New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has declared a significant change in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2025, returning to the pre-pandemic format.
From 2025, Section B of the exam papers for Engineering (BE/BTech, Paper 1) and Architecture/Planning (BArch/BPlanning, Paper 2) will eliminate the optional questions, an adjustment made in 2021 to address the academic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past four years, candidates had the choice to answer five out of ten questions in Section B, with a total of 90 questions across Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. The 2025 examination will restore the original structure, featuring 25 questions per subject, including five compulsory questions in Section B for each subject.
The NTA has clarified that the optional questions were an interim solution during the COVID-19 crisis. Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement in May 2023, ending the pandemic’s status as a public health emergency, the NTA has decided to end this temporary provision.
The JEE Main 2025 will still occur bi-annually, functioning as the entrance for undergraduate programs in engineering, planning, and architecture at esteemed institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs), and serving as the preliminary examination for JEE Advanced.
Students are advised to frequently check the official JEE Main website (jeemain.nta.ac.in) for the latest information, with the expectation that the registration process will commence shortly.
