Joint Entrance Examination (Main)

JEE Main, the Joint Entrance Examination (Main), is a national undergraduate engineering entrance test conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) under the Ministry of Education. NTA has run it since 2019; the Central Board of Secondary Education administered it earlier, and it succeeded the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). It is held twice a year in two sessions.

The exam has two papers. Paper 1 covers Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics for admission to B.E./B.Tech programmes, drawn from the Class 11 and 12 syllabus and aligned with NCERT. Paper 2 is for architecture and planning: Paper 2A (B.Arch) adds an aptitude section and a drawing test, and Paper 2B (B.Planning) adds aptitude and a planning section. It is a computer-based test, with the B.Arch drawing section written on paper.

JEE Main is the entry route to the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and other centrally funded technical institutes, where seats are allocated through JoSAA and CSAB counselling; several state and private or deemed institutions also accept the score. It is also the qualifying stage for JEE Advanced, the separate exam through which the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) admit students.

Candidates who have passed or are appearing in Class 12 or an equivalent qualifying exam can sit for it; for B.E./B.Tech the qualifying exam must include Physics and Mathematics along with one of Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology or a technical vocational subject. There is no age limit to appear.

Sources: Joint Entrance Examination – Main, Wikipedia · JEE Main, Careers360