NTA Changes Exam Pattern Of JEE Main 2025, Discontinues Optionals In Section B

Candidates will no longer have the flexibility to select questions in Section B, a provision introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic

By Krishna Mishra On Oct 18, 2024

HYDERABAD: In an important change in the format of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2025, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has discontinued the option to select questions in the Section B of the exam. The NTA announced the decision in a notification on October 17.

The option to select questions in the Section B, which was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, will no longer be available. The candidates appearing for the JEE Main 2025 will be required to attempt all five questions in the Section B without any choice.

Starting from JEE Main 2025, the Section B will contain only five mandatory questions per subject in Paper 1 (B.E./B. Tech), Paper 2A (B. Arch), and Paper 2B (B. Planning). Candidates must attempt all the five questions without any option for selection.

The optional selection of questions was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to ease the pressure on students amid unprecedented challenges, the NTA said. “With the WHO declaring the end of COVID-19 as a public health emergency on May 5, 2023, we are reverting to the original exam structure,” the NTA said in a notice.

From JEE Main 2025 onwards, candidates will no longer have the flexibility to select questions in the Section B. “All students will now be required to attempt all five questions in the Section B for each subject,” said the NTA.

This change ends the flexible option introduced in 2021, which allowed students to attempt any 5 out of 10 numerical questions due to the challenges of COVID-19.

The NTA also said that the application process for the first phase of the JEE Main 2025 would begin soon and the details would be released on its official website.

“For further clarification related to JEE (Main)-2025, the Candidates are advised to keep visiting the official websites of NTA, https://www.nta.ac.in/ and https://jeemain.nta.nic.in/ for the latest updates,” the notice added.

To view the notice, click here.

Negative marking

The 300-mark JEE Main exam comprises three sections— Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. It has 90 questions in total, 30 in each section.

Section A of the three-hour-long exam consists of 20 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) per subject. Considering the revised exam pattern, Section B will now consist of five mandatory questions.

There is a negative marking for each incorrect answer, which will result in a deduction of one mark, while each correct answer will carry four marks.