JEE Main April session begins; Maths emerges as toughest subject

The Joint Entrance Examination Main 2026 April session commenced on Thursday, with thousands of engineering aspirants participating in two shifts across Telangana.

Students who appeared for the examinations reported that the overall difficulty level of the April 2 paper ranged from easy to moderate. They also noted a noticeable variation across subjects and shifts. While Physics and Chemistry were largely considered manageable, Mathematics was perceived as the most time-consuming and challenging section in both shifts. In the morning session, Physics focused mainly on formula-based and conceptual questions, offering scoring opportunities for well-prepared students. Chemistry consisted primarily of NCERT-aligned theory and direct questions. Mathematics, however, was seen as lengthy, with several multi-step problems from calculus, coordinate geometry, and vectors, according to Sudhir from Dilshuknagar.

Sai Charan, from Miyapur, shared that while Mathematics required working quickly under time pressure, the Physics paper consisted of more straightforward questions.

In comparison to the first shift, students found the second shift slightly tougher, as the Mathematics section proved particularly demanding. Srija from LB Nagar noted that the section was time-consuming and, although she was familiar with the concepts, she felt significant pressure unlike during the January examination. The Chemistry section questions were drawn mostly from a theoretical background. There were fourteen examination centres across Telangana for this session, scheduled from April 2 to 8. Meanwhile, coaching faculty waiting for their students at LB Nagar, Dilsukhnagar, and Uppal reported that candidates typically attempted 57 to 65 questions within the given time, suggesting scoring attempts in several sections.

Faculty member Venkat Reddy pointed out that the first session was moderate while the second was moderate to tough, though the overall experience was fair. He added that students with a good understanding of foundational concepts in Chemistry and Physics could achieve high scores.

Given the opening day trends, faculty members predict that students might face similar patterns in the remaining days. Overall, the second examination is expected to help students improve their percentile and secure good ranks. However, cut-off marks might marginally increase this time, according to Physics faculty member Anand Reddy.