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Many Odisha students assume OJEE is how they get into a B.Tech college in the state. For most first-year engineering seats, it is not. This post explains which courses OJEE covers, how its papers are set and marked, and who is eligible, using the official OJEE 2026 information brochure.
What does OJEE cover after Class 12?
The OJEE 2026 information brochure says the exam was held in computer-based mode, tentatively on 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 May 2026. For students who have passed or are appearing in Class 12, the courses were:
B.Pharm
Integrated MBA (5 years)
B.CAT (Cinematography and Sound Recording and Design, and Film Editing)
Basic B.Sc Nursing
OJEE also covers lateral entry to B.Tech and B.Pharm for diploma holders, and postgraduate courses such as MCA, MBA, M.Tech, M.Pharm, M.Arch and M.Plan.
What about B.Tech, B.Arch and MBBS?
The brochure is explicit: for B.Tech, B.Arch, B.Plan and integrated M.Sc admissions, candidates have to appear and qualify in JEE Main 2026, and for MBBS, BDS, BAMS and BHMS they need NEET-UG 2026. OJEE's own notices show its B.Tech counselling working from the JEE Main merit list. If B.Tech is your goal, your preparation is JEE Main preparation; our post on planning around JEE Main's two sessions is the place to start.
There is one exception worth knowing. OJEE also holds a 2nd or Special OJEE. Its 2026 rules and pattern list a B.Tech paper of 60 questions in one hour (20 each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics), on the JEE Main syllabus. The resulting merit list is used only for seats left vacant after two rounds of counselling on the first OJEE and JEE Main lists, and its ranks start after the last rank of those lists. It is a second chance for leftover seats, not a substitute for JEE Main.
What is the B.Pharm paper like?
From the 2026 brochure:
120 questions in two hours.
Questions in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology, 40 each. You attempt either Physics, Chemistry and Biology or Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, as you choose.
Each question has four options with one correct answer.
A correct answer earns 4 marks, a wrong answer loses 1, and an unattempted question scores zero.
The brochure says there are no qualifying marks in the entrance test for these courses, except the nursing programmes. But to appear in the merit list you must attempt at least one question from each section; a candidate who attempts nothing, or attempts only one section, can be disqualified.
Worked example (sample numbers). The maximum is 120 × 4 = 480 marks. A student attempts 100 questions, gets 80 right and 20 wrong. Score = 80 × 4 − 20 × 1 = 320 − 20 = 300 out of 480.
With four options, a blind guess has an expected value of 4 × 1/4 − 1 × 3/4 = 1 − 0.75 = 0.25 marks. That is positive but small, and each wrong guess costs a mark. Eliminating even one option raises it: with three options left, 4 × 1/3 − 1 × 2/3 = 2/3 of a mark. Our post on negative marking and guessing explains when guessing makes sense.
What is the B.Sc Nursing test like?
The Basic B.Sc Nursing test is different. According to the brochure it has 100 multiple-choice questions, one mark each, with no negative marking, in two hours, in English. There are 20 questions each in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English and Aptitude for Nursing. Unlike the other courses, it has a qualifying standard: the 50th percentile for General candidates and the 40th percentile for SC, ST, OBC and SEBC candidates, with separate PwD thresholds.
Who is eligible?
For B.Pharm, the brochure asks for a pass in Class 12 with Physics and Chemistry compulsory along with Mathematics or Biology. For Basic B.Sc Nursing, candidates must:
be at least 17 years old on 31 December 2026,
have passed Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and English, with at least 45% in PCB together (40% for SC and ST candidates),
have passed at least M.E. standard Odia, and meet the domicile requirement in the brochure.
Reservation rules and other course requirements are set out in detail in the brochure, so read the section for your course.
How should you prepare?
Decide your target course first, because it decides your test: JEE Main, NEET-UG or OJEE.
For B.Pharm, choose PCB or PCM based on your Class 12 strengths, and practise full 120-question papers in two hours, one minute per question.
For nursing, give English and the aptitude section real practice time; they are two-fifths of the paper.
Follow ojee.nic.in for the current year's brochure, dates and counselling notices.
For chapters where you keep losing marks, the Fermi Problem Library has worked problems with a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer. Students looking at Kerala as well may find our guide to KEAM useful.
Today, open the current OJEE brochure on ojee.nic.in and confirm which exam your chosen course uses.
