Every candidate who appeared for the JEE Main Session 2 examination has sought a definitive answer to the question: “Was the JEE Main 2026 Session 2 exam more difficult than Session 1?” However, feedback received from the students who took the exam revealed that a consistent pattern was clearly visible across 10 shifts, wherein the overall difficulty level of the paper was moderate.
In this article, you will get a clear picture of all 10 shifts of JEE Main 2026 conducted for Session 2 from April 2 to 8, 2026. Our team interacted with thousands of students after the JEE Main Session 2 exam and analysed the responses we received. Based on students’ feedback and our expert analysis over multiple platforms like Matrix Academy, Allen, Akash, PW, etc., we are providing here the subject-wise trends, overall difficulty level of session 2, shift-wise difficulty level, expected cutoff and key topics included in the exam paper.
JEE Main 2026 Session 2 Overall Difficulty Level (All Shifts)
A report shows that out of 11.23 lakh registered candidates, approximately 10.73 lakh appeared for the exam, which was concluded with Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech) on April 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8, 2026 and with Paper 2 (B.Arch/ B.Planning) on April 7, 2026. The paper was strongly based on NCERT and previous year questions.
Following the Session 2 exam, thousands of candidates shared their experiences, as:
- The Chemistry section in all shifts of Session 2 exam was easier than session 1 with NCERT-based questions. While
- Physics was easy to moderate in overall difficulty level.
- The Mathematics section felt somewhat lengthy with some tricky questions. However, the overall difficulty of the Mathematics section was moderate to tough.
Subject-Wise Difficulty Level for JEE Main 2026 April Session
This section will help you to know about the subjective difficulty level of the JEE Main Session 2 Exam. The following details are based on the real-time students’ feedback and expert analysis after the exam.
Physics Difficulty Level of JEE Main 2026 Session 2
Based on the initial feedback, the Physics section in all shifts was considered the most scoring section with an overall easy to moderate difficulty level. The paper was NCERT-based, where mostly formula-based questions were asked. However, some shifts featured calculation-based numerical questions requiring strong conceptual clarity.
| Key Area | Overall Analysis |
| Difficulty Level | Easy to Moderate |
| Topic Weightage | Class 11th-based questions (Generally from the topics: Electrodynamics, Modern Physics, and Optics) |
| Nature of Questions | Direct, Formula-Based and Calculation-Intensive Numericals |
| Trend | Straightforward and doable |
Students’ Reactions: Many students found that the Physics section was overall easy but slightly challenging in a few shifts. The majority of questions were from the NCERT-based class 11th. However, students required more clarity on concepts to solve most questions.
Chemistry Difficulty Level of JEE Main 2026 Session 2
As per the expert, the Chemistry section in all shifts was found to be easy to somewhat moderate. This emerged as the most scoring section throughout session 2.
| Key Area | Overall Analysis |
| Difficulty Level | Easy to Moderate |
| High Weightage Topics | NCERT-based questions from Class 11th |
| Nature of Questions | Direct, Formula-Based and Calculation-Intensive Numerical. |
| Trend | Straightforward and doable |
Students’ Reactions: The Chemistry section was stable with trends. This was the easiest section among the three in all shifts. The questions were straightforward, memory-based, and directly from NCERT. However, some shifts ranged from easy to moderate, but overall, this section helped students boost their total score.
Mathematics Difficulty Level of JEE Main 2026 Session 2
The Mathematics section in all shifts remained moderate to difficult, with time-consuming. The Mathematics session 2 exam paper was characterised by heavy, calculation-intensive questions from Algebra, Vector & 3D, Calculus and Conic sections.
| Key Area | Overall Analysis (All Shifts) |
| Difficulty Level | Moderate to Tough |
| High Weightage Topics | Matrices & Determinations, Integral Calculus, Probability, Geometry (conic sections), and Vector & 3D. |
| Nature of Questions | Direct NCERT-based class 12th questions with moderate numerical problems. |
| Trend | Stable and NCERT-dominated |
Students’ Reactions: The Mathematics section in all shifts remained moderate to tough in difficulty level. The questions in all shifts were found to be highly calculative and time-consuming. The section was conceptual but doable with lengthy calculations, where a strong conceptual clarity was required to handle tricky, in-depth topics.
Difficulty Comparison of JEE Main 2026 Session 1 & Session 2
Based on students’ feedback and expert analysis, the following table allows you to easily compare the session 1 and session 2 shift-wise difficulty level of JEE Main 2026.
