Joint Entrance Examination Main

JEE Main 2027 Session 1 is now on the calendar. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has listed 22 to 24 and 28 to 30 January 2027 as the exam days, with 31 January kept as a buffer. If you plan to write the exam, you have roughly four months to finish the syllabus, revise it and practise under timed conditions.

This guide covers everything you need in one place: important dates, the exam pattern and marking scheme, eligibility, the current NTA syllabus, previous cutoffs, how results and counselling work, and a practical preparation plan. Dates that NTA has not yet confirmed are clearly marked as expected, so you always know what is official and what is based on past cycles.

JEE Main 2027 at a Glance

JEE Main is also one of the largest entrance exams in the country. In 2026, 16,04,854 unique candidates registered for Paper 1 across both sessions and 15,38,468 appeared.

JEE Main 2027 Important Dates

The table below separates what NTA has announced from what is expected based on the 2026 cycle.

NTA has stated that its calendar is not a formal notification. Exact registration dates, fees and rules will come with the JEE Main 2027 information bulletin.

Latest Updates

• 16 September 2026: NTA released its examination calendar up to March 2027, listing the JEE Main 2027 Session 1 dates.

• Information bulletin: Expected with the start of Session 1 registration. Keep your Aadhaar details, category certificate and (for PwD candidates) UDID updated, as NTA asked candidates to do before the 2026 cycle.

• 2026 changes that are likely to continue: Aadhaar or DigiLocker-based identity verification during registration, and facial biometric authentication at exam centres. Calculators, including on-screen ones, are not allowed.

JEE Main Exam Overview

Papers and purpose

• Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech): For engineering admission at NITs, IIITs and CFTIs. It is also the gateway to JEE Advanced, which decides IIT admission.

• Paper 2A (B.Arch) and Paper 2B (B.Planning): For architecture and planning programmes.

You can apply for one, two or all three papers, and for one or both sessions.

Mode and duration

Exam languages

JEE Main is offered in 13 languages: English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. English, Hindi and Urdu are available at all centres; regional languages are offered at centres in the relevant states.

JEE Main 2027 Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme

Since 2025, Section B has had five compulsory numerical questions per subject with no internal choice. Negative marking now applies to numerical questions as well.

Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech)

Marking scheme: +4 for a correct answer, –1 for a wrong answer, 0 for an unattempted question. This applies to both MCQs and numerical questions.

Paper 2A (B.Arch) and Paper 2B (B.Planning)

What this means for your strategy: With negative marking on every question, guessing on numericals is no longer free. Accuracy on the questions you attempt matters more than attempting all 75.

For a section-wise breakdown, see our JEE Main exam pattern guide.

How the NTA Score and Merit List Work

JEE Main is held in many shifts, and papers differ slightly in difficulty. NTA uses percentiles to make scores comparable across shifts.

Your percentile shows the share of candidates in your session who scored equal to or below you. A 95 percentile means you scored as well as or better than 95% of candidates in that session. It is not a percentage of marks.

If you appear in both sessions, NTA uses the better of your two total NTA scores. The All India Rank is declared only after Session 2.

JEE Main Cutoff: Previous Year Trends

NTA publishes the category-wise qualifying percentile for JEE Advanced with the Session 2 result. Roughly the top 2.5 lakh candidates qualify; in 2026, 2,50,182 did.

Figures rounded to two decimals (four for PwD).

Two cutoffs, two purposes:

• Qualifying cutoff (NTA): Decides whether you can register for JEE Advanced.

• Admission cutoff (JoSAA): Opening and closing ranks for each branch and institute. This decides your actual seat.

Cutoffs have risen for most categories over the last four years, so aim comfortably above the previous figure. Our JEE Main cutoff analysis tracks these trends in detail.

JEE Main 2027 Eligibility Criteria

Nationality

Indian nationals can apply. NRIs, OCI/PIO cardholders and foreign nationals are also eligible, subject to the rules of the admitting institute.

Qualifying examinations

You must have passed or be appearing in Class 12 or an equivalent exam. Accepted equivalents include:

• Class 12 from a recognised central or state board (CBSE, CISCE, state boards)

• Intermediate or two-year pre-university exam

• NIOS senior secondary exam with at least five subjects

• Final exam of the two-year Joint Services Wing course of NDA

• A three-year diploma recognised by AICTE or a state technical board

• Foreign boards or other qualifications recognised as equivalent by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU)

Subject requirements

Age limit and attempts

• Age: No upper age limit for JEE Main. Institutes may have their own rules.

• Year of passing: Following the three-consecutive-years rule, candidates who passed Class 12 in 2025 or 2026, or are appearing in 2027, are expected to be eligible. Confirm this in the 2027 bulletin.

• Attempts: Two sessions per year, across three consecutive years, which allows up to six attempts in total.

The 75% criterion for NITs, IIITs and CFTIs

Clearing JEE Main is not enough for admission to NITs, IIITs and other CFTIs. You also need at least 75% in Class 12 (65% for SC/ST), or a place in the top 20 percentile of your board.

State code of eligibility

Your state code depends on where you passed Class 12, not where you live. A student who lives in Noida but passed Class 12 from a school in Delhi has Delhi as the state code. This matters for home-state quotas at NITs.

