JEE Advanced Exam Pattern Highlights
- The exam will be held in online mode only.
- JEE Advanced will have two compulsory papers: Paper 1 and Paper 2.
- The question papers will consist of objective type (multiple choice and/or numerical answer type) questions designed to test academic, comprehensive, reasoning and analytical ability of candidates.
Each question paper will consist of three separate sections, viz., Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.
The question papers will consist of questions designed to test comprehension, reasoning and analytical ability of candidates.
Negative marks may be awarded for incorrect answers for some of the questions. Details of the marking scheme will be provided in the “Instructions to Candidates” section at the time of examination.
The candidates must carefully read and adhere to the detailed instructions given in the question papers available at the time of examination.
The question papers will be in English and Hindi languages. The candidates will have the option to choose (and also switch between) the preferred language anytime during the examination.
- Although sufficient care will be taken for the correctness of questions, if a question(s) needs to be dropped, full marks for that question(s) will be awarded to ALL candidates.
JEE Advanced Exam Pattern Details
Normally, the questions asked in the JEE Advanced paper are quite tough and quite tricky. The exam is further designed to judge not just theoretical knowledge but also reasoning ability, comprehension skills and analytical power of the students. Therefore, it is important to get familiar with the exam and the question paper early on.
The exam is held in an online mode (computer-based test) where students need to have a basic knowledge about the working of a computer and the mouse. Candidates have to use the mouse to click on the right option as the answer.
As mentioned above, the exam consists of two papers viz. paper 1 and paper 2. JEE Advanced Paper 1 and Paper 2 further constitute a total of 54 questions each. The paper is also divided into three sections: Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, each having 18 questions. In total, the exam is of 360 mark where each paper carries a total of 180 marks. The duration of each paper is 3 hours and is conducted in either Hindi or English medium. During the exam day, paper 1 usually begins at 09:00 am and goes on till 12:00 pm. Paper 2 starts from 2:00 pm to 05:00 pm.
JEE Advanced Paper 1 pattern (Same for Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics)
| Section | Types of questions | No. of questions | Maximum Marks |
| Section 1 | MCQs with one or more than one correct answer | 6 | 24 |
| Section 2 | Numerical value answer type questions | 8 | 24 |
| Section 3 | Paragraph based questions (2 paragraphs, each having 2 MCQs with one correct answer only) | 4 | 12 |
JEE Advanced Paper 2 pattern (Same for Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics)
| Section | Types of questions | No. of questions | Maximum Marks |
| Section 1 | MCQs with one or more than one correct answer | 6 | 24 |
| Section 2 | Numerical value answer type questions | 8 | 24 |
| Section 3 | Matching type questions with 4 options | 4 | 12 |
Additionally, candidates can also check out previous year JEE Advanced question papers to understand the exam pattern and be familiar with it.
JEE Advanced Marking Scheme Paper 1
Below students will find detailed information about the marking scheme of JEE Advanced paper.
| Section | Question Type | Total Questions | Full Marks | Partial Marks | Negative Marks | Maximum Marks |
| 1 | MCQs with 4 options (one or more than one correct options) | 6 | +4 if only (all) the correct option(s) is (are) chosen | +3 if all the four options are correct but only three options are chosen +2 if three or more options are correct but only two options are chosen, both of the options must be correct +1 if two or more options are correct buy only one option is chosen and it must be correct | -2 (in all other cases) | 24 |
| 2 | Numerical value answer type questions | 8 | +3 if only correct numerical value is given | – | – | 24 |
| 3 | Paragraph based questions (2 paragraphs, each having 2 MCQs with one correct answer only) | 4 | +3 if only the correct option is selected | – | -1 in all other cases | 12 |
| Possible response | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
| Not attempted | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Partial Correct | +1 for each correct option selected | 0 | 0 |
| Correct | +4 | +3 | 3 |
| incorrect | -2 | 0 | -1 |
JEE Advanced Marking Scheme: Paper 2
| Section | Question Type | Total Questions | Full Marks | Partial Marks | Negative Marks | Maximum Marks |
| 1 | MCQs with 4 options (one or more than one correct options) | 6 | +4 if only (all) the correct option(s) is (are) chosen | +3 if all the four options are correct but only three options are chosen +2 if three or more options are correct but only two options are chosen, both of the options must be correct +1 if two or more options are correct buy only one option is chosen and it must be correct | -2 (in all other cases) | 24 |
| 2 | Numerical value answer type questions | 8 | +3 if only correct numerical value is given | – | – | 24 |
| 3 | Matching type (List I and List II) questions with 4 options | 4 | +3 if only the correct option is selected | – | -1 in all other cases | 12 |
| Possible response | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
| Not attempted | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Partial Correct | +1 for each correct option selected | 0 | 0 |
| Correct | +3 | +4 | +3 |
| Incorrect | -1 | -2 | 0 |
JEE Advanced Eligibility Criteria 2020
I – Performance in JEE Main 2020
Candidates who fall among the top 2,50,000 rankers in JEE Main 2020 across all categories are eligible to appear for JEE Advanced. Out of this number, the percentage of candidates eligible for admissions under different categories are as follows:
- General category candidates (from the common merit list) – 46.5%
- General EWS – 4%
- OBC-NCL candidates – 27%
- SC candidates – 15%
- ST candidates – 7.5%
- PWD candidates – Horizontal reservation of 5% in all the above categories
Note: The total number of candidates can be slightly greater than 2,50,000 in the presence of “tied” ranks/scores in any category.
