. / B.Planning)" (PDF).
  58. ^ a b "NTA Declares the Final NTA Scores for Joint Entrance Examination (Main) - 2024 for Paper 2A (B.Arch.) and Paper 2B (B. Planning)" (PDF). jeemain.nta.ac.in/.
  59. ^ "JEE(MAIN) 2019 Paper 2 Press Release" (PDF). 19 June 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  60. ^ "JEE(MAIN) 2020 Paper 2 Press Release" (PDF). 19 June 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  61. ^ "Joint Seat Allocation Authority 2016". Retrieved 26 August 2016.
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