Joint Entrance Examination – Main (JEE-Main), formerly All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE), is an Indian standardised computer-based test for admission to various technical undergraduate programs in engineering, architecture, and planning across colleges in India. The exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admission to B.Tech, B.Arch, etc. programs in premier technical institutes such as the National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT), which are based on the rank secured in the JEE-Main. It is usually conducted twice every year. Since mid of 2019, the JEE has been conducted fully online as a computerised test.

Quick Facts Acronym, Type ...

Joint Entrance Examination – Main

Acronym	JEE-Main
Type	Electronic assessment
Developer / administrator	National Testing Agency
Knowledge / skills tested	Paper 1: Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics Paper 2 (for B.Arch only): Mathematics, Aptitude, Drawing, and Planning
Purpose	Admission to undergraduate engineering and architecture courses in 31 NITs, 25 IIITs, and 33 GFTIs. Also serves as a preliminary selection for JEE-Advanced.
Year started	2002 (22 years ago) (2002) Formerly known as AIEEE
Duration	3 hours
Score / grade range	-75 to +300 in Paper 1
Offered	2 times per year
Restrictions on attempts	Maximum three attempts in consecutive years, with no age limit
Countries / regions	India
Languages	English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu
Annual number of test takers	1,233,325 (2024) (B.E./B.Tech) 46,336 (2022) (B.Arch) 17,817 (2022) (B.Planning)
Prerequisites / eligibility criteria	Class 12 or equivalent with Mathematics, Physics and any one of the technical subjects prescribed by AICTE from recognised board/university.
Website	https://jeemain.nta.ac.in/

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The AIEEE was introduced in 2002, since the newly established NIT and IIIT universities wanted an entrance examination paper of a higher standard than the Common Engineering Test (CET), which was formerly used for admission to all non-IIT engineering universities, including even RECs and IIITs, owing mostly to the rising competition and the goal of maintaining the exclusiveness of such institutes of national importance. It was renamed to JEE-Main in 2013.

Until 2018, the exam was held both in pen and paper and CBT modes,^[1] as well as was held in the first week of April by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It is conducted by National Testing Agency in CBT mode only from 2018 onwards.

The 2020 and 2021 exams were postponed and conducted later in the same years, due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[2] 2021 was the only year throughout JEE-Main history, when a maximum of 4 attempts were given to students.^[3] In general, for the rest of the years, most students took the JEE-Main exam in either 1 or 2 attempts, even though a maximum of 3 attempts is allowed during two consecutive years.

The examination consists of only two papers: Paper 1 for B.E./B.Tech courses and Paper 2 for B.Arch and B.Planning courses.^[4] A candidate can opt for any or both the papers. Paper 1 is mandatorily a computer based test (called online mode) from 2018 onwards. Until 2018, there was an option between offline pen and paper mode and online computer mode. The examination was conducted only in offline pen and paper mode till 2010. In 2011, as per the orders of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, CBSE conducted Paper 1 in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode for the first one lakh candidates who opted for the same, while the remaining students took the examination in the conventional pen and paper mode.^[5] The number of attempts which a candidate can avail at the examination is limited to three in consecutive years. As of 2018^[update], the top 2,24,000 rankers of JEE-Main will qualify to take the second and final level of examination: JEE-Advanced.^[6]

In 2010, the Ministry of Human Resource Development announced plans to replace JEE with a common entrance test for all government engineering colleges which will be called Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test (ISEET), by 2013.^[7][8] Accordingly, MHRD proposes to set up National Testing Service, which will be an autonomous and self-sustained agency to conduct this new common entrance test.

The JEE-Main also serves as a preliminary requisite examination for JEE-Advanced.

• B.E./B.Tech (Paper 1): Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics
• B.Arch (Paper 2A): Mathematics, Aptitude, and Drawing
• B.Planning (Paper 2B): Mathematics, Aptitude, and Planning

Institutes participating in the 2022 centralized seat allocation process included:

• The 31 National Institutes of Technology.
• The 25 Indian Institutes of Information Technology.
• 33 Government Funded Technical Institutes.
• State institutes.
• Several self-financed institutes (during the spot round).
• Many private Deemed universities use JEE (Main) rank for admissions through their own seat allocation processes.
• Indirectly, the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology.

The number of applicants taking the JEE-Main has varied over the years, with a peak of over 1.35 million in 2014.

B.Arch

(From 2021)

More information Year, Phase ...

Year	Phase	No. of registered applicants	No. of appeared applicants	No. of unique registered applicants	No. of unique appeared applicants	Reference(s)
2021	1	59,962	48,836	91,468	62,035	[28][29]
	2	74,479	29,004
2022	1	61,534	39,639	77,849	46,336	[30]
	2	32,724	14,924
2023	1
	2
2024	1	68,147	51,570			[31]
	2

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B.Planning

(From 2021)

More information Year, Phase ...

Year	Phase	No. of registered applicants	No. of appeared applicants	No. of unique registered applicants	No. of unique appeared applicants	Reference(s)
2021	1	25,810	19,352	40,346	24,351	[28][29]
	2	32,108	10,551
2022	1	25,820	15,371	33,048	17,817	[30]
	2	12,758	4,912
2023	1
	2
2024	1	36,672	24,876			[31]
	2

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Common Paper (B.Arch/B.Planning)

(Before 2021)

More information Year, Phase ...

Year	Phase	No. of registered applicants	No. of appeared applicants	No. of unique registered applicants	No. of unique appeared applicants	Reference(s)
2019	1	180,052	145,386	275,913	227,907	[32]
	2	169,759	144,032
2020	1	145,189	118,732	207,369	147,983	[33]
	2	112,139	76,889

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Earlier, counselling for the JEE-Main was conducted through the CSAB; but, now, the authorities have made changes in the counselling procedure. The JAB (Joint Admission Board), representing IITs, and the CSAB (Central Seat Allocation Board), making agreements on behalf of the NITs (National Institutes of Technology) and other CFTIs (Centrally Funded Technical Institutes), are now united to conduct counselling (common counselling) for the two exams of the IIT-JEE. The memo for the same was signed on May 2, 2015. These two together are known as the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA).^[34]

In 2011, CBSE postponed the examination by a few hours after the question papers were leaked in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh the night before. Meanwhile, an alternate set of question papers were sent to those examination centres. CBSE announced the postponement of the exam 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the examination.^[35][36]

• National Institute of Technology
• All India Council for Technical Education
• Joint Entrance Examination – Advanced
• National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate)
• List of Public service commissions in India