Under the latest published JEE Main Paper 1 pattern, each subject presents five numerical questions with no internal choice, and a wrong numerical answer receives the same -1 penalty as a wrong MCQ. You can still leave a question unanswered for 0 marks. This guide uses the 2026 bulletin as the baseline; confirm the 2027 bulletin when NTA publishes it. Practise the pattern with the Myndaq JEE Main course.
The structure (Paper 1, B.E./B.Tech)
- 75 questions, 300 marks, 3 hours, computer-based.
- Per subject (Physics, Chemistry, Maths): 25 questions — 20 MCQs (Section A) + 5 Numericals (Section B).
- All 75 are presented with no internal choice. You may leave a question unanswered for 0; the old "attempt any 5 of 10 numericals" choice is gone.
The marking maths — and the change that catches people
- Correct: +4 (both sections)
- Incorrect: -1 (both sections, including numericals)
- Unattempted: 0
This matters because a wrong numerical costs -1 while an unanswered one receives 0. Apply attempt discipline to both sections: submit a numerical when a method or defensible estimate supports the value; skip when you have no useful basis for an entry.
Attempt policy by expected value
- MCQ, confident or two options eliminated: attempt.
- MCQ, blind guess (4 options): EV = 0.25×4 − 0.75×1 = +0.25 — marginally positive but variance-heavy; use only late, chasing a threshold.
- Numerical, confident method: attempt — JEE Main numericals take an integer answer (rounded to the nearest integer), not a GATE-style tolerance range, so carry your arithmetic to the end.
- Numerical, no method or defensible estimate: skip rather than assuming an unsupported entry is free; the -1 penalty applies.
Score scenarios
- 60 correct, 10 wrong, 5 unattempted: 230 marks.
- 55 correct, 5 wrong, 15 unattempted: 215 marks.
- 50 correct, 20 wrong, 5 unattempted: 180 marks.
These are arithmetic examples, not predicted percentiles. They show why correct, wrong and unattempted counts must be reviewed together. More attempts help only when their accuracy compensates for the penalty.
NTA score and percentile
NTA reports normalized percentile-based scores because Paper 1 is conducted across shifts with different question papers. A percentile is not the percentage of marks obtained and cannot be predicted exactly from raw marks without the relevant shift distribution. Under the latest two-session framework, the applicable best NTA score is used according to the bulletin's result rules. Confirm the 2027 session and result rules when released.
Two sessions, and the best score counts
JEE Main runs twice a year, and the two sessions sit in a stable place on the calendar: Session 1 spans the second half of January and Session 2 the first half of April, each running over several days. Applications for Session 1 open in the previous autumn and close about a month later, so the deadline that decides your first attempt falls a good two months before you sit it. You may sit either session or both; NTA counts the best of your two NTA percentile scores, so a second attempt can never lower your rank.
The bulletin for a cycle is the document that fixes the dates, and it is normally notified on jeemain.nta.nic.in in late October. Until it appears, treat any date on a coaching site as a guess.
Eligibility, languages and fee (from the information bulletin)
- Eligibility: passed Class 12 in one of the two preceding years or appearing in the current year (for 2026: passed in 2024 or 2025, or appearing in 2026). There is no age limit; in practice this gives three consecutive years with two sessions each. Institutions may apply their own age criteria at admission.
- Languages: 13 - English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu - chosen at application, with regional languages tied to centres in the respective states.
- Fee (Paper 1, Indian centres, 2026): General male ₹1,000 and female ₹800; General-EWS and OBC-NCL male ₹900 and female ₹800; SC, ST, PwBD and third gender ₹500. Fees are per session, and registering for Paper 1 and Paper 2 together costs more.
- Mode: computer-based only; numerical answers are rounded to the nearest integer before marking.
What this means for practice
Practise the published 20-MCQ + 5-numerical structure per subject and score it with +4/-1/0. Track marks, accuracy, attempts and error categories across the same mock provider; do not label a private mock score as an official percentile. Compute answer-key marks with the free JEE Main marks calculator, then keep official NTA-score expectations separate.
A mock-review template
Record subject, question type, correct/wrong/unattempted, time spent and failure category. For numericals, add unit/rounding/integer-entry mistakes. For MCQs, distinguish concept errors from low-evidence guesses. Set one behavioural rule for the next paper and verify whether it reduced repeat mistakes.
Worked practice questions
The nine questions below are drawn from the Myndaq practice bank and are not reproductions of any official item. They follow the Paper 1 format — three each from Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, with one numerical-value question — and the +4/−1 marking in both sections.
Mathematics
Question 1. The coefficient of x² in the expansion of (2 + 3x)⁵ is:
- (A) 240
- (B) 360
- (C) 720
- (D) 480
Answer: (C). The general term is C(5, r)·2^(5−r)·(3x)^r. For r = 2: 10 × 8 × 9 = 720. Forgetting to square the 3 gives 240.
