JEE Main 2026 Cutoff: Difficulty Level Impact

JEE Main 2026 January Exam Sees Varying Difficulty Levels, Impact on Cutoffs Debated

The JEE Main 2026 January session began on January 21, 2026, with students reporting different levels of difficulty on the first two days. This has led many students to wonder if the exam's difficulty will affect the JEE Main 2026 cutoff marks . The National Testing Agency (NTA) is conducting the JEE Main Session 1 exam from January 21 to January 29, 2026. The exam is held in two shifts daily: morning and afternoon.

Day 1 Analysis: January 21, 2026

On the first day, students and experts found the morning shift (Shift 1) to be moderate to difficult, especially in Physics and Chemistry. Some questions required a strong understanding of concepts. The afternoon shift (Shift 2) was reported as slightly tougher than Shift 1. Mathematics and Chemistry in this shift involved time-consuming calculations.

In Shift 2 of Day 1, Chemistry questions were based on NCERT but had some tricky questions in Physical Chemistry. Mathematics was also found to be challenging and could potentially lower the raw scores.

Day 2 Analysis: January 22, 2026

The morning shift (Shift 1) on January 22 was considered easy to moderate. Physics and Chemistry were relatively straightforward. Some students found Mathematics tricky but manageable. The afternoon shift (Shift 2) on Day 2 was rated as moderate to difficult, with Mathematics and Physics being challenging again. Experts suggested this shift might have been one of the toughest so far.

Across several shifts, Physics included more theoretical questions. Lengthy calculations in Mathematics also added time pressure, which can impact a student's overall performance.

How Difficulty Affects Cutoffs

Generally, a tougher exam paper leads to lower cutoffs. This is because fewer students score very high marks, meaning the raw score needed to achieve a certain percentile is lower. Conversely, an easier paper usually raises the raw score needed for the same percentile.

However, the NTA uses a normalization process to ensure fairness. This process adjusts scores across different shifts. If one shift was significantly tougher than another, the normalized scores will help balance out the differences. So, a student in a harder shift might achieve a higher normalized score than a student who scored the same raw marks in an easier shift.

Expected Cutoff for JEE Main 2026

Based on the initial feedback about the exam difficulty, experts predict that the qualifying percentile might be around 93.3045326 for the Unreserved category. However, the exact cutoff will depend on the final performance distribution across all shifts.

For a 99 percentile, the raw marks needed could vary significantly depending on the shift's difficulty. Students who faced tougher papers may need fewer raw marks to reach the 99 percentile compared to those who took an easier exam.