JEE Main Paper 1 · 42 shifts · 2017–2026
JEE Main previous year questions, chapter by chapter
Lumi tagged 3,465 questions from 42 official JEE Main shifts (2017–2026) to 81 chapters, 194 topics and 1,633 ideas. 51 chapters hold 80% of the questions, and 99% of 2024–26 questions came from a topic asked in an earlier shift.
- Questions
- 3,465
- 14 dropped by NTA
- Shifts analysed
- 42 / 174
- held 2017–2026
- Chapters for half
- 27 of 81
- 51 for 80%
- Repeat ideas
- 585
- of 1,633 ideas asked
What the papers show
Seven findings
From the 42 analysed shifts. The sections below show the detail.
27 of 81
01The top 16 chapters carry 34% of the questions; at topic level, 48 of 194 topics hold half.
Chapters that hold half of all questions. JEE Main is broad: 80% needs 51.
99% vs 61%
02Topics come back almost every time. Exact ideas mostly do not, though the share is rising as the history grows.
Questions on a topic seen before (2024–26), against an exact idea seen before (2026).
28%
03Later shifts share topics with earlier ones (92%–94%) but not questions.
A shift's exact ideas that also came in the same year's other shifts (2024–26).
32% → 44%
04Hard questions went from 9% (2020–21) to 15% (2026). Difficulty is Lumi's rating, so read it as a trend.
Multi-step questions, 2021–24 average against 2026.
2% → 9%
05Pure recall fell from 11% (2020–24) to 6% (2025–26).
Statement, assertion–reason and match-the-list questions, 2020 against 2025–26.
11
06The analysed 2024–26 shifts asked each of them at most 2 times. Their old questions stay here as practice, marked out of syllabus.
Chapters asked before 2024 that NTA's 2026 syllabus no longer lists.
07 Of the 10,800 ideas Lumi's JEE taxonomy lists for these chapters, 1,633 (15%) were ever the main idea of a question. Most ideas have never been asked, so learn the core ideas of each chapter rather than hunting for the ones "due".
Subjects
Physics, Chemistry and Maths
Each shift has 25 questions a subject (30 offered in 2021–24, of which 25 were answered).
Physics
33%
1,149 questions
Chemistry
33%
1,155 questions
Maths
33%
1,147 questions
Share rated hard, by year.
Share rated hard, by year.
Share rated hard, by year.
Chapter weightage
The chapters that carry the paper
All 81 chapters, by questions in the analysed shifts. The right column is the running share of every question.
- 13%
- 26%
- 38%
- 411%
- 513%
- 615%
- 717%
- 819%
- 921%
- 1023%
- 1125%
- 1227%
- 1328%
- 1430%
- 1532%
- 1633%
- 1735%
- 1837%Amines57
- 1938%
- 2040%
- 2142%
- 2243%
- 2345%
- 2446%
- 2548%
- Ray Optics and Optical Instruments · 1.4 a shift66 Q
- System of Particles and Rotational Motion · 1.5 a shift66 Q
- Current Electricity · 1.6 a shift65 Q
- Units and Measurements · 1.2 a shift61 Q
- Moving Charges and Magnetism · 1.2 a shift56 Q
- Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance · 1.1 a shift48 Q
- Organic Chemistry: Some Basic Principles and Techniques · 1.7 a shift91 Q
- Coordination Compounds · 1.6 a shift80 Q
- Haloalkanes and Haloarenes · 1.5 a shift62 Q
- The d- and f-Block Elements · 1.2 a shift61 Q
- Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids · 1.4 a shift60 Q
- The p-Block Elements · 1.3 a shift58 Q
- Conic Sections · 2.4 a shift116 Q
- Three Dimensional Geometry · 1.8 a shift84 Q
- Complex Numbers and Quadratic Equations · 1.6 a shift79 Q
- Integrals · 1.6 a shift73 Q
- Sequences and Series · 1.6 a shift73 Q
- Relations and Functions · 1.3 a shift60 Q
Average, range and weighted estimate
Questions a shift, by chapter
For the biggest chapters in the 2026 syllabus: the average and typical range of questions a shift (history) and a recency-weighted estimate (model).
