JEE Main 2026 January 21 Exam Analysis (Out): Shift 1 and Shift 2 Subject-Wise Difficulty Level, Good Attempts

Day 1 of JEE Mains 2026 exam Session 1 is being conducted on January 21, in two shifts: Morning shift from 9 AM to 12 PM and Afternoon shift from 3 PM to 6 PM. The Shift 2 exam has concluded at 6 PM, and the analysis for the same will be available here shortly. The Shift 1 exam had an overall moderate difficulty level. Our experts have interacted with some of the students who appeared in today's shifts and according to them, the Mathematics section was the most time-consuming and difficult , while Physics was easy and Chemistry was of an easy-to-moderate difficulty . Around 4-5 students have found the Chemistry section to be difficult, with questions from Alkaline , and Sandmeyer Reaction. The Physics section was of an easy difficulty, with a familiar question pattern and common concept-based questions from topics like Electrostatics, Current Electricity, Modern Physics, Moment of Inertia. The Mathematics section was the toughest, with questions from Coordinating Geometry, Calculus, Algebra, etc., which were incredibly time-consuming. In the words of Sakunth Kumar , our subject expert with 10+ years of experience in guiding JEE aspirants, "48+ correct attempts in the exam may allow test-takers to secure a 99 percentile, making them highly eligible for the top NIT colleges in India." A detailed breakdown of JEE Main 2026 paper analysis talks about the paper-wise difficulty level, subject-wise analysis, and total number of good attempts below.

Also Check - Passing Marks Out of 300 in JEE Mains 2026

JEE Main 2026 January 21 Shift 1 Analysis by CLD: Subject-Wise Difficulty Level, Good Attempts

JEE Main Question Paper 2026 January 21 LIVE Updates are available for students now.

• According to Kurra Srinivas, Retired faculty from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, with 30 years of experience in teaching Chemistry to JEE aspirants - "The Chemistry section, which is usually the easiest every year, took students by surprise this time. This section saw a jump in Assertion-Reason and Statement-based questions in shift 1. Questions required reading between the lines rather than relying on facts."

• The Physics section of the exam paper was majorly formula-based, with 2 questions from Electrostatics, 3 questions from 3D Geometry, 6 questions from Inorganic Chemistry, and 5 questions from Modern Physics. One question was asked from Logic Gates. Overall, the exam paper was 2.8 out 5 in terms of difficulty level.

• One question from Chemistry featured 7 statements! This was a bit overwhelming for most students, as they ended up spending too much time on one question.

• Previous years' questions were not directly repeated. Only similar concepts with changed numerical values appeared in the exam paper.

• Ananya Jain, a student from a test centre in Gurugaon, quoted: "For me, Physics was the most scoring because I practiced a lot of formula-based questions for this section and that paid off! Whoever has studied the concepts well and solved enough PYQs like me, should be able to score easy marks in today's Physics paper."

• Neha Gupta, a student who got in touch with the CLD Team after the first shift, says, "The overall exam was average, and the Mathematics section was the toughest. The Organic Chemistry section was more difficult than the Inorganic section this year."

• Another test-taker named Shreya Singh was quoted as saying, "The maximum number of questions were asked from Inorganic Chemistry based on NCERT concepts. 10-12 questions in Math, were very lengthy and despite trying my best to attempt all the questions, I did miss out on some."

Based on the above feedback, an overview of JEE Main Difficulty Level Analysis 2026 January 21 has been provided below.

Also Check - Predicted Marks Required to Score 99 Percentile in JEE Main 2026

JEE Main 2026 January 21 Shift 2 Analysis by CLD: Subject-Wise Difficulty Level, Good Attempts

The Shift 2 exam of JEE Main 2026 January 21 has successfully concluded at 6 PM. An insight into subject-wise high-weightage topics, difficulty breakdown, and estimated good attempts has been updated here for students to take a glance:

• Our subject-matter expert, Jennifer from West Bengal, who has over 5+ years of experience in guiding JEE aspirants, has stated, "If I were to summarise the paper, it was moderate to tough. The paper was slightly more difficult than expected. The structure and pattern were full of surprises, and the Mathematics section was quite lengthy. I would rate the paper a 2.5 out of 5."

• The Shift 2 exam paper was rated 2.5 out of 5 by many test-takers, which is comparatively less difficult than the Shift 1 exam paper.

• Thermodynamics, Ray Optics, and Modern Physics had the maximum number of questions in the Physics section in Shift 2 exam, with each featuring 3-4 questions.

• According to Shivya Roy, one of the test-takers who got in touch with CLD after the Shift 2 exam concluded, "Chemistry was the most demanding section in terms of conceptual level. I would rate it around 2.5 out of 5 in terms of it's difficulty level."

• "I was expecting the Mathematics section to be a little difficult, but Chemistry surprisingly came out of syllabus. I found the Physics section to be the saving grace," Sulagna Basu, another student who appeared for the Shift 2 exam, was quoted as saying.

• Ahana Pandey, another test-taker of JEE Mains 2026, expressed her views on her overall experience by mentioning, "Undoubtedly, the Mathematics section was very lengthy. Although I was able to complete the paper on time, it was quite difficult to manage."

CollegeDekho Expert Tips for Upcoming JEE Main 2026 Session 1 Takers

According to CLD's subject-matter expert, Jennifer, students who are gearing up for the Day 2 exam can use the following suggestions to improve their chances of scoring good marks:

• Focus more on the concept and formula-based questions and invest more time in last-minute preparations.

• The topics with maximum weightage in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics are likely to feature tougher questions this year.

• The Chemistry section is likely to be full of surprises, and therefore, students must be very well prepared to answer the upcoming exam papers.

• While some concepts are anticipated to be repeated this year, they may be asked differently to confuse students.

• It is important to focus on conceptual understanding and practice timed-mock tests to improve your chances of performing well in the JEE Mains 2026 exams.

Also Check - Predicted Marks for 98 Percentile in JEE Main 2026: Is it a good percentile score?

JEE Main 2025 Day 1 Shift 1 & 2 Exam Analysis Recap

You can have a quick recap of last year's JEE Main 2025 Day 1 paper analysis of Shift 1 and Shift 2 below. The first day of the exam, which was conducted on Jan 22, 2025, was overall easy to moderate. The Physics paper was the easiest while Mathematics was the toughest section. Overall, good attempts were 55-57 for Shift 1 paper and 52-55 for Shift 2 paper.

Students who are appearing in the JEE Main 2026 Day 2 exam may refer to the detailed analysis of JEE Main 2026 January 21 Session 1 exam to get an idea of what to expect. Those who have appeared for the Day 1 exam may use the JEE Main rank predictor 2026 tool to assess their expected rank accurately based on the probable scores by tallying the total number of correct answers.

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