JEE Main 2026 Dates Out: Which Date & Shift Could Be the Toughest? Here’s What Candidates Should Know
NTA has announced the exam dates and shifts for the JEE Mains 2026 Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams. The Paper 1 exam will be held in 10 shifts in total, distributed over 5 days. All candidates have also been allotted their exam dates via the city intimation slip. We have provided an analysis here of the toughest and easiest shifts in NTA JEE Mains 2026, based on previous year trends. Read below.
JEE Main 2026 Dates Out: Which Date & Shift Could Be the Toughest? What Candidates Should Know
NTA allotted exam dates and city to lakhs of candidates on January 8, 2026, via the city intimation slip. Candidates are now left wondering whether the allotted date will have the toughest or moderate, or easy exam. Let's analyse the trends from the previous year to understand the pattern of difficulty level of shifts in the JEE Mains. This will help us to understand what could be the difficulty of the exam across various shifts this year.
Real time updates: JEE Main Admit Card Date 2026 Live: Hall Ticket Soon @ jeemain.nta.nic.in, City Slip Out
Which JEE Main 2026 Date & Shift Could Be Toughest?
While NTA ensures that all question papers are set at a similar difficulty level, past trends show that slight variations do occur. Based on previous JEE Main sessions:
| JEE Main exam dates | Expected difficulty level | Details |
|---|---|---|
| First day: January 21 | Easy to Moderate | Early exam days usually have more balanced papers. NTA often starts with a standard difficulty to set the tone. Papers tend to become slightly calculation-heavy, especially in Maths, but remain manageable overall. |
| Mid Shifts: January 22 and 23 | Moderate to Tough | Mid-session dates often see tougher Maths or Physics numericals. |
| Later shifts: January 24 and 28 | Tough | Later shifts or last exam days often feel tougher due to unpredictable question patterns Maths-heavy papers are usually perceived as more difficult Shifts with lengthy numerical problems tend to impact overall attempts |
What Students Should Focus On Now
Instead of worrying about the toughest shift, aspirants should revise high-weightage topics and practice JEE Mains previous years’ shift-wise papers. Also, focus on accuracy and time management by appearing for mock tests.
JEE Main 2026 session 1 exam will be held on January 21, 22, 23, 24 and 28 for BE/BTech candidates, and the paper 2 exam will be held on January 29 for BArch/BPlan students. The BE/BTech exams will be held in two shifts every day - 9 am to 12 pm, and then from 3 pm to 6 pm. The paper 2 exam will be held in one shift only - 9 am to 12:30 pm.
Note that the shift of the exam will be allotted via the JEE Mains 20206 hall ticket, 3 to 4 days before the exam. Currently, NTA has only allotted the exam date and city to the registered candidates via the JEE Main city intimation slip. Candidates can download their city slip from jeemain.nta.nic.in, using their application number and password.
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