JEE Main Answer Key 2026; Download, Objection Fee and Score

JEE Main 2026 answer key came out twice this year, once for Session 1 in February and again for Session 2 in April, since NTA runs the exam in two separate attempts. Candidates who sat the JEE Main exam in either session can download their own session's key, work out a raw score, and raise an objection within a short window before the result and the final percentile are declared. This page covers both release timelines, the objection process, the marking scheme, and how shift wise normalisation changes a raw score into a percentile.

JEE Main Answer Key 2026 Highlights

JEE Main 2026 had two full answer key cycles, one after each session, so the table below covers both rather than a single set of dates.

JEE Main 2026 Release Timeline for Session 1 and Session 2

Since JEE Main runs twice a year, the answer key process effectively happens twice too, with its own exam date, objection window, and result for each session.

Session 2's final key and result landed on the same day this year, while Session 1 had a small gap between the two, so candidates should not assume both sessions will always follow an identical pattern.

JEE Main 2026 Marking Scheme: Numerical Questions Now Lose Marks Too

For several earlier years, a wrong numerical answer in JEE Main cost nothing at all, which made those questions a safe guess. That safety net is gone for the 2026 cycle.

In past cycles, a wrong numerical answer scored zero, the same as leaving it blank. From 2026, NTA deducts 1 mark for a wrong numerical answer too, so guessing on these questions now carries the same risk as guessing on an MCQ.

How to Download JEE Main 2026 Answer Key and Response Sheet

Both the provisional and the final key are published as public PDFs, so no login is required to view the key itself, only to pull up a personal response sheet.

• Visit jeemain.nta.nic.in and find the answer key link on the homepage for the relevant session.
• Download the provisional or final answer key PDF directly, no login required.
• Separately, log in with the application number and password to access the personal response sheet.
• Compare the two documents question by question before deciding whether to raise an objection.

JEE Main 2026 Objection Process and Fee

The objection window for Session 1 stayed open for only 48 hours, which does not leave much time to look over every answer carefully. Candidates need to move quickly once the key is out.

• Log in to jeemain.nta.nic.in and open the challenge link for the provisional answer key.
• Select the Question ID being challenged.
• Upload a supporting document justifying the claim.
• Pay Rs 200 for that question and submit the form before the window closes.

JEE Main 2026 Score Calculation and Shift Wise Normalisation

JEE Main runs across several shifts spread over multiple days, and not every shift is equally difficult. Because of this, a raw score from the answer key is only the first step, not the final number.

• Count the correct answers and multiply by 4.
• Count the incorrect answers and multiply by 1.
• Subtract the second number from the first to get the raw score.

NTA then converts this raw score into a percentile using normalisation across every shift in that session, based on how many candidates scored at or below a given raw score within their own shift, so the same raw mark can translate into a different percentile depending on the shift a candidate sat.

JEE Main 2026 Session 2 Dropped Questions and Grace Marks

A detail specific to this cycle is worth flagging on its own, since it directly affects how some candidates should read their own provisional score against the eventual result.

• Multiple coaching institutes have flagged around 8 to 9 questions from Session 2 as incorrect, ambiguous, or outside the syllabus.
• Candidates who attempted these flagged questions are expected to receive full marks for them regardless of the option they selected.
• This detail typically gets confirmed only in the final answer key, so a provisional score estimate may run slightly lower than the actual final one for affected candidates.

JEE Main 2026 Important Points

A few extra facts are worth keeping in mind alongside the process already covered above, since they affect how a candidate should treat both the answer key and the eventual rank.

• The final answer key, not the provisional one, is what the result and the percentile are calculated from.
• Objections must go through the official portal within the notified window; no other channel is accepted.
• JEE Main allows a maximum of two attempts per year, one in each session, and NTA considers the better of the two percentiles for ranking.
• The B.Arch and B.Planning papers, known as Paper 2A and 2B, have their own separate answer key and are not covered by the Paper 1 marking scheme above.

JEE Main 2026 Best of Two Sessions Rule

A large share of candidates who write Session 1 also write Session 2, mainly to try improving their percentile rather than because they missed the first attempt.

Since NTA uses the better percentile of the two sessions for the final rank, appearing in both carries no real downside, which is why registration numbers for Session 2 have stayed close to Session 1's in recent years.

Previous Year JEE Main Answer Key Trend

Looking at how quickly the answer key has followed the exam in recent sessions gives a sense of what to expect going forward, especially since this cycle already shows some movement between its own two sessions.

Session 2's key came out noticeably faster than Session 1's this year, so the gap has clearly shortened across the two attempts within the same 2026 cycle.

What Comes After JEE Main 2026 Answer Key

Once the final key feeds into the result, the process for a candidate depends on whether they plan to sit the other session, attempt JEE Advanced, or move directly into counselling.

• Candidates in the top 2.5 lakh combined across both sessions become eligible for JEE Advanced, which leads to IIT admission.
• JoSAA counselling for NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs is expected to open in June 2026, after the final All India Rank is out.
• Counselling covers registration, choice filling, mock allotments, and several rounds of actual seat allotment running into July 2026.

JEE Main 2026 candidates now have both sessions behind them, with Session 2's final key and result already used to settle the year's best percentile. The numerical marking change and the Session 2 grace marks are the two details most worth double checking before treating any self calculated score as final.

JEE Main Answer Key 2026 FAQs

Ques: Do wrong numerical answers still avoid negative marking in JEE Main 2026?

Ques: Which score does NTA use if I appear in both Session 1 and Session 2?

Ques: Is there a fee just to download the JEE Main 2026 answer key?

Ques: Does the JEE Main 2026 answer key apply the same way to Paper 2 as Paper 1?

Ques: What happens to candidates who attempted a dropped question in Session 2?