JEE Mains 2026 April 2 Paper Analysis LIVE: Shift 1, 2 'easy to moderate', say experts; Maths 'toughest'

JEE Main 2026 Paper Analysis: The Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2026 Session 2, April 2 exams were conducted in two shifts across the country and abroad. According to subject experts, the JEE Main 2026 April 2 shift 1 and 2 exams were "easy to moderate" in difficulty. Students considered the JEE Main 2026 session 2 Day 1 exam easier than the January session. The JEE Main 2026 Session 2 exam for BTech admissions began today and will continue until April 8. JEE Main 2026 Session 2 LIVE.

Conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode, the exam is being held at 566 centres across 304 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, for approximately 11.23 lakh candidates.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will hold the entrance tests for BArch and BPlanning on April 7, 2026. The final rank list will be based on performance in both sessions, and the top 2.5 lakh candidates will qualify to appear for JEE Advanced.

JEE Main 2026 April 2 shift 2 paper analysis

According to students' reactions and subject experts', the JEE Main April 2 shift 1 and 2 papers were "moderate" in difficulty. Maths was tough with long calculations, physics and chemistry sections had moderate, formula-based questions.

As per student reactions, the JEE Main 2026 April 2 shift 2 paper had more "difficult questions" in the chemistry section, while the shift 1 physics section was "tougher" than chemistry.

The subject-wise difficulty for the JEE Main April 2 exams 2026 is given below:

• Shift 1: Mathematics > Physics > Chemistry
• Shift 2: Mathematics > Chemistry > Physics

As per the expert analysis of JEE Mains 2026 Session 1 as well as candidates’ reactions, the question paper difficulty level was moderate, and exams were often described as lengthy and time-consuming. The JEE Mains Mathematics section was judged to be the toughest, while Chemistry was scoring and NCERT-based. Physics, on the other hand, was easy to moderate in difficulty.

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NTA will calculate the final All India Rank (AIR) and percentile for 2026 on the best of the two sessions, and the highest percentile will be considered.

JEE Main Session 2 Exam Dates: Papers 1 and 2

The NTA is conducting the JEE Mains 2026 session 2 exams for Paper 1 (BTech) on April 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8, while Paper 2 (BArch and BPlanning) tests will take place on April 7.

The Session 2 exams give another chance to those who didn’t write the January exams or are unsatisfied with their performance to improve their JEE Mains 2026 scores. The first session had 12 toppers with scores in the 100th percentile.

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JEE Advanced 2026: Expected qualifying cut-off

Only 2.5 lakh JEE Mains 2026 qualifiers will be eligible for the JEE Advanced. Here are the expected cut-offs for admission to various IITs.

According to the exam day guidelines, NTA has advised candidates to reach their respective exam centres at least 1 to 1.5 hours early. They should bring their JEE Mains 2026 session 2 admit card and a government ID proof for verification purposes.