The JEE Main 2021 has undergone some significant changes this year. Since students have been preparing for this exam for 2 or more years, many must have started off with their JEE prep with the details of previous years’ exams. Therefore, understanding the differences between the new pattern and old patterns is important. In addition, the other changes brought about in the JEE Mains this year are also explained here.
Important: JEE Main Admit Card 2021
Changes in JEE Main 2021
#1. Frequency of exam changed – This year JEE will be held 4 times.
When CBSE used to organize JEE, the exam was held only once a year. Then since NTA took over as the organizing body, JEE Main started to be conducted twice a year, and only in online mode.
However this year it has been decided to conduct JEE Main 2021 four times. The exam will be held in February as session 1, in March as session 2, in April as session 3, and in May as session 4.
- Candidates can appear any number of times – including all sessions.
- The best of all scores will be used for ranking.
But note – The papers for B.Arch (2A) and B.Plan (2B) will only be held twice. These papers will be in February and May.
Recommended: 10 Things To Know Before Filling JEE Main 2021 Online Application Form
#2. Exam pattern has been changed – Know the new JEE Main 2021 exam pattern.
The exam pattern of JEE Main 2021 is new. However the syllabus remains the same.
New pattern for Paper 1 (The paper for BE/B.Tech)
| Subject | Section A (MCQs) | Section B (NVTs) – Total Qs | Total Qs | Total Qs To Be Attempted | Max Marks |
| Physics | 20 | 10 Attempt any 5 | 30 | 25 | 100 |
| Chemistry | 20 | 10 Attempt any 5 | 30 | 25 | 100 |
| Mathematics | 20 | 10 Attempt any 5 | 30 | 25 | 100 |
| Total | 60 | 30 Attempt any 15 | 90 | 75 | 300 |
Explanation:
- There will be a single question paper (computer based).
- There will be 3 subjects / parts – Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics.
- In each subject / part, there will be 2 sections – A and B.
- In section A, there will be 20 MCQs. There will not be any option in them. All can be attempted.
- In section B, there will be 10 Numerical Value Type questions. Candidates need to attempt any 5 out of these 10.
Mode and Marking Scheme
The paper will be completely a computer based test (like previous years).
Marking scheme will be +4, -1 for MCQs (section A). And only +4, no negative marking for NVTs (section B)
New pattern for Paper 2A (For B.Arch)
| Subject | Section A (MCQs) | Section B (NVTs) – Qs | Total Qs | Total Qs To Be Attempted | Max Marks |
| Mathematics | 20 | 10 Attempt any 5 | 30 | 25 | 100 |
| Aptitude Test | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 200 |
| Drawing Test | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 100 |
| Total | 72 | 10 Attempt any 5 | 82 | 77 | 400 |
New pattern for Paper 2B (For B.Planning)
| Subject | Section A (MCQs) | Section B (NVTs) – Qs | Total Qs | Total Qs To Be Attempted | Max Marks |
| Mathematics | 20 | 10 Attempt any 5 | 30 | 25 | 100 |
| Aptitude Test | 50 | 0 | 50 | 50 | 200 |
| Planning Based | 25 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 100 |
| Total | 95 | 10 Attempt any 5 | 105 | 100 | 400 |
#3. New language options
Whereas until last year the JEE Mains exam was held only in English, Hindi, Gujarati. Now from this year, the engineering entrance exam will be in 13 languages in all. The languages in which the question paper will be framed are as follows. Though do note that availability of the language of the paper depends on the exam city.
| S.No. | Language | Exam Center In |
| 1 | English | Everywhere |
| 2 | Hindi | All cities in India |
| 3 | Assamese | Assam |
| 4 | Bengali | West Bengal, Tripura and Andaman & Nicobar Island |
| 5 | Gujarati | Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli |
| 6 | Kannada | Karnataka |
| 7 | Marathi | Maharashtra |
| 8 | Malayalam | Kerala and Lakshadweep |
| 9 | Odia | Odisha |
| 10 | Punjabi | Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi |
| 11 | Tamil | Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar Island |
| 12 | Telugu | Andhra Pradesh and Telangana |
| 13 | Urdu | All cities in India |
Note – The language options 3-13 will be bilingual papers. That is the paper will be in the said language, plus English.
#4. Tie breaking criteria changed – Age no longer a factor
When two or moe candidates get the same score (NTA score in the case of JEE Main), then tie breaking rules are applied to decide who gets what rank.
Until last year, age used to be the last deciding factor in tie breaking. But this year, that factor is removed.
| OLD TIE BREAKING CRITERIA FOR PAPER 1 | NEW TIE BREAKING CRITERIA FOR PAPER 1 |
| 1. NTA score in Mathematics, followed by 2. NTA score in Physics, followed by 3. NTA score in Chemistry, followed by 4. Candidates with less proportion of negative responses, followed by 5. Candidates older in Age | 1. NTA score in Mathematics, followed by 2. NTA score in Physics, followed by 3. NTA score in Chemistry, followed by 4. Candidates having a lesser ratio of negative to positive responses |
| OLD TIE BREAKING CRITERIA FOR PAPER 2A | NEW TIE BREAKING CRITERIA FOR PAPER 2A |
| 1. NTA score in Mathematics, followed by 2. NTA score in Aptitude Test, followed by 3. NTA score in Drawing Test, followed by 4. Candidates with less proportion of negative responses, followed by 5. Candidates older in age | 1. NTA score in Mathematics, followed by 2. NTA score in Aptitude Test, followed by 3. NTA score in Drawing Test, followed by 4. Candidates having a lesser ratio of negative to positive responses |
| OLD TIE BREAKING CRITERIA FOR PAPER 2B | NEW TIE BREAKING CRITERIA FOR PAPER 2B |
| 1. NTA score in Mathematics, followed by 2. NTA score in Aptitude Test, followed by 3. NTA score in Planning Based Questions, followed by 4. Candidates with less proportion of negative responses, followed by 5. Candidates older in age | 1. NTA score in Mathematics, followed by 2. NTA score in Aptitude Test, followed by 3. NTA score in Planning Based Questions, followed by 4. Candidates having a lesser ratio of negative to positive responses |
#5. The fee for answer key challenge reduced by 80%
After conducting the JEE Main exam, NTA releases answer keys. And allows candidates to challenge the answers.
Last year the fee for challenging each question was Rs 1000.
Whereas this year it has been reduced to Rs 200 only.
#6. Admission to ~1.5 lakh more seats through JEE Main 2021, since UPSEE 2021 is scrapped for the engineering entrance.
This year NTA will conduct the UPSEE 2021 exam. However it has been decided that there will not be a separate exam for UP engineering admissions. Instead, scores of JEE Main 2021 only will be used.
This has effectively brought 750 more engineering colleges with close to 1.5 lakh seats under JEE Main 2021.
This explains all the changes in JEE Main 2021.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in comments below.