For a full breakdown, read our JEE Main eligibility criteria guide.

Application Fee

The 2027 fee will be confirmed in the bulletin. For reference, the 2026 fee for one paper at a centre in India was:

Fees are higher for two papers and for centres outside India.

JEE Main 2027 Syllabus

NTA revised the syllabus in 2024 to align it with the rationalised NCERT curriculum, and the same syllabus was used in 2025 and 2026. Until NTA releases the 2027 syllabus, prepare from the current units below.

Physics (20 units)

Units and Measurements; Kinematics; Laws of Motion; Work, Energy and Power; Rotational Motion; Gravitation; Properties of Solids and Liquids; Thermodynamics; Kinetic Theory of Gases; Oscillations and Waves; Electrostatics; Current Electricity; Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism; Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents; Electromagnetic Waves; Optics; Dual Nature of Matter and Radiation; Atoms and Nuclei; Electronic Devices; Experimental Skills.

Chemistry (20 units)

Mathematics (14 units)

Sets, Relations and Functions; Complex Numbers and Quadratic Equations; Matrices and Determinants; Permutations and Combinations; Binomial Theorem; Sequence and Series; Limit, Continuity and Differentiability; Integral Calculus; Differential Equations; Coordinate Geometry; Three-Dimensional Geometry; Vector Algebra; Statistics and Probability; Trigonometry.

Topics removed in 2024

Many older books and question banks still include chapters that are no longer tested. Skip these:

• Physics: Communication Systems

• Chemistry: States of Matter, Surface Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Polymers, Hydrogen, s-Block Elements, Metallurgy (General Principles and Processes of Isolation of Metals), Chemistry in Everyday Life

• Mathematics: Mathematical Induction, Mathematical Reasoning, and parts of Three-Dimensional Geometry

Paper 2 syllabus

• Mathematics (2A and 2B): Same as Paper 1 Mathematics

• Aptitude (2A and 2B): Awareness of places, buildings, materials and architects; visualising 3D objects from 2D drawings; analytical reasoning

• Drawing (2A): Sketching scenes and activities from memory, geometric compositions, colour and texture

• Planning (2B): General awareness, social sciences, and thinking skills such as comprehension and map reading

Get the chapter-wise breakdown in our JEE Main syllabus guide.

Preparation Plan for JEE Main 2027

With Session 1 in late January, here is a realistic timeline for a Class 12 student:

Practical tips:

• Start with NCERT for Chemistry. Much of Inorganic and a large share of Physical Chemistry questions come straight from NCERT concepts.

• Keep an error notebook. Write down every mistake from practice and mocks, with the reason. Revise it weekly.

• Fix a paper order. Many students start with Chemistry for quick marks, then move to Physics and Mathematics. Test different orders in mocks and stick to what works.

• Set a skip rule. If a question takes more than about three minutes without a clear path, mark it and move on.

• Protect accuracy. With –1 on every question, 60 correct and 5 wrong beats 65 correct and 15 wrong.

Mock Tests and Previous Year Papers

Previous year papers show you which concepts NTA repeats and how questions are framed. Mock tests show whether you can apply that knowledge in three hours.

Use them together:

1. Solve chapter-wise PYQs as you finish each chapter.

2. Take full-length mocks in the same time slot as your exam shift (9 am or 3 pm).

3. Analyse every mock for at least as long as it took to write. Sort errors into concept gaps, calculation slips and time pressure.

4. Track section-wise scores over time, not just the total.

Answer Key and Result

• Provisional answer key: Released with your recorded responses, usually within about a week of each session. You can challenge answers by paying a fee per question.

• Final answer key: Released after challenges are reviewed; results are prepared from it.

• Result: Session 1 scores come out in February. After Session 2, NTA releases final NTA scores, the All India Rank and the JEE Advanced qualifying cutoff.

JoSAA Counselling After JEE Main

Admission to IITs, NITs, IIITs and other government-funded technical institutes happens through the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA). In 2026, JoSAA handled admissions to 138 institutes: 23 IITs, IISc Bengaluru, 31 NITs, IIEST Shibpur, 26 IIITs and 56 other GFTIs.

How it works:

1. Register on josaa.nic.in with your JEE credentials

2. Fill and lock your choices of institutes and branches

3. Seats are allotted over multiple rounds based on rank, category and choices

4. Accept the seat, complete online document verification and pay the seat acceptance fee

5. Report to the allotted institute

IIT seats need a JEE Advanced rank. NIT, IIIT and GFTI seats use your JEE Main rank. Seats left vacant in NITs, IIITs and GFTIs after JoSAA are filled through CSAB counselling. Many state and private universities also accept JEE Main scores through their own counselling.

A Short History of JEE Main

• 1961: IIT-JEE began as the entrance exam for IITs.

• 2002: AIEEE was introduced for NITs and other central institutes.

• 2013: AIEEE became JEE Main and IIT-JEE became JEE Advanced. JEE Main also became the screening test for JEE Advanced.

• 2019: NTA took over the exam from CBSE and moved it to a two-session format.