Question 2. The distance of the point (3, −5) from the line 3x − 4y − 26 = 0 is:
- (A) 13/5
- (B) 3/5
- (C) 3
- (D) 3/√5
Answer: (B). |3(3) − 4(−5) − 26| / √(3² + 4²) = |9 + 20 − 26| / 5 = 3/5. Forgetting the denominator gives 3.
Question 3. ∫ x · ln x dx equals:
- (A) x ln x − x + C
- (B) (x²/2) ln x − x²/4 + C
- (C) (x²/2) ln x + x²/4 + C
- (D) (x²/2) ln x − x²/2 + C
Answer: (B). By parts with u = ln x and dv = x dx: (x²/2) ln x − ∫ (x/2) dx = (x²/2) ln x − x²/4 + C. Differentiate your answer to check — it takes ten seconds and catches (D).
Physics
Question 4. An FM station broadcasts at 100 MHz. The wavelength of its electromagnetic wave is (c = 3 × 10⁸ m/s):
- (A) 30 m
- (B) 3 m
- (C) 0.3 m
- (D) 3 cm
Answer: (B). λ = c/f = 3 × 10⁸ / 10⁸ = 3 m. The other options are unit-conversion slips of a factor of ten.
Question 5. Two trains, each 100 m long, move on parallel tracks in opposite directions at 20 m/s and 30 m/s. The time taken to cross each other completely is:
- (A) 5 s
- (B) 4 s
- (C) 10 s
- (D) 20 s
Answer: (B). Relative speed 50 m/s; distance to clear is both lengths, 200 m; time 4 s. Using the same-direction relative speed (10 m/s) gives 20 s.
Question 6 — numerical value (Section B). An AC source has a peak voltage of 311 V. Its RMS voltage, in volts, rounded to the nearest integer, is ____.
Answer: 220. V_rms = 311 / √2 ≈ 219.9, which rounds to 220. There are no options to check against in Section B, and a wrong entry still costs −1 — so enter a numerical answer only when you have worked it through.
Chemistry
Question 7. How many structural isomers are possible for C₄H₁₀?
- (A) 3
- (B) 4
- (C) 2
- (D) 5
Answer: (C). n-Butane and 2-methylpropane (isobutane). Three is the count for C₅H₁₂.
Question 8. For 2SO₂(g) + O₂(g) ⇌ 2SO₃(g), Kc = 2.8 × 10² L mol⁻¹ at 1000 K. Kp at the same temperature (R = 0.0821 L atm mol⁻¹ K⁻¹) is approximately:
- (A) 2.3 × 10⁴
- (B) 23
- (C) 0.034
- (D) 3.4
Answer: (D). Kp = Kc(RT)^Δn with Δn = 2 − 3 = −1, so Kp = 280 / 82.1 ≈ 3.4. Taking Δn = +1 gives (A). The sign of Δn is the whole question.
Question 9. Which pair of monosaccharides makes up sucrose?
- (A) Glucose + galactose
- (B) Glucose + fructose
- (C) Galactose + fructose
- (D) Glucose + glucose
Answer: (B). Sucrose is glucose and fructose; lactose is glucose and galactose; maltose is two glucose units.
What these show about the marking. Five of the nine turn on a single step that is easy to get wrong under time — a missing square, a missing denominator, a factor of ten, the sign of Δn, the same-direction speed. At +4/−1, a careless wrong answer costs five marks relative to a correct one, so a quick check step is worth more than an extra attempted question.
Quick answers
Are JEE Main numericals negatively marked? Under the 2026 Paper 1 bulletin, wrong Section B numerical answers lose one mark.
Can I choose only five of ten numericals? The latest pattern presents five numericals per subject with no internal choice. You may still leave a question unanswered for 0. Recheck the 2027 bulletin.
Is percentile the same as percentage marks? No. NTA score is normalized across shifts and is not raw marks divided by 300.
Can a mock predict my exact percentile? No. It can track preparation trends; official percentile depends on the examination's shift data and NTA process.
Should I attempt both sessions? You may, and the best of the two percentile scores counts, so the second attempt cannot hurt. Many students use January as a full-scale diagnostic and April as the main attempt.
What is the JEE Main application fee? For Paper 1 at Indian centres in 2026: General ₹1,000 (male) / ₹800 (female); General-EWS and OBC-NCL ₹900 / ₹800; SC, ST, PwBD and third gender ₹500, per session.
Can I write JEE Main in a regional language? Yes, in any of 13 languages chosen at application; regional languages are tied to centres in the respective states.
Is there an age limit? No. You must have passed Class 12 in the two preceding years or be appearing in the current year.