- Ray Optics and Optical Instruments1.0–1.7 · 1.5
- System of Particles and Rotational Motion1.0–1.9 · 1.4
- Current Electricity1.0–1.9 · 1.4
- Units and Measurements0.8–1.7 · 1.4
- Moving Charges and Magnetism0.8–1.5 · 1.3
- Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance0.8–1.5 · 1.1
- Thermodynamics0.8–1.1 · 1.1
- Coordination Compounds0.8–2.1 · 1.9
- Haloalkanes and Haloarenes0.8–1.7 · 1.5
- The d- and f-Block Elements0.8–1.4 · 1.4
- Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids1.0–1.7 · 1.4
- Amines0.8–1.6 · 1.4
- The p-Block Elements1.0–1.7 · 1.4
- Solutions0.8–1.3 · 1.3
- Conic Sections1.9–3.1 · 2.6
- Three Dimensional Geometry1.7–2.0 · 1.9
- Complex Numbers and Quadratic Equations1.3–1.9 · 1.7
- Sequences and Series1.5–1.9 · 1.6
- Integrals1.3–1.9 · 1.6
- Relations and Functions1.0–1.5 · 1.3
- Determinants1.1–1.7 · 1.3
- Differential Equations0.9–1.5 · 1.2
- Typical range (fact)
- Average a shift (fact)
- Weighted estimate (model)
Questions are counted per shift, out of the 25 each subject has, in the shifts Lumi analysed. Typical range: the middle six of the eight years (2017, 2020–2026), leaving out the single highest and lowest year. The average and the range are historical fact. The weighted estimate is a model: each year's share, with recent years counting more (half-life three years), and chapters NTA dropped from the syllabus set near zero. It is a guide to effort, not a forecast of the paper. In the backtest it did about as well as a plain all-time count; see how far to trust it.
Since 2024
What moved, and what left the syllabus
Questions a shift (of 25 a subject) in 2024–26 against 2017–23, for chapters in the 2026 syllabus. Chapters at about one question a shift move by chance too.
- Organic Chemistry: Some Basic Principles and TechniquesChemistry1.4 → 2.3 (+1.0)
- Units and MeasurementsPhysics0.9 → 1.7 (+0.8)
- Mechanical Properties of FluidsPhysics0.5 → 1.1 (+0.6)
- The d- and f-Block ElementsChemistry0.9 → 1.6 (+0.6)
- Conic SectionsMaths2.2 → 2.8 (+0.6)
- Coordination CompoundsChemistry1.4 → 1.9 (+0.5)
- Wave OpticsPhysics0.7 → 1.2 (+0.5)
- Ray Optics and Optical InstrumentsPhysics1.2 → 1.6 (+0.4)
- Application of DerivativesMaths1.4 → 0.8 (-0.6)
- Current ElectricityPhysics1.7 → 1.3 (-0.5)
- GravitationPhysics1.1 → 0.6 (-0.5)
- Thermal Properties of MatterPhysics0.7 → 0.4 (-0.3)
- DeterminantsMaths1.5 → 1.2 (-0.3)
- Application of Derivatives · 24 Jun 20223.5 vs 1.0
- Haloalkanes and Haloarenes · 2 Apr 20173.3 vs 1.3
- Probability · 20172.6 vs 1.2
- Determinants · 20172.6 vs 1.4
- Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids · 20172.5 vs 1.4
- Amines · 20170.0 vs 1.1
- Organic Chemistry: Some Basic Principles and Techniques · 20252.8 vs 1.7
- Coordination Compounds · 20220.6 vs 1.6
Where a chapter was far above or below its own average (questions of 25). Most are in 2017, a single paper.
How it asks
Formats and question style, year by year
The numerical-answer share is set by the exam pattern: 20% in 2020 and 2025–26, 33% offered in 2021–24. Everything else here is a choice the setters made.
Share of each year's questions that chain two or more results.
Share of each year's questions.
| Year | Shifts | Numerical | Multi-step | Calculation or multi-step | Recall | Easy | Hard | With a figure | New idea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 9 | 20% | 44% | 72% | 6% | 26% | 15% | 13% | 39% |
| 2025 | 8 | 20% | 41% | 66% | 6% | 27% | 13% | 18% | 43% |
| 2024 | 8 | 33% | 36% | 65% | 10% | 34% | 12% | 14% | 60% |
| 2023 | 4 | 33% | 31% | 60% | 11% | 35% | 14% | 13% | 65% |
| 2022 | 4 | 33% | 34% | 65% | 12% | 34% | 15% | 12% | 74% |
| 2021 | 4 | 33% | 29% | 62% | 10% | 34% | 9% | 14% | 85% |
| 2020 | 4 | 20% | 41% | 65% | 10% | 27% | 9% | 18% | 95% |
| 2017 | 1 | 0% | 36% | 63% | 8% | 29% | 14% | 19% | – |
Shares of the year's questions, each shift weighted equally. "New idea": questions on an idea not asked in any earlier year analysed (none for 2017, the first year).
