On January 23, students took the morning shift at testing locations across India for the first section of the JEE Main 2026 exam. Both test takers and subject-matter experts reported that the paper was generally simple to moderate. For those that put in a lot of study time, it was a good test.
For each of the three subjects—physics, chemistry, and mathematics—there were no problems that weren’t on the curriculum. Most people believed that chemistry was the easiest of the three subjects and mathematics to be the most difficult.
How challenging the test was overall
According to experts, the exam struck a fair balance between the quantity of questions and the weight of each chapter.The article was well-structured and fairly covered all of the major subjects. According to Aakash Educational Services Limited’s National Academic Director (Engineering), Ajay Sharma, “Mathematics seemed a little harder, while Physics and Chemistry were easy to moderate.”
According to professionals and students, math is more difficult than physics, which is more difficult than chemistry. This was the general level of difficulty.
Physical Analysis by Subject
A medium level of difficulty was assigned to the physics portion. To ensure that the whole curriculum was covered, questions were drawn from nearly every significant chapter.
- Magnetism was given more weight.
- In optics, there were less questions.
- The portrayal of mechanics was moderate.
Things were a little more difficult because some issues took a long time to resolve. In a balanced manner, modern physics, electromagnetic waves, and thermodynamics were also covered.
Chemical
- Organic Chemistry was given a bit more weight, but the Chemistry portion was evaluated as being simple to moderate and quite similar to NCERT textbooks.
- The number of students studying physical chemistry was nearly equal to that of those studying inorganic chemistry.
Instead of requiring complex algebra, many of the questions were statements that required close reading and comprehension of the concepts they included. For pupils that were prepared, this section was generally simple.
Math
With questions ranging from simple to complex, mathematics proved to be the most challenging section of the paper.
- Integral calculus, conic sections, and algebra—particularly the Binomial Theorem—are given a lot of weight.
- On average, complex numbers, vectors, and 3D geometry are all present.
Time management was crucial because there were a lot of arithmetic questions in this section that required a long time to solve.
Final Choice

The JEE Main 2026 January 23 morning shift paper was fair and balanced, providing students with a strong grasp of the subject and extensive practice with an opportunity to perform well. Math assessed students’ ability to solve problems quickly and accurately, Chemistry offered opportunities to gain points, and Physics required them to closely monitor their time.
During this shift, students who maintained their composure and employed a clever subject-wise approach performed well.





