JEST 2025: Answer Key, Result, Cutoff Analysis, and Counselling
Joint Entrance Screening Test 2024 ( JEST )
JEST 2025 Exam concluded in offline mode on June 22, 2025. As per the official website notification, the deadline for students to complete the application process for the JEST exam was June 1, 2025. The results for the JEST 2025 students were out on the official website on July 29, 2025.
Click Here: JEST 2025 Result Download Link
Previously, the JEST 2025 Exam Date was scheduled for April 6, 2025. Before that, the date was February 23, 2025, for candidates who wish to study a PhD/Integrated PhD Programme in Physics or Neuroscience, Theoretical Computer Science or Computational Biology in one of the participating Institutes. Before, around 8278 students appear for the JEST Exam and only 919 clear the JEST exam.
To check the JEST scorecard, candidates must log in using their email IDs and passwords. In previous years, the highest score was 73.67 for PhD and 72 for Integrated PhD. The JEST exam is conducted across the country in 40 JEST exam centres.
- What is JEST?
- JEST 2025 Exam Dates & Schedule
- JEST 2025 Exam Highlights
- JEST 2025 Counselling
- JEST 2025 Result
- JEST 2025 Answer Key
- JEST 2025 Syllabus
- JEST 2025 Exam Pattern
- JEST Preparation Tips
- JEST 2025 Exam Centres
- JEST 2025 Admit Card
- JEST 2025 Application Process
- FAQs Regarding JEST Exam 2025
What is JEST?
Various renowned institutes like IISERs, NISER, IISc and more conduct the Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST). Those who wish to pursue a PhD and Int. PhD programmes need to clear the JEST screening test and seek admission to various participating institutes in different subjects such as Neuroscience or Computational Biology, Physics and Theoretical Computer Science. The JEST examination is conducted for two subjects: theoretical computer science and physics. Also, the qualifications for admission to the PhD and Int. PhD programmes in different for all the participating institutes.
Commonly asked questions
The JEST exam is only conducted once a year. Also, it is recommended to all the students who want to qualify the JEST exam is to always go through the official website for the latest updates and notices related to the JEST Admission process and exam related dates.
The JEST exam is conducted once in a year and the mod eof JEST exam is offline. This exam is an opportunity for students who want to study PhD and International PhD courses in Physics and theoretical computer science/neuroscience.
The JEST Exam is conducted for those students who want to get admission to courses and programmes to complete their PhD and Integrated PhD in theoretical computer science, physics, and neuroscience in India.
JEST 2025 Exam Dates & Schedule
Take a look at the table below for the complete schedule of JEST 2024 exam
| Dates | Past Exam Dates |
|---|---|
| 29 Jul ' 25 | JEST 2025 Result |
| Jul ' 25 | JEST 2025 Provisional Answer Key |
| Jul ' 25 | JEST 2025 Answer Key Objection |
JEST 2025 Exam Highlights
Go through the information related to the JEST Exam 2025.
| Particulars |
Details |
|---|---|
| Exam Name |
Joint Engineering Screening Test |
| Conducting Body |
IIST |
| Exam Level |
PhD level |
| Exam Frequency |
Once a Year |
| Mode of Exam |
Paper-pencil Based Test (PBT) or Offline |
| Total Number of Test Takers |
To be notified |
| Courses Offered |
Integrated MSc / MTech- PhD/ PhD |
| Exam Fees |
INR 800 for the General category male candidates. INR 400 for SC/ST/Female candidates. |
| Exam Duration |
180 minutes |
| Sections and Marks |
Three sections with a total of 100 marks |
| Total no of Questions |
50 |
| Marking Scheme of JEST |
+1 for each correct answer (Part A) +3 for each correct answer (Part B) -1/3 for each incorrect answer (Part A) -1 for each incorrect answer (Part B) |
| Language of Exam |
English |
| Colleges Accepting JEST score |
33 institutes in India |
| Number of Test Cities |
38 cities in India |
| Official Website |
|
| Contact Details | info.jest2024@iist.ac.in |
JEST 2025 Counselling
The participating institutes conduct the JEST 2025 Counselling process separately. The list of shortlisted candidates by each JEST participating institute is released based on the cutoff marks that follow the interview rounds. The venue and interview dates, along with the selected candidates, are released via email and SMS by the participating institutes.
