JEE Advanced 2025: Experts, students say paper more challenging than last year; cut-off likely to drop

The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2025 was successfully conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur yesterday, on May 18.

The official question papers for both Paper 1 and Paper 2 have been released and are now available on the official website — jeeadv.ac.in.

Initial feedback from students and coaching institutes suggests that this year’s paper was comparatively more challenging than in 2024, particularly Paper 2. 

According to early estimates, the cut-off for JEE Advanced 2025 is expected to drop to 90-95 marks, down from last year’s 109 out of 360, as per a report by Shiksha.com.

Paper 1 analysis:

• Overall difficulty: Moderate
  
  

• Subject-wise feedback:
  
  

• Mathematics: Moderate
  
  

  1. Physics: Moderate
     
     

  2. Chemistry: Easy
     
     

• Exam Pattern: Same as last year — 48 questions (16 each from Maths, Physics, and Chemistry)
  
  

• Topics in focus:
  
  

• Physics: EMI, Electrostatics, Sound Waves, Optics, Mechanics
  
  

  1. Maths: Matrices, Determinants, Vectors, 3D Geometry, Limits, Differentiation
     
     

  2. Chemistry: More emphasis on Physical Chemistry
     
     

Paper 2 analysis:

• Overall difficulty: Moderate to tough; lengthy
  
  

• Subject-wise feedback:
  
  

• Mathematics: Moderate and lengthy
  
  

  1. Physics: Moderate
     
     

  2. Chemistry: Easy
     
     

• Pattern Changes: While the overall format remained similar, Paper 2 saw the removal of paragraph and matrix match-type questions. The paper included several integer-type questions requiring answers up to two decimal places, which students found time-consuming.
  
  

• Topics in focus:
  
  

• Physics: Similar to Paper 1, with high weightage on Mechanics
  
  

  1. Maths: Vectors, 3D Geometry, Limits, Continuity
     
     

  2. Chemistry: Organic Chemistry dominated

What next?

IIT Kanpur will release the response sheets for JEE Advanced 2025 on May 22, 2025. Following this, the provisional answer key is scheduled to be released on May 26, 2025.

The official question papers are available for download in both English and Hindi. Detailed answer keys and solutions for Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics (for both papers) have been released by coaching institutes such as Motion Education.

The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JOSAA) 2025 counselling is expected to begin on June 3, 2025. Candidates are advised to regularly check the official website for updates on results and seat allocation schedules.