JEE Main 2025: NTA announces new changes in engineering exam pattern from next year

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Thursday announced a significant change in the national-level entrance exam for engineering courses. The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main) pattern will undergo some new changes in the upcoming year.

NTA's latest press release, dated October 17, said the optional question format in Section B will be discontinued. This option was introduced as a relief measure during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. 

Previously, the temporary modification allowed candidates to attempt any five questions out of a total of 10 in this particular section. The flexible format option was available until the last JEE exam. However, the next JEE exam will revert to the pre-pandemic exam pattern.

The release states, “The examination structure would return to its original format, where Section B will contain only 5 (five) questions per subject, and candidates will be required to attempt all 5 (five) questions, without any options for selection in JEE (Main) 2025 for Paper 1 (B.E./B. Tech), Paper 2 A (B Arch) and Paper 2 B (B Planning).”

From JEE Main 2025 onwards, Section B will comprise only five numerical questions per subject. Thus, all of these questions must be compulsorily answered. This marks a return to the pre-2021 format.

Along with the changes in exam pattern format, another noteworthy announcement was made in the press release. It said that the application process for the first phase of JEE Main 2025 will commence soon, and details of the same will be available on NTA’s official website.

After the registration process begins, aspiring candidates will be provided with further information regarding the examination pattern on NTA’s official website. 

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

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.