JEST 2025: List of Colleges Accepting Scores (Expected)
JEST exam is conducted to examine whether candidates are deserving of securing admission in PhD and integrated PhD programmes or not. Check out the list of JEST participating colleges mentioned below.
| Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital |
Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore |
| Bose Institute, Kolkata |
|
| Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal |
|
| Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata |
|
| International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS)-TIFR, Bangalore |
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali |
| Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam |
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune |
| Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram |
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram |
| Institute of Physics (IOP), Bhubaneswar |
National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA)-TIFR, Pune |
| Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar |
National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar |
| Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune |
Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad |
| Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore |
Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore |
| Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore |
TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TCIS), Hyderabad |
| Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata |
UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research (UGC-DAE CSR), Indore |
| Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata |
TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TIFR-TCIS), Hyderabad |
Also Read: List of colleges & courses for JEST admission.
JEST 2025 Result
JEST Result 2025 was released in online mode by the examination body on the official website. Students need to go through the official website, use their login credentials to download their socrecard to check out their section-wise scores and their AIR rank as well. Once the students pass the JEST exam they can go ahead to get admission to their preferred institutes.
JEST 2025 Exam Analysis
Candidates who appeared for the previous year's JEST Exam found the difficulty level of the exam from moderate to difficult compared to the previous year. Most of the questions that came in the JEST Examination were from the postgraduate and master's levels. Most of the questions were asked from the postgraduate and master's level.
Some questions were based on wave optics and quantum mechanics topics, and then some topics came from the Hamiltonian air perturbation matrix, flux, electric field, magnetic field, and Lagrangian concept, and virtual ground concept related to some direct questions were also asked in the JEST Exam.
Commonly asked questions
Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) declared the result of JEST exam 2024 on March 26, 2024. So only those candidates who qualified the exam need to further apply in IITs, IISc, IISERs, NISER, etc. It is to be noted that students should apply to multiple institutions in order to take subjects and institutes of their choice.
Those who are undergraduate can apply for M.Sc and PhD integrated programmes while those who are post graduate can apply directly for PhD programmes.
Applicants who secured the minimum passing marks are considered passing as per JEST Results. The result was released on the official website of JEST.
Along with declaration of the result, IIST also released the score card as well as JEST cut off marks. Applicants who appeared in the exam can check their marks in JEST exam.
JEST 2025 Answer Key
The JEST answer key was out on the official website. Once the JEST Final Answer key is published, it can not be modified or changed under any conditions. Candidates who want to calculate their estimated JEST Scores with the help of the Answer Key need to first visit the official website to download the PDF file. In case a candidate wants to challenge the provisional answer key, they need to visit the official site and then pay an objection fee along with the proof that supports their objection. If the proof is valid for the objection, then the exam conducting authority will approve the objection, and then the Final Answer will be released.
Commonly asked questions
The JEST cut off for 2024 was decided on the difficulty level of the exam, and number of applicants who appeared in the exam.
The JEST 2024 cut off marks was released. This year it was released on the official website. For PhD course it was 36 while for Int. PhD it was 30.08.
JEST 2025 Syllabus
The JEST 2025 syllabus has been released along with the official notification on the official website by the exam authorities, along with the JEST Sample paper. The exam takers are examined based on various subjects such as Classical Methods, Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics & Statistical Physics and Electronics, Electromagnetism & Optics, and Mathematical Methods.
