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JEE Main has a fairly uniform paper. JEE Advanced does not. The same subject can carry four kinds of question, each scored differently, and the format changes from year to year. Students who know the physics still lose marks by treating every question the same way. This post walks through the types in the 2025 papers, the marking of each, and how to decide what to mark.
What question types did JEE Advanced 2025 use?
The JEE (Advanced) site keeps an archive of past papers. In 2025 Paper 1, each subject had four sections:
Section 1: 4 single-correct questions, +3 for the right option, 0 if unanswered, −1 otherwise.
Section 2: 3 questions with one or more correct options, marked as described below.
Section 3: 6 numerical-value questions, +4 for the correct value, 0 in all other cases.
Section 4: 3 matching-list questions (List-I with four entries, List-II with five), one correct option, +4 or −1.
In 2025 Paper 2 each subject had three sections: 4 single-correct, 4 multi-correct and 8 numerical-value questions. The mix changes between years, so read the instructions on the paper itself on exam day, and check the official information brochure for your year.
How are multi-correct questions marked?
The 2025 papers gave this scheme:
+4 only if all the correct options, and no others, are chosen.
+3 if all four options are correct but only three are chosen.
+2 if three or more options are correct but only two are chosen, both correct.
+1 if two or more options are correct but only one is chosen and it is correct.
0 if unanswered.
−2 in all other cases, which means any wrong option costs you the question.
Worked example from the paper's own instructions. Suppose A, B and D are the correct options.
Choosing A, B and D gives +4.
Choosing any two of them, such as A and D, gives +2.
Choosing just one of them gives +1.
Choosing A, B and C gives −2, because C is wrong, even though two correct options were picked.
The key point: partial marks reward correct subsets, but a single wrong option wipes them out.
When should you add a second option?
Here is a common situation. You are certain option A is correct, certain B and D are wrong, and unsure about C. Say you think C is correct with probability p. Under the 2025 scheme:
Mark A only. If C is correct, you have one of two correct options: +1. If C is wrong, A was the full answer: +4. Expected score = p × 1 + (1 − p) × 4 = 4 − 3p.
Mark A and C. If C is correct: +4. If C is wrong: −2. Expected score = p × 4 + (1 − p) × (−2) = 6p − 2.
The two are equal when 4 − 3p = 6p − 2, which gives p = 2/3. So add C only if you are more than about two-thirds sure. At p = 0.8, marking both gives an expected 2.8 against 1.6 for A alone. At p = 0.5, A alone gives 2.5 against 1.0.
This is a rule of thumb for one situation. Our post on negative marking and when guessing is worth it covers single-correct questions.
How should you handle numerical-value questions?
In 2025 these carried +4 and no negative marks, and the instructions asked you to truncate or round off to two decimal places if the value had more. Three habits help:
Always enter something you have worked out, since a wrong value costs nothing under that scheme.
Keep fractions until the end. Rounding early can push your answer outside the accepted value.
Check units and order of magnitude. If a question asks for an answer in mJ and you got 0.004 J, enter 4, not 0.004.
What about matching-list questions?
With one correct option among four, and +4 or −1, treat them as elimination puzzles. Find the one pairing in List-I you are surest of, and strike out every option that disagrees. Often one or two certain pairings leave a single option standing.
A practice routine for the different types
Sort past papers by type. Take one archive paper and solve only its multi-correct questions in one sitting, then only its numericals in another.
Score yourself with the real scheme. Mark every attempt with the official marking, including partial marks and −2s.
Record your confidence. Before checking, write how sure you were of each option. After a few papers you will see whether your "fairly sure" is really above two-thirds.
Do full papers last. In the final weeks, sit full papers under time. Our guide on analysing a mock test shows how to review them.
If a multi-correct question keeps fooling you because one option rests on an idea you are unsure of, work through that idea with a full solution. The Fermi Problem Library has a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer.
Download the 2025 Paper 2 from the archive and solve its multi-correct questions first, scoring yourself with the real scheme.
