5 Tips to Avoid Negative Marking in JEE Exams

Competitive exams like JEE often have multiple choice question format – where you have to pick and choose correct answer out of 4 given options. It is not uncommon for students to pick random answers in such exams – which may lead to ‘chance’ success in exams. Hence, JEE exams employ negative marking to discourage students from doing the guess work.

Here are some tips to avoid silly mistakes and conserve precious marks in the JEE exam:

Decoding the JEE Marking scheme:

In JEE Main 2016, students have to solve 90 questions in 3 hours. In JEE Advanced 2016, the total number of questions to be solved can be 60 or more. In short, for each wrong answer, you earn a penalty score equal to the 0.25 of the marks assigned to the question.

If a question is of 4 marks and you circle an incorrect answer, you will earn a penalty score of 1 mark.

So, answer carefully. If you circle two or more options, no marks will be awarded to the question.

Prepare, Don’t Act Smart:

Students only lose marks when they don’t actually know the answers and resort to guess work. So, study well. Revise your formulas and theorems and practice your shortcuts.

At askIITians, you can find chapter-wise revision notes, daily practice papers and All India Test Series (AITS) for JEE aspirants which can help with your exam preparation.

Time Management:

It has often been seen that at the end of exam, many students end up making silly mistakes due to time crunch. So, manage your time well.

Elimination Strategy:

Don’t choose an option because you ‘feel’ that it is the right one. You should ‘know’ it for sure. It is only possible if you know your concepts and do your practice. In cases where you are not sure, try eliminating the options which you know are definitely wrong. That will increase your chances of choosing the right answer.

Don’t Panic:

Panic will only lead you to blunders. Relax yourself, have patience and concentrate on the task at hand.