Download Now: JEST 2025 Syllabus
Download Now: JEST Sample Paper
JEST 2025 Exam Pattern
There are a total of 50 questions in the Exam pattern for the JEST. The test paper consists of MCQ and is sectioned into two parts. In the JEST exam, students are evaluated out of 100.
| No. of Sections | Total Questions |
|---|---|
| Part A | 25 |
| Part B | 15 |
| Part C | 10 |
| Total | 50 |
JEST New Marking Scheme
| Part |
Total Questions |
Marks for Correct answer |
Marks for the wrong answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part A |
25 |
1 |
1/3 |
| Part B |
15 |
3 |
1 |
| Part C | 10 | 3 | 0 |
JEST 2025 Courses Offered
Courses in which aspirants can secure admission based on their JEST result are as mentioned below:
| Course Name |
Courses offered |
|---|---|
| PhD in Physics |
Integrated PhD in Physics |
| PhD in Theoretical Computer Science |
Integrated PhD in Theoretical Computer Science |
| PhD in Neuroscience |
Integrated PhD in Neuroscience |
| PhD in Computational Biology |
Integrated PhD in Computational Biology |
JEST Preparation Tips
JEST 2025 Exam Centres
JEST 2025 Admit Card
Commonly asked questions
Applicants can find JEST admit card 2024 download link via visiting the official website which is jest.org.in. Sometimes it can happen that the link does not work or the website doesn't open then in that case it is advised to retry after some times as it happens mainly due to heavy load on the website or some server side errors.
The JEST hall ticket 2024 can be downloaded via entering the login credentials and captcha. After downloading applicants need to carry it to exam centres along with photo copy of one identity proof.
After the release of the admit card, one may experience in difficulty to download for various reasons, some of them are mentioned below:
A) Heavy traffic on website
B) Server side/Technical Issue
C) Poor internet connectivity at user's home.
For all these issues, applicants are advised to wait for some time and try downloading after some time.
If you are facing the issue in downloading the JEST 2024 admit card, other than mentioned above then you are advised to get in touch with the coordinators at jest email id by mentioning the issue.
JEST 2025 Application Process
FAQs Regarding JEST Exam 2025
Commonly asked questions
JEST 2024 provisional answer key was released in online mode on the official website. The authorities released provisional answer key on March 5, 2024.
After releasing the answer key, authorities gave time to raise objections if they have in any question. After taking input from the students IIST will release the final answer key of JEST exam.
Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST) is an entrance exam test for admission to PhD and International PhD programme of different participating institutes for two subjects Physics and theoretical Computer Science/Neuroscience.
This exam is conducted in offline mode/ pen-paper mode. This year exam conducting authorities have changed, earlier it used to be Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) but now it has changed to Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST). Hence the final validation will be declared along with releasing of notification but as per previous year JEST exam pattern it will be conducted in offline mode only.
Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) declared the result of JEST exam 2024 on March 26, 2024. So only those candidates who qualified the exam need to further apply in IITs, IISc, IISERs, NISER, etc. It is to be noted that students should apply to multiple institutions in order to take subjects and institutes of their choice.
Those who are undergraduate can apply for M.Sc and PhD integrated programmes while those who are post graduate can apply directly for PhD programmes.
The JEST exam analysis comprises the difficulty level of the exam, the average questions attempted by the applicants, whether any question was wrong or mis spelt and expected cutoff etc. It will be out after the conclusion of the exam. By checking the exam analysis, applicants can get to know about the chances of qualifying the exam.
JEST Exam
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a month ago
The JEST Exam is conducted for those students who want to get admission to courses and programmes to complete their PhD and Integrated PhD in theoretical computer science, physics, and neuroscience in India.
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
The JEST exam is only conducted once a year. Also, it is recommended to all the students who want to qualify the JEST exam is to always go through the official website for the latest updates and notices related to the JEST Admission process and exam related dates.
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
The JEST exam is conducted once in a year and the mod eof JEST exam is offline. This exam is an opportunity for students who want to study PhD and International PhD courses in Physics and theoretical computer science/neuroscience.
I
Contributor-Level 10
13 Institutes accepting JEST
IIT Kanpur - Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur • Public
4.4Sonepat • Private
IIT Tirupati - Indian Institute of Technology
Chittoor • Public
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