JEE Advanced examinees come out of the examination centre at DAV Public School, BSEB Colony, on Sunday. Picture by Jai Prakash

The second round of exam in the JEE Advanced with questions carrying negative marking proved to be a challenge for IIT aspirants on Sunday.

Each round of the JEE Advanced was of three hours’ duration. The first round was conducted between 9am and 12noon, while the second was from 2pm to 5pm.

Students said their performance in the second paper would be vital for cracking the test. Harshvardan Kumar, an examinee, said: “In both the rounds, there were 60 questions, 20 each from physics, chemistry and mathematics. In the second round, all questions carried negative marking, while in the first, it was for 50 per cent of questions.”

Unlike previous years, in which the total marks was 200 or 220, this time, the first JEE Advanced had 120 questions each carrying three marks, a total of 360.

Anand Kumar of Super30 said: “Based on the feedback from students. I think the second paper was tough, as there was negative marking for all questions. Students were sceptical while circling answers.”

He added: “According to what my students have told me and looking at the question paper, I think those who have scored 180 have a good chance of cracking the JEE. The questions in mathematics were tougher as compared to physics and chemistry.”

The first JEE Advanced conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology for admission to the IITs, IIT BHU and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, was held at various centres across Patna.

There was no report of any untoward incident from any of the centres.

Around 1.5 lakh students, who had qualified in the JEE Mains on April 7, appeared for the Advanced test.

The performance of students in JEE Advanced will help them get entry to IITs, as the pupils would have to rank among the top 20 percentile of the respective boards.

If the students are not able to find a place among the top 20 percentile from their boards, they will not get admission in IITs despite clearing the JEE Advanced.

Many boards, including CBSE and the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), have given cut-off scores for top 20 percentile rankers eligible for IIT admission.

According to CBSE, general students have to secure 391 out of 500, for students from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 389 is the cut-off, pupils from Scheduled Castes (SC) will have to get 350 and those from Scheduled Tribes (ST) will have to secure 338 to be considered in top 20 percentile.

For BSEB, general category students have to get 335 out of 500, for OBC students, 331 is the cut-off, for students from SC category, it is 321 and for ST pupils, the cut-off is 318.