Here is the shift wise description of difficulty level for the Session 1 exam of JEE Main:
| Session 1 Exam Date | Shift | Difficulty Level (Session 1) |
| 21 Jan 2026 | Shift 1 | Moderate to Difficult |
| 21 Jan 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate |
| 22 Jan 2026 | Shift 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| 22 Jan 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate to Difficult |
| 23 Jan 2026 | Shift 1 | Moderate to Difficult |
| 23 Jan 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate |
| 24 Jan 2026 | Shift 1 | Moderate but Lengthy |
| 24 Jan 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate |
| 28 Jan 2026 | Shift 1 | Difficult and Lengthy |
| 28 Jan 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate |
| 29 Jan 2026 | Shift 1 | Paper 2A (B.Arch.) – ModeratePaper 2B (B. Planning) – Easy to Moderate |
Here is the shift wise description of difficulty level for the Session 2 exam of JEE Main:
| Session 2 Exam Date | Shift | Difficulty Level (Session 2) |
| 2 Apr 2026 | Shift 1 | Easy to Moderate |
| 2 Apr 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate |
| 4 Apr 2026 | Shift 1 | Moderate |
| 4 Apr 2026 | Shift 2 | Easy to Moderate |
| 5 Apr 2026 | Shift 1 | Moderate |
| 5 Apr 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate to Lengthy |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Shift 1 | Easy to Moderate but Lengthy |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate |
| 7 Apr 2026 | Shift 2 | Paper 2A (B.Arch.) – ModeratePaper 2B (B. Planning) – Easy to Moderate |
| 8 Apr 2026 | Shift 2 | Moderate |
Matrix Expert Views on JEE Main 2026 Session 2 Difficulty Level
Experts from Matrix also conducted a comprehensive review of the entire JEE Main 2026 Session 2 examination and offered their assessment based on feedback received from the students who appeared for the exam. They found that the overall difficulty level of the paper was moderate, with significant variations observed across the different shifts. Each shift presented its own distinct difficulty level, which remained consistent with previous trends.
- The Mathematics section was found to be of moderate difficulty, though it was somewhat lengthy; conversely, the
- The physics section was straightforward and largely based on formulas and concepts, with a difficulty level ranging from easy to moderate.
- The Chemistry paper was based on the NCERT curriculum and was considered easy in terms of difficulty level. It proved to be the highest-scoring section.
Overall, the JEE Main Session 2 examination tested the students’ speed, accuracy, and deep conceptual understanding. You simply need to await the final results.
Way to Download JEE Main 2026 April Session Question Paper & Answer Key PDF
The NTA officially released the JEE Main 2026 session 2 question paper on its website. The official answer key for JEE Main Session 2 has now been released on April 11, 2026, for all exam shifts conducted on different dates from April 2-8, 2026.
- Firstly, visit the official NTA JEE website, i.e. jeemain.nta.nic.in.
- Find out the link “Answer Key/ Response Sheet”.
- Click on the link, and a login page will display.
- Enter the login credentials, such as application number and DOB/ password.
- Now click on the submit and wait.
- Download the answer key and response sheet.
Expected JEE Main 2026 Marks to Qualify JEE Advanced 2026
Only the candidates among you who scored higher than or equal to the expected cutoff marks will be qualified for the JEE Advanced 2026. Check out whether you are eligible or not for that.
| Category | Expected cutoff for JEE Advanced 2026 |
| General | 93.2 – 94.1 |
| Gen – EWS | 81 – 82 |
| OBC-NCL | 79 – 80 |
| SC | 60 – 62 |
| ST | 47 – 49 |
| PwD | 0.001 – 1 |
Expected Marks vs Percentile of JEE Main 2026
The expected marks vs percentile required for JEE Advanced 2026 are mentioned in the following table.
| Expected JEE Main 2026 Marks | Percentile Range |
| 180 – 200+ | 99 – 100 |
| 160 – 179 | 98 – 99 |
| 130 – 159 | 95 – 97 |
| 90 – 94 | 100 – 129 |
| 85 – 89 | 80 – 99 |
| 70 – 84 | 55 – 79 |
| 70 and less | 55 and less |
Frequently Asked Questions
The 2nd April Shift 1 exam held for the JEE Main 2026 session 2 was considered one of the easiest exams compared to other shift exams.
The JEE Main 2026 April Session 6th April exam held with shift 1 was founded toughest exam
When all shifts of the particular exam are found to be moderate to difficult and time-consuming, it is called as the toughest. A shift is called as easy when two out of three sections are scoring and straightforward.
No, shift difficulty doesn’t affect your JEE Main percentile. NTA uses the normalisation process to address this situation and keep the equality in the result.
Typically, 40-50 questions can be easily attempted, while the shift is considered the toughest.
No, JEE Main Session 2 exam was reported balanced with all shifts, while Session 1 was moderate overall, with time-consuming.
On April 11, 2026, NTA released the provisional answer key for the JEE Main 2026 session 2 paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech) on its website.
You can submit a challenge to the provisional answer key available for the JEE Main Session 2 paper 1 exam from April 11 to 13, 2026, with a processing fee of ₹200 per question.
It is expected that NTA will release the results of the JEE Main 2026 Session 2 exam on April 20, 2026.
