JEE Advanced syllabus, paper pattern and marking scheme

How the exam is laid out

On exam day you write Paper 1 and Paper 2, each 3 hours long, with physics, chemistry and mathematics in both. Each subject is divided into sections, and each section uses one question format with its own marking rule. You must attempt both papers to be ranked. Candidates with disabilities get extra time as set out in the information brochure.

The organising IIT does not publish the number of questions or total marks in advance. The full breakdown appears in the instructions on the screen at the start of each paper, so read it in the first minutes rather than assuming last year's layout.

JEE Advanced marking scheme by question type

Recent papers have used a combination of the formats below. The marks shown are the ones that have appeared most often, but the organising IIT can change them.

The partial marking in the multiple correct section rewards caution. If you are sure of two options but unsure of a third, marking only the two you trust can earn partial credit, while one wrong pick turns the whole answer into -2.

Physics topics

• General: units and dimensions, significant figures and errors, and lab based problems on the vernier callipers, screw gauge, meter bridge, simple pendulum and similar experiments.
• Mechanics: kinematics, laws of motion, friction, work, power and energy, centre of mass and collisions, rigid body rotation and moment of inertia, gravitation, elasticity, fluids and surface tension, oscillations, waves and sound.
• Thermal physics: expansion, calorimetry, heat conduction, kinetic theory, the laws of thermodynamics, the Carnot engine, blackbody radiation.
• Electricity and magnetism: electrostatics and Gauss's law, capacitors, current electricity and circuits, magnetic effects of current, electromagnetic induction, AC and LCR circuits.
• Optics and electromagnetic waves: mirrors and lenses, prisms, Young's double slit, single slit diffraction, polarisation, the spectrum.
• Modern physics: photoelectric effect, Bohr model, X rays, de Broglie wavelength, radioactive decay, binding energy, fission and fusion.

Chemistry topics

Physical chemistry: stoichiometry built on the mole, gases and liquids, atomic structure, chemical bonding and shapes of molecules, thermodynamics, chemical and ionic equilibrium, electrochemistry, kinetics, solid state, solutions, surface chemistry.

Inorganic chemistry: periodic trends, hydrogen, s block and p block elements across groups 13 to 18, the transition series and the lanthanoids and actinoids, coordination chemistry, extraction of metals, qualitative analysis of ions, environmental chemistry.

Organic chemistry: basic principles and isomerism, hydrocarbons and benzene, alkyl and aryl halides, alcohols with phenols and ethers, carbonyl compounds, carboxylic acids and derivatives, amines, biomolecules such as carbohydrates and amino acids, polymers, everyday applications of chemistry, practical organic work.

Inorganic chemistry is where Advanced asks for exact facts: colours of precipitates, reactions in qualitative analysis and structures of compounds. NCERT class 11 and 12 chemistry remains the most important single source for that part.

Mathematics topics

• Sets, relations and functions, including inverse and composite functions.
• Algebra: complex numbers, quadratic equations, arithmetic, geometric and harmonic progressions, logarithms, permutations and combinations, binomial theorem.
• Matrices and determinants, including systems of linear equations.
• Probability and statistics: conditional probability, Bayes theorem, mean, median, variance.
• Trigonometry: identities, equations, properties of triangles, inverse functions.
• Coordinate geometry: straight lines, circles, parabola, ellipse, hyperbola, and three dimensional lines and planes.
• Calculus: limits, continuity and differentiability, derivatives and their applications, definite and indefinite integrals, areas, differential equations.
• Vectors: dot and cross products, triple products and geometry using vectors.

How the JEE Advanced syllabus differs from JEE Main

The two exams share most chapters, but the JEE Main syllabus was trimmed by NTA while the Advanced list kept several topics. Watch out in particular for these, which Advanced still tests:

• Physics: thermal conduction, convection and radiation, elasticity details, the Doppler effect, heat engines and refrigerators.
• Chemistry: hydrogen, s block elements, metallurgy, environmental chemistry, surface chemistry, polymers, and chemicals met in daily living.
• Maths: mean value theorems, the integral as a limit of a sum, triple products of vectors.

A revision plan between Main and Advanced

1. First week: make the gap list of chapters that are in Advanced but not in Main, and finish them.
2. Weeks 2 and 3: one past Advanced paper pair every two days, in the official computer based format where possible. After each one, sort mistakes into concept gaps, calculation slips and marking scheme errors.
3. Weeks 4 and 5: work through weak chapters, especially rotation, electromagnetic induction, organic reaction mechanisms, and calculus.
4. Final days: light revision of formulae and inorganic facts, two full papers at exam timing, and good sleep.

NCERT books, your class notes and past papers with official answer keys from the JEE Advanced website are enough. If you still need to qualify, check the JEE Advanced eligibility rules, and the JEE Advanced cut off page shows past qualifying marks.