JEE Main 2026: The Joint Entrance Examination is conducted in two stages, JEE Main and JEE Advanced, each serving a different role in the engineering admission process. JEE Main is held for admission to undergraduate programmes offered by NITs, IIITs and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions. It also assesses candidates' eligibility for JEE Advanced, which is required for admission into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
Papers and courses covered
JEE Main comprises two papers. Paper 1 is conducted for admission to BE/BTech programmes, while Paper 2 is for BArch and BPlanning courses. Scores of Paper 1 are also accepted by several institutions for integrated programmes such as Integrated MSc, Integrated MTech, Integrated BTech–MBA, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Design and other specialised courses.
Two-session format
For the admission cycle 2026, JEE Main will be conducted in two sessions. The two-session system gives students a chance to improve their scores. Those who appear in the first session become familiar with the exam pattern, difficulty level and marking scheme, helping them avoid mistakes in the second attempt. Appearing in both sessions is not compulsory; if a candidate takes both, the better of the two NTA scores will be considered for the merit list.
About JEE Advanced
JEE Advanced, conducted by one of the IITs on a rotational basis, assesses candidates for all undergraduate programmes offered in the IITs. Only the top 2.5 lakh candidates from JEE Main can appear for it. Compared to JEE Main, JEE Advanced is more difficult and requires deeper conceptual understanding and strong problem-solving skills.
Attempt limits and exam pattern
There are clear differences in attempt limits. Students can appear for JEE Main over three consecutive years, with two attempts each year. JEE Advanced, however, can be attempted only twice in two consecutive years. JEE Main consists of MCQs and numerical questions in one paper for BE/BTech, while JEE Advanced has two compulsory papers that include multiple-choice, numerical and integer-type questions.