IIT-JEE

Questions at the IIT-JEE level will involve integration of concepts which students have learned through different chapters in the 11th and 12th Std. Here, it would be worthwhile to remember that the chapters as presented in your prescribed text books are presented so for ease of learning.

For example, in Physics, the students start learning chapters with titles like Motion in One Dimension, Motion in Two Dimensions, Laws of Motion, Work Energy Power, Rotational Motion etc in that sequence in the 11th Std. State level entrance examinations will focus on quizzing students with question formats which will demand the skills like transforming the language of the problem into the language of problem-solving, identifying the appropriate equations and applying the given conditions to find out the required unknown variable. But IIT-JEE requires much deeper understanding of the subjects. Students should realise that the all the titles of the chapters mentioned earlier fall into one area of Physics called Mechanics. And Mechanics does not have chapters like detailed above. These areas have been dissected and presented with appropriate titles to enhance learning. The JEE will require the ability to seamlessly integrate the concepts from all these areas if the situation so demands.

The Selection Process

Till 2005, the IIT-JEE was conducted in two phases. This consisted of an objective Screening Test in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics administered to all candidates who apply, followed by a descriptive Main Examination in the same subjects. Only those who qualified in the Screening Test were invited to appear for the Main examination. Screening test was conducted usually on the second Sunday of April and the Main examination was conducted on the third Sunday of May.

IIT JEE 2006:

From 2006 onwards, the JEE is a single-phase examination of objective questions only, which will test the aptitude, comprehension and analytical abilities of the student. The stress on the student will be reduced as there is only one type of examination. Also, with the descriptive phase of the JEE eradicated, this is on similar lines as other Engineering Entrance Examinations like the AIEEE and other State Level Engineering Entrance Exams.

The Joint Admission Board of the IITs brought in two more important changes in to the JEE .

• A minimum of 60% aggregate score in the qualifying examination is a must for admission into the seven IITs, IT, BHU and to ISM, Dhanbad. (relaxation upto 55% in the case of SC, ST and PD candidates)
• A maximum of two attempts only is permitted per candidate, one in the year of the qualifying examination of the candidate and the other in the following year. JEE 2006 was an one time exception to this rule.

In 2006 JEE had subject wise cut offs and only those students who cleared the subject wise cut offs were ranked as per the overall aggregate marks scored.

In 2006, the JEE consisted of 3 objective papers one each in Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry. All three exams were conducted on a single day. Each paper consisted of 40 questions.

IIT JEE 2007 onwards....


From 2007 onwards JEE consists of 2 papers each of 3 hour duration. Both papers had questions from ALL three subjects – Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Neither the order of the subjects not the pattern of the questions was prescribed earlier. Timing of the exam is from

Paper 1 – 9.00 to 12.00 am

Paper 2 – 2.00 to 5.00 pm

Various patterns of questions and various combinations of these models are used in the JEE papers . We will first describe the patterns of questions and then give you the combinations used.

Straight Objective type:

These are the Regular Multiple Choice questions with four choices provided. Only one among the four choices will be the correct answer. The students are expected to mark only one bubble in the OMR sheet. Usually one correct answer fetches 3 marks and a wrong answer fetches negative one (–1).

Multiple Correct Answers type:

Multiple Choice questions with four choices provided, but one or more of the choices provided may be correct. The students are required to mark ALL correct choices and ONLY the correct choices in the OMR sheet. These questions carry four marks each and sometimes carry one negative mark for wrong answers.

Integer Answer type Questions:

The questions in these sections were numerical problems, for which no choices were provided. The students were required to find the exact answers to numerical problems and enter the same in OMR sheets – like the way we enter the actual Date of Birth or other values in full. Answers can be one digit or two digit numerals. The sample OMR sheet for one digit answers is as given below:

Each question carries 6 to 8 marks. For a wrong response, NO marks would be deducted from the total score.

Linked Comprehension type Questions:

Comprehension based questions consist of a small passage, followed by three multiple choice questions. The questions were of single correct answer type. The student is supposed to read the passage, understand the concept / application described, use his subject knowledge and answer the questions. Each question carries 3 to 5 marks with one or two marks deducted for a wrong response.

Reasoning Type Questions:

These questions check the analytical and reasoning skills of the students. Two statements are provided – Statement 1 and Statement 2. The student is expected to verify if both statements are true and if both are true, verify if statement 1 follows from statement 2.

Matrix Match type Questions:

These questions are the regular “Match the Following” variety. Two columns each containing 4 subdivisions OR first column with four subdivisions and second column with more subdivisions are given and the student should match elements of column I to that of column II. There can be one or more matches. In 2007 student scored six marks if he / she marks all rows correctly. In 2008, partial marking was introduced and if the student marks one row correctly, he / she scores 1.5 marks against 8 marks for marking the entire question correctly. In 2009, partial marking was raised to 2 per correct row with a total of 8 marks for the question. There were no negative marks in this section all through.

Students with solid learning of basics will do well in the comprehension-based new pattern. A mechanical problem solving approach will not make the grade.

Important Data on IIT-JEE

* - for General Category

IIT-JEE 2009

Model Solutions to IIT-JEE 2009 are available.

Minimum Qualifying Mark for Ranking (MQMR) and Aggregate Cut-off^#

Aggregate Total of Different Categories ^#

^# Courtesy IIT-JEE Website

IIT-JEE 2010

Syllabus for IIT JEE is as prescribed by the Joint Admission Board of the IITs and is given in the Brochure for JEE . Largely it comprises of the core areas of the XI and XII syllabus as per the CBSE board with some deletions from it. But the depth of conceptual understanding required to answer a JEE paper does not simply end in by-hearting or learning the basics alone. It requires deep overall understanding and integration of concepts, use of good level of mathematical techniques and ability to break up complex problems into smaller ones and solve them.

Refer IIT-JEE 2010 syllabus http://jee.iitd.ac.in/

IIT-JEE 2010 – Pattern

• In the paragraph type 2 passages were there of which one passage had 3 questions and the other had 2 questions. Earlier all passages used to have the same number of questions.
• Likewise partial marks are awarded for correct answers in Multiple Correct Type questions.
• There were NO negative marks for the Integer type questions and for the Multiple Correct Choice Type.

Paper 2

Paper 1 had 57 questions in total - in the order of Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Each subject had 19 questions and as in paper 1 the pattern was exactly the same across the subjects. But questions had differential markings, each subject had 79 marks and the maximum mark for the paper is 237.

What was new in IIT-JEE 2010 in comparison with earlier years – Paper 2:

• Single Correct Choice questions were valued heavier than before - 5 marks for a correct answer with (– 2) for an incorrect answer.