JEE Main Paper 1: 75 questions, including numbers you type
Paper 1 is the B.E./B.Tech computer-based test. It is not a quiz about the Joint Entrance Examination. It is Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, and part of each subject is a number you type, not an option you tick.
The source for the shape below is the NTA information bulletin for JEE (Main) 2026, uploaded in October 2025. Architecture and planning (Papers 2A and 2B) use a different pattern. This note is Paper 1 only. If a later bulletin changes a count, the bulletin wins.
Twenty choices, then five integers
Each subject has two sections. Section A is 20 multiple-choice questions. Section B is 5 questions whose answers are numerical values. Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry are 25 questions and 100 marks each. The paper is 75 questions and 300 marks.
Section B is compulsory. Older papers let you pick which numerical items to attempt. The 2026 bulletin does not. You enter an integer with the on-screen keypad, rounded to the nearest integer. A decimal you meant to round, left unrounded, is a wrong answer.
Both sections take a mark away for a miss
Correct, or the most appropriate option in Section A, is +4. Incorrect is -1. Unanswered, or marked for review without an answer, is 0. The same +4 / -1 / 0 split applies to Section B. Guessing a random integer is an expensive habit. If the calculation is unfinished, leaving the box empty scores better than typing a hopeful digit.
The bulletin also says that if a question is dropped, candidates who appeared in that shift are awarded +4. That is an after-the-fact correction, not a strategy.
Practise the chapter before the three-hour paper
A full mock is 180 minutes (240 for eligible PwD candidates, as the bulletin states for the scheme). Early in preparation it mostly produces a low total and a vague feeling that “physics was hard”. A better set is eight Section A items and two numerical items from one chapter, with the NCERT or textbook still closed.
Write the numericals on paper first, then type the integer as you would on the screen. The keypad is part of the question. So is rounding. 3.5 goes to 4. 3.4 goes to 3. Do that ten times on purpose so exam day is not the first time you round under a clock.
Chemistry, especially the NCERT lines in inorganic and organic, is often the section people can finish and bank. Skipping it because a hard Physics chapter feels more serious is how a paper runs out of time with easy marks still sitting there.
Keep the other papers separate
NEET UG is 180 compulsory MCQs and no numerical box. UPSC prelims is a qualifying second paper plus a General Studies paper. SSC and bank exams are a different syllabus again. Mixing “competitive exam” into one practice set teaches none of them.
Questions people ask
How many questions are in JEE Main Paper 1?
The NTA bulletin for 2026 says 75 questions and 300 marks. Each of Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics has 20 multiple-choice questions and 5 numerical-value questions. All of them count.
Is there negative marking on numerical questions?
Yes. Both sections use +4 for a correct answer, -1 for an incorrect answer, and 0 if you leave it unanswered. Numerical answers are rounded to the nearest integer.
When should I take a full mock?
After a short set on one chapter is routine. Use the long paper to practise the clock, then sort the misses by chapter before you sit another one.
For a short set on one chapter, name the topic in Rivox on Google Play and ask for JEE Main style items, including a few that need an integer rather than four options.