Around 12 lakh students took the JEE (Main) 2016 examination from over 2000 centres in 129 cities in India and abroad this year. Aspirants had the choice of appearing in any one of the two types of papers or both. Paper 1 is for BE/BTech courses while paper II is for BArch/BPlanning. Paper I had objective type multiple choice questions with one out of four correct with equal weightage to Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The pattern of the paper was similar to the past five years.
Rl Trikha, director FIITJEE tells you: “Paper was balanced and set from CBSE syllabus of Class XI and XII. However, as expected, many of the questions were conceptual with some needing higher analytical skills. 27 questions were easy, 48 questions were of moderate difficulty and 15 questions were of relatively higher difficulty. As in 2015, few questions in Physics were tricky and challenging but compared to last year this section was a shade tougher. Further question 84 (Set F) has two answers. One or two questions in Chemistry were tricky prima facie. Compared to last year, this was also a tougher. Question 17 (Set F) appears to have no matching answer from the choices given. Mathematics compared to last year is tougher with few lengthy questions.”
He also tells you that overall difficulty level for paper was moderate. “A student who has been focussed and serious through the last two years in improving speed and accuracy by taking regular quizzes and mock tests on JEEM pattern, must have done well. It is always relative performance, which matters in such highly competitive examinations,” he added.
In paper II, there are 30 Maths questions, 50 Aptitude questions and three questions of drawing. About paper II, Ramesh Batlish, FIITJEE expert, says: “The Maths questions were easy to moderate and the aptitude questions were moderate on the difficulty scale. Paper was balanced and set from CBSE syllabus of Class XI and XII.”
Aakash Chaudhry, director Aakash Educational Services Pvt ltd had a slightly different opinion and said: “Overall the JEE (Main) 2016 test paper was on easier side in comparison to last year’s. Many of the questions in the paper were straightforward and could be solved by a student who has been preparing sincerely for the exam. But the test paper had some surprises for the students aspiring to excel in the first engineering entrance exam of 2016. In all the three subjects, five-six questions were framed differently. Few of them were also ambiguous.” For example in Physics, there were two questions which had more than one correct answer, leaving students in a dilemma whether to leave it or attempt it. In addition, two questions were confusing and anyone who tried attempting them might have wasted a fair amount of time. In Maths, the overall paper was good, leaving aside one question which was ambiguous. But many students also reported the section of Mathematics to be lengthy.
Chowdhry also said that in Chemistry, distribution of question paper was skewed with more questions from Organic Chemistry, especially from the chapters which are not commonly asked. One question was found to be ambiguous in Chemistry also. A few questions were memory based. Only a student who has learned the data thoroughly would score well.”