- Thermodynamics (Chemistry) · Chemistry59 %
- Chemical Kinetics · Chemistry54 %
- Electrochemistry · Chemistry50 %
- Current Electricity · Physics49 %
- Permutations and Combinations · Maths49 %
- Electromagnetic Induction · Physics45 %
- Waves · Physics44 %
- Solutions · Chemistry43 %
Share of each chapter's questions with a typed numerical answer. Across all chapters: 26%.
- Units and Measurements · Physics3 %
- Classification of Elements and Periodicity in Properties · Chemistry5 %
- Laws of Motion · Physics5 %
- The p-Block Elements · Chemistry7 %
- Electromagnetic Waves · Physics8 %
- Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids · Chemistry10 %
Live chapters with 20 or more questions.
Repeats
What comes back, and what does not
The share of each year's questions on a chapter, topic or exact idea already asked in an earlier year Lumi analysed.
2026: 100.0%.
2026: 99.8%.
2026: 60.9%.
- High and Low Spin States · Coordination Compounds19 times
- Combinational Logic Circuits · Semiconductor Electronics: Materials, Devices and Simple Circuits16 times
- AP Sum of n terms · Sequences and Series15 times
- Elastic Moduli · Mechanical Properties of Solids13 times
- Area Between Curves · Application of Integrals12 times
- Area of Inequalities · Application of Integrals10 times
- Condition for Infinite Solutions · Determinants10 times
- Greatest Integer Function Integrals · Integrals9 times
- Newton's Sums · Complex Numbers and Quadratic Equations9 times
- Spin-only Magnetic Moment · Coordination Compounds9 times
- Steric Number Calculation · Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure9 times
- Adiabatic Process Analysis · Thermodynamics8 times
- Magnetism and Matter · 1 of 58 asked97 %
- Electromagnetic Waves · 5 of 115 asked93 %
- Waves · 16 of 286 asked92 %
- Thermal Properties of Matter · 14 of 166 asked89 %
- Motion in a Plane · 19 of 170 asked87 %
- Mechanical Properties of Fluids · 25 of 222 asked86 %
- Gravitation · 12 of 115 asked85 %
- Alternating Current · 18 of 178 asked85 %
Of the ideas Lumi's taxonomy lists for a chapter, the share never the main idea of a question. Chapters with 40 or more listed ideas.
The exact-idea share rises from 5.2% in 2020 to 60.9% in 2026 mostly because there are more earlier shifts to match against, not because the exam repeats itself more. 194 topics and 1,633 ideas are counted; questions with no close idea (589) are left out of the topic and idea lines.
Shift to shift
Do later shifts repeat earlier shifts?
JEE Main runs many shifts a session, each a different paper. Here is how much of each 2024–26 shift was already in the same year's other shifts.
Averages over the analysed shifts of each year.
- Same year · 116 pairs0.46
- Different years · 745 pairs0.33
- Same year, 2024–260.49
- Different years, 2024–260.45
Rank correlation of the chapter mix between two shifts (1 = same order). Over every pair of analysed shifts.
The answer is no for questions, yes for topics. Shifts in the same year look a little more alike than shifts in different years, and a later shift's topics were nearly all asked earlier that year. Only about one exact idea in four was. The 2025 and 2026 shifts here are all from the April session, so for those years this compares shifts within one session. The within-year test shows how much using the earlier shifts helps.
What this covers
42 of 174 shifts
It covers 42 of the 174 JEE Main Paper 1 shifts held from 2017 to 2026 (3,465 questions), not every shift. Lumi analyses a shift when NTA's full paper and final answer key are both available. Every shift held, and its status:
9 of 19 analysed
- 21 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 21 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 22 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 22 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 23 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 23 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 24 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 24 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 28 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 28 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 2 Apr S1
- 2 Apr S2
- 4 Apr S1
- 4 Apr S2
- 5 Apr S1
- 5 Apr S2
- 6 Apr S1
- 6 Apr S2
- 8 Apr S2
8 of 19 analysed
- 22 Jan S1: Not analysed yet
- 22 Jan S2: Not analysed yet
- 23 Jan S1: Not analysed yet
- 23 Jan S2: Not analysed yet
- 24 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 24 Jan S2: Not analysed yet
- 28 Jan S1: Not analysed yet
- 28 Jan S2: Not analysed yet
- 29 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 29 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 2 Apr S1
- 2 Apr S2
- 3 Apr S1
- 3 Apr S2
- 4 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 4 Apr S2
- 7 Apr S1
- 7 Apr S2
- 8 Apr S2
8 of 20 analysed
- 27 Jan S1: Not analysed yet
- 27 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 29 Jan S1
- 29 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 30 Jan S1: Not analysed yet
