Complete Guide to JEE Mains & Advanced: Eligibility, Differences, Exam Pattern, and Preparation Tips

Tue Jul 1, 2025

📌 Introduction to JEE
JEE is a crucial entrance exam for students aspiring to join top engineering colleges in India.

It has two levels:

1. JEE Mains

2. JEE Advanced

Both exams cover Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics with a common syllabus, but they differ significantly in purpose, eligibility, pattern, and scope.



📝 JEE Mains
✅Purpose: For admission to

1. 31 National Institutes of Technology (NITs)

2. 26 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs)

3. 32 Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs)

✅Frequency: Conducted twice a year (January & April).

✅Eligibility:

1. Can attempt JEE Mains up to three consecutive years starting from Class 12 completion.

2. Requires 75% aggregate marks in Class 12 for General/OBC, or 65% for SC/ST, including all subjects (not just PCM).

✅Conducting Body: National Testing Agency (NTA).

✅Medium: Available in 13 languages, including Tamil.

✅Exam Duration:

1. Engineering (Paper 1): 3 hours.

2. Architecture (Paper 2A) & Planning (Paper 2B): 3 hours each.

✅Marking Scheme:

1. Total: 90 questions (30 each in PCM), attempt 75.

2. +4 for correct answers, -1 for wrong.

3. Questions include MCQs and numerical type.

✅Ranking & Advancement:

1. Best score from the two attempts is considered for rank.

2. Top ~2.5 lakh rankers across categories qualify for JEE Advanced.



📝 JEE Advanced
✅Purpose: Required for admission into 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) — India’s premier engineering institutions.

✅Eligibility:

1. Only top 2-2.5 lakh performers in JEE Mains (with category-wise quotas) can appear.

2. Can attempt Advanced a maximum of two consecutive years post-Class 12.

✅Frequency: Conducted once a year.

✅Conducting Body: Joint Admission Board (JAB) of IITs, rotated among IITs like Madras, Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, etc.

✅Medium: Available only in English and Hindi (a disadvantage for Tamil medium students).

✅Exam Duration:

1. Two papers on the same day: Paper 1 (3 hours) & Paper 2 (3 hours), totaling 6 hours.

2. Attendance in both papers is mandatory; missing one disqualifies the candidate.

✅Marking Scheme:

1. Varies every year; no fixed number of questions or total marks (past years ranged between 300-360 marks).

2. Questions include single/multiple correct MCQs, integer-type answers, and matrix-match types.

3. Complex marking schemes exist, like partial credits and variable negative marking.

📚 Preparation Resources
Recommended books include:

1. Physics: IA Irodov

2. Mathematics: Vikas Gupta Black Book

3. Chemistry: NCERT textbooks


📢 Important Notes
1. Students must clear JEE Mains to be eligible for Advanced; direct Advanced attempts without Mains are not allowed.

2. While JEE Mains offers regional language support, lack of Tamil support in Advanced poses a significant challenge for Tamil medium students.

3. Counseling for seat allocation across IITs, NITs, and IIITs is conducted through Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) after results are announced.

4. Sharing awareness about these exams, eligibility, and preparation strategies is crucial for helping students, especially those from under-informed backgrounds.


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KARTHICK CV
Founder & Director - CV ACADEMY | Educator | TNPSC Exam Trainer | Personality Development & Career Guidance Coach | Keynote Speaker | Guiding Students to Learn with Clarity & Confidence

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