JEE Main 2026 Session 1 Begins- Check Live Updates, Question Paper Analysis and Difficulty Level

The Marks vs Percentile of JEE Mains Shift Wise data of last year showed that the percentile varied by around 3-4% for the same score, depending on the shift. For example, 140 marks varies anywhere from 94 to 97 percentile, while 120 marks varies between 88 to 92 percentile across different 2025 sessions.

Experts say that even a small change in paper difficulty, like the ones seen in several 2025 shifts, can vary the percentile based on the raw score. This is why understanding the 2025 shift-wise Marks vs Percentile patterns is now very much essential to set your target score for JEE Main 2026.

Also Read:

• JEE Main 2026 Marks vs Percentile vs Rank (Expected)
• JEE Main 2024 Marks Vs Percentile Shift Wise
• JEE Main 2025 Marks Vs Percentile April Shift

According to Anshul Sir, Sri Chaitanya Academy JEE, the JEE Main 2026 session 1 is expected to be moderately difficult, with Maths will be the toughest subject.

• Mathematics: Moderate to difficult and lengthy, with a good attempt of 18–22 questions with focus on accuracy.
• Physics: Moderate and concept-based; good attempts: 20–23 questions.
• Chemistry: Easy to moderate and most scoring, 80 to 90% questions from the NCERT; good attempts: 22–24 questions.

The JEE Main 2026 Difficulty level is expected to be of moderate difficulty.

But as the competition will be high, with around 15 lakh candidates expected to appear in session 1, even a paper of moderate level can feel tougher in terms of the final percentile.

• Around 60 to 65% questions will be NCERT-based, mainly in Chemistry.
• The Physics will include strong fundamentals-based questions.
• The Previous year patterns from 2019 to 2025 are repeated conceptually, not directly.
• With a difference of 8 to 12 marks, your rank can shift from 5,000 to 10,000 positions in high-percentile ranges.