- 30 Jan S2
- 31 Jan S1
- 31 Jan S2
- 1 Feb S1: Not analysed yet
- 1 Feb S2: Not analysed yet
- 4 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 4 Apr S2: Not analysed yet
- 5 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 5 Apr S2: Not analysed yet
- 6 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 6 Apr S2
- 8 Apr S1
- 8 Apr S2: Not analysed yet
- 9 Apr S1
- 9 Apr S2
4 of 24 analysed
- 24 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 24 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 25 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 25 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 29 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 29 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 30 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 30 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 31 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 31 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 1 Feb S1: Paper not published
- 1 Feb S2: Paper not published
- 6 Apr S1
- 6 Apr S2: Not analysed yet
- 8 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 8 Apr S2
- 10 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 10 Apr S2: Not analysed yet
- 11 Apr S1
- 11 Apr S2: Not analysed yet
- 12 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 13 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
- 13 Apr S2
- 15 Apr S1: Not analysed yet
4 of 24 analysed
- 24 Jun S1
- 24 Jun S2: Not analysed yet
- 25 Jun S1: Not analysed yet
- 25 Jun S2: Not analysed yet
- 26 Jun S1: Not analysed yet
- 26 Jun S2: Not analysed yet
- 27 Jun S1: Not analysed yet
- 27 Jun S2: Not analysed yet
- 28 Jun S1: Not analysed yet
- 28 Jun S2: Not analysed yet
- 29 Jun S1
- 29 Jun S2: Not analysed yet
- 30 Jun S1: Not analysed yet
- 25 Jul S1
- 25 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 26 Jul S1: Not analysed yet
- 26 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 27 Jul S1: Not analysed yet
- 27 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 28 Jul S1
- 28 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 29 Jul S1: Not analysed yet
- 29 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 30 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
4 of 30 analysed
- 24 Feb S1: Not analysed yet
- 24 Feb S2: Not analysed yet
- 25 Feb S1: Not analysed yet
- 25 Feb S2: Not analysed yet
- 26 Feb S1: Not analysed yet
- 26 Feb S2: Not analysed yet
- 16 Mar S1: Not analysed yet
- 16 Mar S2
- 17 Mar S1: Not analysed yet
- 17 Mar S2: Not analysed yet
- 18 Mar S1
- 18 Mar S2: Not analysed yet
- 20 Jul S1: Paper not published
- 20 Jul S2: Paper not published
- 22 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 25 Jul S1
- 25 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 27 Jul S1: Not analysed yet
- 27 Jul S2: Not analysed yet
- 3 Aug S1: Not analysed yet
- 3 Aug S2
- 4 Aug S1: Not analysed yet
- 4 Aug S2: Not analysed yet
- 26 Aug S1: Not analysed yet
- 26 Aug S2: Not analysed yet
- 27 Aug S1: Not analysed yet
- 27 Aug S2: Not analysed yet
- 31 Aug S1: Not analysed yet
- 31 Aug S2: Not analysed yet
- 1 Sep S2: Paper not published
4 of 16 analysed
- 7 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 7 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 8 Jan S1
- 8 Jan S2: Not analysed yet
- 9 Jan S1: Not analysed yet
- 9 Jan S2
- 2 Sep S1
- 2 Sep S2: Not analysed yet
- 3 Sep S1: Not analysed yet
- 3 Sep S2: Not analysed yet
- 4 Sep S1: Not analysed yet
- 4 Sep S2: Not analysed yet
- 5 Sep S1: Not analysed yet
- 5 Sep S2: Not analysed yet
- 6 Sep S1: Not analysed yet
- 6 Sep S2
0 of 16 analysed
- 9 Jan S1: No final key
- 9 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 10 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 10 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 11 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 11 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 12 Jan S1: Paper not published
- 12 Jan S2: Paper not published
- 8 Apr S1: Paper not published
- 8 Apr S2: Paper not published
- 9 Apr S1: Paper not published
- 9 Apr S2: Paper not published
- 10 Apr S1: Paper not published
- 10 Apr S2: Paper not published
- 12 Apr S1: Paper not published
- 12 Apr S2: Paper not published
0 of 3 analysed
- 8 Apr S1: Paper not published
- 15 Apr S1: Paper not published
- 16 Apr S1: Paper not published
1 of 3 analysed
- 2 Apr offline
- 8 Apr online: Paper not published
- 9 Apr online: Paper not published
Blue: analysed. Dashed: not in this analysis, because NTA did not publish the paper (52 shifts) or it has not been analysed yet. 14 questions NTA dropped are shown on their shift but left out of every count. No answer key needed an erratum.
Questions
About this analysis
How many JEE Main shifts does this cover?
Which JEE Main chapters carry the most questions?
Do JEE Main questions repeat?
Do later shifts repeat questions from earlier shifts of the same session?
What is the weighted estimate?
Updated 2026-10-08. By Lumi.