JEE Main Exam Pattern 2021: Total Marks, Marking Scheme, Negative Marking, Time Duration

The Central Board of Secondary Education has shortened the syllabus for this academic session. Corresponding to that, the National Testing Agency has also revised the exam pattern for JEE Main 2021. The exam will be held separately for aspirants appearing for B.Tech and B.Arch/B.Planning. All the new changes which have been accommodated in the JEE Main Exam Pattern 2021 are detailed below. Candidates are advised to go through this page thoroughly to gain insight into the JEE Main question paper and accordingly direct their preparatory efforts, especially considering there are some major changes in the JEE Main 2021 exam pattern as per the official updates by the conducting authority.

The contents of this page include:

• JEE Main Exam Pattern 2021 Highlights
• JEE Main 2021 Marking Scheme
• Language Options in JEE Main 2021
• JEE Main Syllabus
• JEE Main Previous Years’ Question Papers
• Best Preparation Books for JEE Main 2021 Preparation
• JEE Main 2021 Question Paper Analysis

JEE Main 2021 Exam Pattern Highlights

Several changes have been made in the exam pattern for JEE Main 2021. The gist of all the important elements of the exam pattern, revised as well as unrevised, are discussed in this section:

Papers: JEE Main 2021 consists of two papers. Paper-I is for the candidates who seek admission into B.E./B.Tech programs and Paper-II is for the candidates who seek admission into B.Arch./B.Planning programs.

Duration: The time duration for completion of the JEE Main 2021 examination paper is 3 hours, i.e. 180 minutes.

Mode of Paper-I: JEE Main 2021 Paper-I will be conducted in only one mode, i.e. Online mode or Computer-based Test (CBT).

Mode of Paper-II: JEE Main 2021 Paper-II will be conducted in two modes. Part-I: Mathematics and Part-II: Aptitude will be conducted in the Online mode, and Part-III: Drawing Test will be conducted in the Offline mode or Paper-based Test (PBT).

Alternative Section: A new pattern has been introduced in the JEE Main 2021 exam; there will be no negative marking in the additional 15 alternative questions. All candidates must attempt 75 questions out of 90, which can be further identified as 25 out of the 30 in each section, i.e., Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

The courses offered through the JEE Main 2021 papers is given in the table below:

• The entrance exam for B.Planning will be held separately from 2021 onwards.
• Each subject will have 20 Multiple Choice Questions and 10 Numerical Value Based Questions. The candidates will have to attempt any 5 out of the 10 numerical value-based questions.

JEE Main Exam Pattern for B.E. and B.Tech

JEE Main 2021 Paper 1 will have a total of 90 MCQs and each subject will have two sections: MCQs and Numerical value answers. The paper is further divided into 3 subject-wise sections where each section carries 100 marks and the candidates can score a maximum of 300 marks in JEE Main 2021 Paper 1.

The name of the subjects in the JEE Main Paper I and the number of questions which will be asked along with the corresponding marks allotted to it is mentioned in the table given below.

*NOTE: Each Subject will have two sections. Section A will be of Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) and Section B will contain Questions whose answers are to be filled in as a numerical value. In Section B, candidates have to attempt any five questions out of 10. There will be no negative marking for Section B.

JEE Main Exam Pattern for B.Arch (Paper: II-A)

The table below provides all the necessary insights about the exam patterns of the JEE Main 2021 Paper-II (A) like the type of questions that will be asked in the exam, the subjects involved, and the medium of the question paper. JEE Main 2021 Paper-II (A) will have a total of 82 questions and it will be divided into 3 sections. Section One will have 20 MCQ's and 10 questions will have an answer to be filled as a numerical value and Section Two will have 50 MCQ's and 2 Drawing Questions where each question carries 50 marks. The candidates can score a maximum of 400 marks in JEE Main 2021 Paper 2.

*NOTE: 20 questions will be MCQs and 5 questions will have answers to be filled as a numerical value out of 10. There will be no negative marking for the numerical value-based questions.

JEE Main Exam Pattern for Paper-II(B)

The number of questions for each subject and the total marks allotted to that subject is provided in the table given below.

*NOTE: 20 questions will be MCQs and 5 questions will have answers to be filled as a numerical value out of 10. There will be no negative marking for the numerical value-based questions.

JEE Main Exam Pattern 2021 for B.Plan

The important facts related to the exam pattern for JEE Main 2021 for admission to B.Plan course are given below:

JEE Main 2021 Marking Scheme

The detailed marking scheme as per the updated JEE Main Exam Pattern 2021 is given below for your reference.

