Strategy

Score 65+ by learning the right chapters first

25 questions × 4 marks = 100, with 1 mark lost for each wrong answer, on a clock shared with Chemistry and Maths. Two decisions matter: which chapters to learn first, and on the day, which answers to guess and which to leave blank.

marks out of 100: 65+
questions solved: 20/25
accuracy on those: 85%
of the shared clock: ~60 min

The arithmetic of 65+

20 solved questions at 85% accuracy is 17 right and 3 wrong: 17 × 4 − 3 = 65 marks. The other 5 are not simply left blank. Every multiple-choice question among them still gets an answer at the end, because a guess there is worth more than a blank:

Expected marks from guessing a JEE Mains Physics question, by format and by options still in play
Question	Expected marks from a guess	Verdict
MCQ, 4 options left	+0.25	A blind guess still pays on average. Never leave an MCQ blank at the end.
MCQ, 3 options left	+0.67	Rule out one option and the guess is worth two-thirds of a mark.
MCQ, 2 options left	+1.5	Down to two, a guess is worth more than a mark.
Numeric answer	close to −1	A numeric answer has no options, so a guess is almost never right and still costs a mark. Enter one only when you have worked it out.

So the formats split. A numeric question is worth something only when you can finish it, which is why the chapters heavy in numeric answers need to be owned, not half-learned. A multiple-choice question is worth something even when you cannot, and more once one option is ruled out on sight.

The shared clock

180 minutes cover all three subjects, and every question pays the same 4 marks. The plan below is a starting budget, not a measurement; adjust it from your own mock tests.

1
Give Physics about an hour
The three subjects share one clock. Physics questions are shorter than most Maths ones but longer than most Chemistry ones, so an hour is a fair start. Adjust from your own mock tests.
2
First pass: the one-formula questions
Go through all the questions once. Answer the ones that are one formula and a substitution, and mark the rest. A question that has not opened up in a few minutes is marked, not fought.
3
Second pass: the marked questions
Come back once every subject has had its first pass. Work the marked questions in the order you think you can finish them, and check the units of every answer.
4
Last minutes: fill every MCQ
Any multiple-choice question still blank gets an answer, after ruling out what you can. Numeric answers you have not worked out stay blank.

Cornerstone — 4 chapters, 7.6 questions a paper

Chapters setting 1.5 or more a paper on the 2025–26 papers.

Each of these sets more than one and a half questions a paper, and together they are about a third of the paper. Electrostatics is the largest chapter, and Ray Optics has roughly doubled since the early papers.

The approach

Learn these first. Every one has full notes at /notes/jee-mains-physics; read a chapter's notes once, then drill page by page.
Units and Measurements is the quickest win of the four: dimensions and errors take minutes once the dimensional formulas are known.
Rotational Motion and Ray Optics set many numeric answers. A numeric question you cannot finish is left blank, so own these chapters, do not half-learn them.

Electrostatics

2.21 a paper in 2025–26 · 1.66 in 2021–24 · 28% numeric

The arithmetic of 65+

The shared clock

Cornerstone — 4 chapters, 7.6 questions a paper

Core — 6 chapters, 6.8 questions a paper

Long tail — 17 chapters, 10.6 questions a paper

The chapter that has left the paper

Start with the 4 cornerstone chapters