JEE Main 2026 January 21 shift 1 moderate to tough; students find chemistry lengthier than maths

The first shift of the Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Mains 2026) January 21 exam was rated moderate to tough in difficulty level. While mathematics was challenging, students found chemistry section in JEE Main paper 1 BE, BTech comparatively tougher this year. JEE Main 2026 Jan 21 Paper LIVE.

Saurabh Pandey, a JEE Mains 2026 student, while talking to Careers360 outside an exam centre, said that the computer-based test was moderate in difficulty, but the Maths section was tough. “Physics was moderate and maths was a bit on the little difficult side,” Pandey said.

Another student said, “Maths was tough. Physics and chemistry were all fine. I had studied from YouTube tutorials and followed the important chapters mentioned there, but nothing seemed to work."

Shubham Kumar, another JEE student said that the exam was “moderate difficulty”. Kumar found Physics “slightly difficult.”

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the JEE Mains 2026 shift 2 exam from 3 pm to 6 pm.

Also read JEE Mains 2026: How tough is NIT Tiruchirappalli's BTech CSE? Category-wise cut-off trends

JEE Mains 2026 Day 1 Shift 1: Exam Analysis

Candidates can check the section-wise exam analysis of the JEE Mains 2026 day 1 shift 1 exam. The testing agency will begin the shift 2 exam from 3 pm today.

Physics

The overall difficulty level of the Physics section was easy to moderate. The questions on maths were easy, while they were challenging in the chemistry part. As per the exam analysis by the subject experts, the JEE Mains 2026 shift 1 Physics paper was doable after revision because most of the questions were formula-based.

Questions were asked from the following topics:

• 1 Question from Thermal properties of fluids (Bernoulli’s Theorem )
• 2 Question from Optics(1-microscope, 1 - Power of lens related)
• 1 Question from semiconductor(Logic Gate)
• 2 Questions from unit and dimension( 1- Dimension , 1 - error)
• 1 Question from Current Electricity
• 1 Question from Calorimetry
• 1 Question from Rotational Motion (Moment of Inertia)
• 1 Question From Kinematics (NLM)
• 1 Question From Gravitation
• 1 Question from Electromagnetic Wave
• 1 Question from EMI (Solenoid)
• 1 Question From Electrostatics

Chemistry

The JEE Mains 2026 shift 1 Chemistry paper was tough. The difficulty level of the Chemistry paper was tough compared to last year. The paper was challenging in the Maths part and more difficult in the Physics section.

As per the subject experts, the Chemistry paper was doable for those with proper revision as most of the questions were based on assertion-type.

Questions were asked from the following topics:

• 3 Questions from Coordination Chemistry
• 2 Questions asked about Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure
• 2-3 Questions asked from p-block
• 1 Mix question from Chemical and Ionic equilibrium
• 3-4 questions from the Mole concept
• 2 questions from General Organic Chemistry
• 1 question from Biomolecules
• 1 question from Chemical Thermodynamics
• 1 question from Electrochemistry and Redox Reaction

Mathematics

The Maths section was the toughest in the JEE Mains 2026 shift 1 paper, as per the subject experts. Questions were from vectors and 3D geometry, which required strong spatial understanding and lengthy calculations.

The Mathematics section was lengthy and tricky, and required ample time management along with strong calculation accuracy, as per the analysis report. It was less lengthy but calculation-intensive compared to Physics and Chemistry.

Questions were from the following important topics:

• 2-3 questions were from Vector Algebra and 3D geometry
• 1 question from quadratic equations
• 1 question was from sequence and series
• 1 question was based on PnC and the probability concept combined.
• 2 questions were from straight lines, 1 question from a circle
• 1 question from Matrices, which was a bit lengthy
• 2 questions were from sets and relations
• Arithmetic and Geometric Progression
• 3 questions were from Conic Sections (1 related to parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola each)
• 1 Question was also from the Application of Derivatives
• Binomial Theorem
• Trigonometry