II – Age limit
- General or OBC-NCL category candidates born on or after October 1, 1995, can apply for the exam.
- However, the age limit for SC, ST or PwD category candidates has been relaxed. SC, ST or PwD candidates born on or after October 1, 1990, will be eligible for the exam.
III – Number of attempts
- A candidate can attempt JEE Advanced for a maximum of two times in two consecutive years
IV – Appearance in Class XII (or equivalent) examination
- Candidates can appear for this engineering entrance exam if they have appeared for their Class XII or equivalent exam for the first time in 2019 or 2020.
V – Earlier admission at IITs/ISM
- A candidate should NOT have been admitted in an IIT irrespective of whether or not he/she continued in the program OR accepted an IIT seat by reporting at a reporting centre in the past. Candidates whose admission at IITs was cancelled after joining any IIT are also not eligible to appear in JEE Advanced 2020.
- Candidates who have been admitted to a preparatory course in any of the IITs for the first time in 2019 can appear in JEE Advanced 2020.
- The candidates who paid seat acceptance fee in 2019 but (i) did not report at any reporting centre OR, (ii) withdrew before the last round of seat allotment, OR, (iii) had their seat cancelled (for whatever reason) before the last round of seat allotment for IITs, during the joint seat allocation in 2019 are eligible to appear in JEE Advanced 2020.
- However, in any of the above cases, the candidate is required to fulfill the conditions mentioned from criterion 1 to criterion 4.
JEE Advanced Admission Criteria 2020
Aspirants who will qualify JEE Advanced 2020 exam have to fulfill at least one of the given below criteria for admission to bachelor’s programmes, integrated master’s programmes and dual degree programmes at IITs:
- Candidates must have secured a minimum of 75% aggregate marks in Class XII (or equivalent) board examination. The aggregate marks for SC, ST and PWD marks should be at least 65%
- Candidates should be within category-wise Top 20 percentile of successful candidates in their respective Class XII (or equivalent) board examination.
Reservation of Seats
As per the JEE Advanced information brochure, “Candidates who are not citizens of India at the time of registering for JEE Advanced 2020 (by birth or naturalised) are treated as foreign nationals”. It is further shared that, “Seats allotted to foreign nationals are supernumerary. However, not all Institutes may have supernumerary seats. The availability of supernumerary seats will be announced at the time of seat allocation”.
Candidates who are Indian nationals will be offered admissions based on seats reserved for the category under which they fall. This reservation of seats was done in accordance with the rules mentioned by the Government of India.
Category | Criteria | Quota/Reservation |
|---|---|---|
Other Backward Classes belonging to the Non-Creamy Layer (OBC-NCL) | Candidates belonging to the Non-Creamy Layer of backward classes which are mentioned in the central list of OBCs as on June 1, 2020, will be eligible to apply for JEE Advanced 2020 under this quota. Note: Candidates who belong to the creamy layer of OBC are not eligible for this reservation and such candidates are treated as belonging to the general (GEN) category. Check OBC central list here. | 27% of seats in every course |
Scheduled Caste (SC) | Candidates belonging to those castes which are mentioned in the central list of corresponding states published by the Government of India will only be eligible for reservations. Check SC central list here. | 15% of seats in every course |
Scheduled Tribe (ST) | Candidates belonging to those tribes which are mentioned in the central list of corresponding states published by the Government of India will only be eligible for reservations. Check ST central list here. | 7.5% of seats in every course |
Persons with Disability (PwD) | Reservation would be given to candidates who have at least 40% impairment irrespective of the type of disability which can be visual, locomotor or dyslexic. Also, Leprosy-cured candidates who are otherwise fit to pursue the course are included in this type of reservation. | 3% of seats in every category |
As per the information brochure, “Unfilled seats in the OBC-NCL category can be allotted to GEN category candidates whereas seats remaining vacant under the SC and ST categories shall not be allotted to candidates belonging to other categories. The reservation for PwD candidates was horizontal and hence, unfilled seats were allotted to candidates belonging to the respective categories, i.e, unfilled SC-PwD seats were allotted to candidates belonging to the Sc category and so on”.
Foreign nationals are not given an option to apply for admissions under the OBC-NCL, SC, ST or PwD reservation category.
Candidates should note here that, once they select a category at the time of JEE Advanced registration, then they will not be given an option to make any changes in their category selection field in the registration form.