IIT JAM 2027 Exam Pattern

IIT Kharagpur is conducting JAM 2027. The subject difficulty, cutoffs and score distributions below are from JAM 2026.

Each JAM paper has 60 questions for 100 marks, with three hours to answer them: 30 single-answer MCQs, 10 multiple-select questions and 20 numerical-answer questions. The structure is common to all seven subjects; each subject has a separate paper and rank list.

IIT JAM 2026 Difficulty: Subject-wise Review

Students described Mathematics as lengthy and Chemistry as moderate. The reported difficulty by subject was:

IIT JAM 2026 Subject-wise Results

Biotechnology (BT)

Biotechnology had 11,084 candidates appear and 2,593 qualify. The highest score was 85.67 and the GEN qualifying cutoff was 42.30. The 50–100 score bands contained 1,040 candidates, or 9.38% of those who appeared.

Chemistry (CY)

Chemistry had 11,021 candidates appear, with 3,249 qualifying. Its highest score was 79.67, but only 105 candidates were in the 50–100 bands. The GEN qualifying cutoff was much lower, at 18.65.

Economics (EN)

Economics had the highest subject maximum: 87.33. Of the 2,807 candidates who appeared, 629 qualified, a qualifying rate of 22.4%. There were 253 candidates in the 50–100 bands.

Geology (GG)

Geology had the smallest appearing group: 1,813 candidates. Of these, 627 qualified, giving a qualifying rate of 34.6%. The highest score was 73, and 54 candidates were in the 50–100 bands.

Mathematics (MA)

Mathematics had 9,617 candidates appear and 3,463 qualify. The highest score was 82.67, but only 28 candidates were in the 50–100 bands. The GEN qualifying cutoff was 12.65.

Mathematical Statistics (MS)

Mathematical Statistics had 2,705 candidates appear and 754 qualify. The highest score was 76.33, and 22 candidates were in the 50–100 bands. The GEN qualifying cutoff was 13.33. MS has a separate rank list from Mathematics.

Physics (PH)

Physics had 9,123 candidates appear and 4,499 qualify. The highest score was 68.67 and the GEN qualifying cutoff was 12.04. Although its maximum was lower than in the other subjects, nearly half of its candidates qualified.

The IIT JAM marks-versus-rank guide includes paper-wise score bands and their relationship with rank.

IIT JAM 2026 Qualifying Rates and Highest Marks

Qualified % = qualified candidates ÷ candidates who appeared × 100. This measures exam qualification, not IIT admission; admission also depends on rank, programme eligibility and seats.

The subject totals add up to 48,170 paper appearances. Candidates who took two papers are counted in both subjects, so this is not the number of unique students.

How Common Were Scores in the 50-100 Bands?

The counts combine the 50–60, 60–70, 70–80, 80–90 and 90–100 bands for JAM 2026. Each percentage uses the number who appeared in that subject.

These bands do not give an exact rank. For example, the 28 Mathematics candidates in the 50–100 bands may have different scores or ties; the grouped data does not list those individual marks.

IIT JAM Attempts and Marking Scheme

JAM has one-mark and two-mark questions. MCQs carry negative marks, while MSQs require the exact set of correct options. As a result, two students attempting the same number of questions can earn different totals.

Score example: seven correct one-mark MCQs and twelve correct two-mark MCQs earn 31 marks. Three wrong one-mark MCQs and three wrong two-mark MCQs deduct 3, leaving 28. Six fully correct MSQs add 12. Five correct one-mark NATs and four correct two-mark NATs add 13. The total is 53/100.

This attempt has 34 correct and six incorrect answers. Compare your responses with the matching paper and key through the JAM answer-key and response-sheet guide.

Common Errors in IIT JAM Questions

An MSQ can score zero even when some selected options are correct. For NATs, check units, signs and the accepted numerical range. The common errors below need different corrections.

The 2024 JAM papers and solutions provide full subject papers for timed practice.