JEE Main 2026: NTA Marks Calculation & Percentile Process

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will administer the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2026 between January 21 and 29 . NTA uses a specific method to calculate and standardise results. This process converts raw scores into percentile scores to ensure fairness across all exam sessions.

JEE Main 2026 Marking Scheme Detailed

JEE Main follows a defined marking system. For multiple-choice questions (MCQs), candidates receive four marks for each correct answer. One mark is deducted for every incorrect MCQ response. Questions left unanswered do not incur any penalty. For numerical value questions, a correct response earns four marks . There is no negative marking for incorrect answers in the numerical value section.

After evaluating all responses, NTA totals the marks obtained by a candidate in each subject. This sum constitutes the candidate’s raw score. However, these raw scores are not directly used to determine the final JEE Main result or All India Rank. The multi-shift format of the examination necessitates an adjustment process.

Normalisation: Ensuring Fairness Across Shifts

The JEE Main examination is conducted across various shifts. Each shift may present a different level of difficulty. Direct comparison of raw scores from different shifts would be unfair to candidates who faced a tougher paper. To address this, NTA employs a normalisation process, calculating percentile scores for all candidates.

Normalisation aims to create an equitable playing field. It adjusts scores to account for variations in paper difficulty across different examination sessions. This scientific method ensures that no candidate is unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged by the particular shift in which they appeared.

Understanding Percentile Scores

Percentile scores indicate a candidate’s relative performance within their specific examination shift. A percentile score represents the percentage of candidates who scored equal to or below a particular candidate in that session. For example, a candidate with a 90 percentile score performed better than 90% of the students in their exam shift.

This method ensures that even if one shift had generally lower raw scores due to higher difficulty, a student performing exceptionally well within that shift would still achieve a high percentile. The highest possible percentile score is 100, representing the top performer in a shift. Conversely, the lowest percentile indicates the lowest performing individual.

Final Result and JEE Advanced Eligibility

JEE Main 2026 is scheduled in two sessions. The first session runs from January 21-29. The second session will take place from April 2 to April 9, 2026 . If a candidate attempts both sessions, NTA considers their best percentile score for the final result calculation.

The All India Rank (AIR) is derived from these percentile scores. Crucially, eligibility for JEE Advanced, the entrance examination for India’s prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), also depends entirely on a candidate’s JEE Main percentile score, not their raw marks. Candidates must achieve a specific percentile threshold to qualify for JEE Advanced.

Expected Marks vs. Percentile for JEE Main 2026

The table below presents an estimated correlation between raw marks and corresponding percentile scores for JEE Main 2026. These figures serve as a general guide for candidates to gauge potential performance relative to their raw scores.