| Joint Entrance Examination – Main | |
| Acronym: | JEE-Main (formerly AIEEE) |
| Type: | Computer Based Test (CBT) and pen and paper Mode (For B. Arch paper only) |
| Test Admin: | National Testing Agency
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| Purpose: | Admission 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 |
| Skills Tested: |
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| Year Started: | Formerly known as AIEEE |
| Duration: | 3 hours |
| Score Range: | -75 to +300 in Paper 1 and -82 to +400 in Paper 2A & 2B |
| Attempt Restriction: | Maximum six attempts in three consecutive years as it is conducted twice a year, with no age limit |
| Language: | English Hindi Assamese Bengali Gujarati Kannada Malayalam Marathi Odia Punjabi Tamil Telugu Urdu |
| Test Takers: |
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| Offered: | Twice a year (Except for the year 2021 where it was conducted 4 times due to the COVID-19 pandemic). |
| Prerequisite: | Class 12 or equivalent with Mathematics, Physics and any one of the technical subjects prescribed by AICTE from recognised board/university |
| Qualification Rate: | 250,284 (17.68%) qualify for JEE-Advanced (2024) |
| Fee: |
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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.
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 (by a few states), including 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,[1] 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.[2] 2021 was the only year throughout JEE-Main history, when a maximum of 4 attempts were given to students.[3] 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.
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.[4] A candidate can opt for any or both the papers. Paper 1 is a mandatory 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 offline pen and paper mode only 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.[5] The number of attempts which a candidate can avail at the examination is limited to three in consecutive years., 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.[6]
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.[7] 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 the JEE Main syllabus to reduce pressure and stress among students and to meet the same syllabus structure as that of the revised NCERT 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.
The exam is offered in thirteen languages, namely English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.[8]
In 2011, CBSE postponed the exam by a few hours after the questions were leaked in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh the night before. CBSE sent alternative questions to exam centres. CBSE announced the postponement of the exam 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the examination.[9] [10]
In 2020, Neel Nakshatra Das, a candidate for JEE-Main, used a substitute to give the exam. He subsequently scored 99.8 percentile in the exam and topped in his state, Assam.[11] [12] Seven people were arrested, including Bhargav Deka, the owner of a city-based coaching institute, Global Edu Light, Tata Consultancy Services employees,[13] the candidate (Neel Nakshatra Das), Neel's father, Jyotirmoy Das, and an invigilator.[14] [15] [16]
National Testing Agency (NTA) 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.[17] Glitches in answer key and response sheet of the exam were also a serious problem for the students. The agency did not consider re-conduction of the examination.[18]
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.[19]
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.[20] [21] [22] [23] [24] However, NTA released data in which no uneven distribution of candidates was found.[25]
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.[26] [27] 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.[28]
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.[29]
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.[30]
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.[31]
Institutes participating in the 2022 centralized seat allocation process included:
The number of applicants taking the JEE-Main has varied over the years, with a peak of over 1.35 million in 2014.
| Year | Phase | No. of registeredapplicants | No. of appearedapplicants | No. of uniqueregistered applicants | No. of uniqueappeared applicants | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Oncea year | 212,000 | 190,000 | N/A | [33] | |
| 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 | [34] | |||
| 2013 | 1,282,000 | [35] | ||||
| 2014 | 1,356,805 | [36] | ||||
| 2015 | 1,304,495 | [37] | ||||
| 2016 | 1,194,934 | 1,128,633 | [38] | |||
| 2017 | 1,186,454 | 1,122,351 | [39] | |||
| 2018 | 1,259,000 | 1,043,000 | [40] | |||
| 2019 | 1 | 929,198 | 874,469 | 1,237,892 | 1,147,125 | [41] |
| 2 | 935,741 | 881,096 | ||||
| 2020 | 1 | 921,000 | 869,000 | 1,174,000 | 1,023,000 | [42] |
| 2 | 841,000 | 635,000 | ||||
| 2021 | 1 | 652,628 | 621,033 | 1,048,012 | 939,008 | [43] |
| 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 | [44] |
| 2 | 622,034 | 540,242 | ||||
| 2023 | 1 | 860,064 | 823,967 | 1,162,398 | 1,113,325 | [45] [46] [47] |
| 2 | 931,510 | 883,372 | ||||
| 2024 | 1 | 1,221,624 | 1,170,048 | 1,476,557 | 1,415,110 | [48] [49] [50] |
| 2 | 1,179,569 | 1,067,959 | ||||
| 2025 | 1 | 1,311,544 | 1,258,136 | 1,539,848 | 1,475,103 | [51] [52] |
| 2 | 1,061,840 | 992,350 | ||||
| 2026 | 1 | 1,355,293 | 1,304,653 | [53] | ||
| 2 | ||||||
(From 2021)
| Year | Phase | No. of registeredapplicants | No. of appearedapplicants | No. of uniqueregistered applicants | No. of uniqueappeared applicants | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 59,962 | 48,836 | 91,468 | 62,035 | [54] [55] |
| 2 | 74,479 | 29,004 | ||||
| 2022 | 1 | 61,534 | 39,639 | 77,849 | 46,336 | [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 | ||||
| 2025 | 1 | 63,481 | 44,144 | 91,378 | 63,378 | [59] [60] |
| 2 | 48,703 | 34,876 |
(From 2021)
| Year | Phase | No. of registeredapplicants | No. of appearedapplicants | No. of uniqueregistered applicants | No. of uniqueappeared applicants | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 25,810 | 19,352 | 40,346 | 24,351 | |
| 2 | 32,108 | 10,551 | ||||
| 2022 | 1 | 25,820 | 15,371 | 33,048 | 17,817 | |
| 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) | |
| 2 | 38,105 | 16,228 | ||||
| 2025 | 1 | 28,335 | 18,596 | 41,012 | 26,590 | |
| 2 | 20,768 | 13,583 |
(Before 2021)
| Year | Phase | No. of registeredapplicants | No. of appearedapplicants | No. of uniqueregistered applicants | No. of uniqueappeared applicants | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 | 180,052 | 145,386 | 275,913 | 227,907 | [61] |
| 2 | 169,759 | 144,032 | ||||
| 2020 | 1 | 145,189 | 118,732 | 207,369 | 147,983 | [62] |
| 2 | 112,139 | 76,889 |
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).[63] 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).
