JEE Main

JEE Main (Joint Entrance Examination – Main) is the primary national entrance examination for admission to NITs, IIITs, CFTIs (Centrally Funded Technical Institutions), and state engineering colleges that accept JEE scores. It is also the qualifying exam for JEE Advanced — the gateway to the IITs. Conducted by NTA, JEE Main is held twice a year (January and April sessions), allowing candidates to improve their score.

JEE Main consists of three papers: Paper 1 for B.Tech/BE (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics — 300 marks, 3 hours), Paper 2A for B.Arch (Mathematics + Aptitude + Drawing), and Paper 2B for B.Planning. For B.Tech admissions, only Paper 1 is relevant. The exam uses a Normalisation Formula to equate scores across different sessions.

JEE Main scores are used for two different purposes: 85% of NIT/IIIT/CFTI seats (Home State quota + other state quota) are filled through JEE Main directly. The top 2.5 lakh candidates from JEE Main Paper 1 are eligible to appear for JEE Advanced for IIT admissions. Our editorial team reviews JEE Main updates from the NTA official portal at jeemain.nta.nic.in every session, verified July 2026.