JEE Main 2021 Marking Scheme for B.E./B.Tech

The detailed marking scheme for the entrance exam for BE and B.Tech courses is detailed below:

JEE Main 2021 Marking Scheme for B.Arch and B.Planning

The detailed marking scheme for B.Arch and B.Planning under JEE 2021 is discussed in the table below:

Language Options in JEE Main 2021

The candidates can answer the JEE Main 2021 in 13 different languages. However, it must not be assumed that every exam centre will allow candidates to attempt the paper in any language of his/her choice. Given below is a list of all the languages in which the JEE Main 2021 can be attempted, and all the centres where the corresponding language option will be available.

JEE Main 2021 Syllabus

The candidates must take a print out of the detailed syllabus for JEE Main 2021. The questions asked in the JEE Main 2021 Question Paper will entirely be based on the syllabus of class 11 and 12. The topics from each subject, which the candidates must pay the maximum attention to are listed below for your reference:

JEE Main Syllabus 2021: Important Topics in Physics

The candidates must prepare the below-listed topics from JEE Main 2021 syllabus well, as most of the questions are based on them

JEE Main Syllabus 2021: Important Topics in Chemistry

Based on our observation of JEE Main 2021 previous year question papers, the important topics from Chemistry, which occupy the maximum weightage are given below:

JEE Main Syllabus 2021: Important Topics in Mathematics

The important topics from the Mathematics syllabus of JEE Mains 2021 are given below.

JEE Main Syllabus 2021 for Drawing

The questions asked in the exam may be based on the following topics:

• Scenes: Markets, Festivals, Landmarks, Roads, Wilderness, Plants or Trees, Rural Life, Recreational Spaces
• Drawing of Geometric or Abstract shapes/patterns
• 2D or 3D views of objects

The candidates must go through the detailed syllabus for JEE Main 2021 and analyse which areas they need to put maximum in.

JEE Main 2021 Previous Years’ Question Papers

About 9 lakh students appear for the JEE Main exam every year. As per the data released by the National Testing Agency, 9.34 lakh students gave the exam in 2020. A candidate’s preparation for JEE Main 2021 shall be considered inadequate if he/she doesn’t solve the previous years’ question papers and mock tests. Some of the reasons why solving the JEE Main Previous Years’ Question Papers is an absolute must for all the aspirants are given below:

• It would help you enhance your speed.
• The candidates will be able to analyse their weak areas.
• The candidates will learn about the questions which are asked repeatedly in the exam.

Best Preparation Books for JEE Main 2021

It is often said that mastering the content given in NCERT textbooks is sufficient to ace any examination. However, several important topics are only discussed briefly in these books. The preparation books for JEE Main 2021 would surely explain each and every concept in detail, in easily understandable language. In addition to that, these reference books also have practice questions and mock tests which are beneficial for good exam preparation. Some of the best reference books recommended by the toppers of JEE Main exam are given below.

JEE Main 2021 Question Paper Analysis

The complete analysis for the second phase of JEE Main 2021 question papers is discussed in this section. Candidates can check the overall difficulty level, section-wise difficulty level, all the important topics, and various other details in this section.

JEE Main Question Paper Analysis for Mar 16, 2021

Shift 1:

• Most of the candidates reported that the question paper had a moderate difficulty level.
• The Mathematics and Physics section was more difficult than the Chemistry section.
• Important topics:

Shift 2:

• The question paper from this shift was slightly more difficult than the question paper of Shift 1.
• The Mathematics section was the toughest, followed by Physics. Like the previous section, questions asked in the Chemistry section were reportedly the easiest.
• Important topics:

JEE Main Question Paper Analysis for Mar 17, 2021

Shift 1:

In the table given below, candidates can find the number of difficult, moderately difficult and easy questions asked from each section of the question paper:

As per the given data, it can be interpreted that the Chemistry section was the easiest out of all.

Important chapters in Physics section: Mechanics, Modern Physics, Electrodynamics, Heat and Thermodynamics.

Important topics in Chemistry: Atomic Structure and Nuclear Chemistry, Mole Concept, Chemical Kinematics, s-Block, Solution and Colligative Properties

Important topics in Mathematics: Methods of Differentiation, Matrices and Determinants, Inverse Trigonometric Function, Circle, Binomial Theorem.

Shift 2:

The total number of questions which were moderately difficult and highly difficult in the second shift of JEE Main, held on Mar 17, 2021 is as follows:

• Important topics in Chemistry section: Thermodynamics and Thermochemistry, Practical Organic Chemistry, Biomolecules, d and f Block Elements, Coordination Compounds
• Important topics in Mathematics section: Circles, Matrices and Determinants, Binomial Theorem, Limit, Continuity and Differentiability, Definite Integration, Differential Equation
• Important topics in Physics section: Current Electricity, Alternating Current, KTG and Thermodynamics, Centre of Mass, Rectilinear Motion and Vectors, Electromagnetic Waves and Communication.