JEE Mains provisional key released

India’s National Testing Agency has opened the challenge window for the Joint Entrance Examination Main 2026 Session 2 provisional answer key and recorded responses. (nta.ac.in) The agency said Paper 1, the Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Technology test, was held on April 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8, 2026, and Paper 2A and 2B, for Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Planning, were held on April 7. The exams ran at 567 centres in 306 cities in India and 14 cities outside India. (nta.ac.in) Candidates can challenge Paper 1 answers online through April 13, 2026, at 11:50 p.m. India time by paying a non-refundable fee of 200 rupees for each question they contest. The provisional key and recorded response sheets are posted on the Joint Entrance Examination Main website. (nta.ac.in) An answer key is the agency’s list of what it says are the correct answers. The recorded response sheet is the candidate’s own marked answers, which lets students estimate a likely score before final results. (nta.ac.in) The review step matters because the National Testing Agency uses the final answer key, not the provisional one, to prepare results. The agency said revised answers, if accepted by subject experts, will be applied across candidates’ responses. (nta.ac.in) The Joint Entrance Examination Main is the screening test for undergraduate engineering and architecture admissions, and it is also the qualifying route for Joint Entrance Examination Advanced, the next-stage test for Indian Institutes of Technology admissions. The National Testing Agency said Session 2 Paper 1 results are likely by April 20, 2026, and the best performance across both sessions will count. (nta.ac.in) This year’s April session drew about 11.23 lakh candidates, according to the agency’s April 8 press release. That made the answer-key stage consequential for a nationwide pool of engineering and architecture applicants competing across multiple shifts and cities. (nta.ac.in) The agency also said it was verifying reported discrepancies in the Chemistry paper from the April 5 second shift and advised candidates not to make payments until official clarification. That notice appeared alongside the answer-key challenge update on the examination website. (jeemain.nta.nic.in) After the challenge window closes, subject experts will review objections, finalize the key, and the agency will publish results from that revised set of answers. For candidates checking scores this weekend, the provisional key is the first official draft, not the last word. (nta.ac.in)