JEE Main 2026 April 2 Exam Analysis: Shift 1 and Shift 2 Updates
The JEE Main 2026 Session 2 (April attempt) officially kicked off today, April 2, 2026. Based on immediate feedback from students and expert faculty, the Day 1 exams followed a familiar pattern, with the morning shift generally perceived as "Easy to Moderate" and the afternoon shift as "Moderate and Lengthy."
Shift 1 Analysis (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Most students reported that the Shift 1 paper was slightly easier than the January session. The overall difficulty was balanced, but time management remained a factor in the Mathematics section.
| Subject | Difficulty Level | Key Observations |
|---|---|---|
| Physics | Easy to Moderate | Formula-based; focus on Mechanics, Modern Physics, and Electrodynamics. |
| Chemistry | Easy | NCERT-centric; Inorganic and Organic were prominent. Statement-based questions included. |
| Mathematics | Moderate to Tough | Lengthy calculations; heavy on Vectors, 3D Geometry, and Calculus. |
Shift 1 was described as a "scoring paper" for those with strong fundamentals in NCERT Chemistry and basic Physics formulas.
Shift 2 Analysis (3:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
The afternoon session was reported to be more time-consuming than the morning shift, particularly in the calculation-heavy sections.
- Mathematics: Remained the toughest section. Questions from Sequence & Series and Coordinate Geometry required multi-step solutions.
- Physics: Moderate. While questions were doable, some numerical value questions in Electromagnetism were tricky.
- Chemistry: Mostly Easy. Physical Chemistry was restricted primarily to the numerical section, while the MCQ section was dominated by Inorganic Chemistry.
Memory-Based Questions & Answer Keys
Since the official NTA answer keys are typically released a few days after the final exam date (expected around April 11), several coaching institutes have released unofficial memory-based PDFs to help students estimate their scores.
How to calculate your probable score:
- Check the memory-based answer keys from verified sources like Aakash, Allen, or Physics Wallah.
- Award +4 for every correct response.
- Deduct -1 for every incorrect MCQ or Numerical Value question.
- Total your score out of 300.
Important Topics Noted Today
Aspirants for the next few days should ensure they have revised:
- Physics: Units & Dimensions, Current Electricity, and Ray Optics.
- Chemistry: Coordination Compounds, Biomolecules, and Chemical Bonding.
- Maths: Vector & 3D, Matrices & Determinants, and Differential Equations.
For regular updates on the Session 2 results and the JEE Advanced registration opening on April 23, follow Only Education News.
For a complete list of NIT and IIIT cutoffs or to check the marks-vs-percentile analysis for today's shifts, visit the Only Education Engineering Exams List or explore the Engineering Course List.