The JEE Main 2026 Session 1 exam for January 21, Shift 1, has finished. Students who appeared for this exam can now check their question paper with solutions. This helps them find out their likely scores and understand the exam. Coaching centers have released unofficial answer keys and analysis based on questions remembered by students.
JEE Main 2026 January 21 Shift 1: Paper Analysis and Solutions
Students can download the unofficial answer key PDF for JEE Main 2026 Jan 21 Shift 1. These solutions are prepared by experts at various coaching centers. Checking these solutions helps students understand the exam pattern and question types. It also guides students appearing in future shifts about the difficulty level and important topics.
Here is a summary of the difficulty level for each subject in JEE Main 2026 Jan 21 Shift 1:
| Sections | Difficulty | Topics Asked |
| Physics | Moderate | Modern Physics, Wave motions, Fluids |
| Chemistry | Tough & Lengthy | Organic, Physical Chemistry, Isomerism |
| Mathematics | Easy | Vector 3D, Sequence and Series, Matrices, Differential Equations |
| Overall | Moderate and balanced | - |
Based on initial student feedback and expert analysis, the overall difficulty of the January 21 Shift 1 paper was moderate. Physics was moderate. Chemistry was considered tough and lengthy, with questions from Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Isomerism. Mathematics was rated as easy, focusing on topics like Vector 3D, sequence and series, matrices, and differential equations.
How to Calculate Your JEE Main Scores
Students can calculate their expected scores using the unofficial answer keys. Follow these steps:
- Compare your answers with the provided answer key.
- Count your correct and incorrect answers.
- Use the formula: 4 * (Number of Correct Answers) - 1 * (Number of Wrong Answers) = Your Expected Score.
This method will give you a close estimate of your performance in the exam.
Understanding Exam Difficulty and Percentiles
The JEE Main exam uses a system called normalization. This is because different shifts have different difficulty levels. Reports suggest that JEE Main 2026 Jan 21 Shift 1 was tougher than the evening shift on the same day. However, the JEE Main 2026 Jan 22 Shift 2 exam is currently considered the toughest shift so far in Session 1.
In a tougher shift, students can get a higher percentile even with lower raw scores. This happens because the percentile depends on how all students in that specific shift perform. For an easier shift, students need to score more marks to achieve a high percentile.
Official Answer Key and Result Dates
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will release the official JEE Main 2026 answer key in the first week of February 2026. Students can check this on the official website, jeemain.nta.nic.in. After the provisional answer key is released, students will also get a chance to challenge any answers they believe are wrong.
To check the official answer key:
- Go to the JEE Main official website.
- Click on the link for 'JEE Main 2026 Answer Key for Session 1'.
- Enter your application number and password.
- You can then view your question paper, the answer key, and your marked responses.
- Download these to calculate your scores before the final results are declared.
The JEE Main 2026 results for Session 1 will be announced by February 12, 2026. NTA will use the final answer key to prepare these results.
Expected Scores, Percentiles, and Cutoffs
Here is an idea of how marks might relate to percentiles and ranks, based on past trends:
| JEE Main Marks | Expected Percentile | Expected Ranks |
| 240 - 280+ | 99.9+ | 1 - 1,200 |
| 210 - 240 | 99.5 - 99.9 | 1,200 - 6,000 |
| 180 - 210 | 99.0 - 99.5 | 6,000 - 12,000 |
| 160 - 180 | 98.0 - 99.0 | 12,000 - 25,000 |
| 140 - 160 | 97.0 - 98.0 | 25,000 - 35,000 |
| 120 - 140 | 95.0 - 97.0 | 35,000 - 60,000 |
| 100 - 120 | 90.0 - 95.0 | 60,000 - 1.1 Lakh |
| 70 - 100 | 80.0 - 90.0 | 1.1 Lakh - 2.5 Lakh |
There are no passing marks in JEE Main 2026. However, the authorities set a cutoff for students to qualify for JEE Advanced. About 2,50,000 top students from JEE Main will be eligible to take the JEE Advanced exam for admission to IITs. These cutoff scores are different for each student category and are announced after the JEE Main Session 2 results.
| Category | JEE Main Expected Cutoff 2026 (Percentile) |
| Unreserved (UR) | 93.30 |
| Gen-EWS | 81.43 |
| OBC-NCL | 80.74 |
| SC | 61.35 |
| ST | 48.24 |
| UR-PwD | 0.00 |
Students can also use online college predictor tools. These tools help give an idea of which colleges they might get admission into based on their expected ranks and other details like category and gender.
Other JEE Main January 2026 Exam Papers
Students can also find question papers and solutions for other JEE Main January 2026 shifts online. These resources help students understand the overall exam trends and difficulty across various days and shifts.
