Students who appeared for the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (JEE main) on Sunday found the questions tricky.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts the JEE (main) for admission to BE/BTech courses at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other centrally funded technical institutions.

The JEE main paper comprised 90 questions with 30 questions each from physics, chemistry and mathematics. Each question carries four marks, adding up to a total score of 360. While some students found the mathematics portion lengthy, others found the physics segment tricky.

Tension was writ large on the faces of the students coming out after the test.

Ashish Ranjan, who took the examination at the DAV BSEB centre, said: "The paper was tricky, especially the mathematics and physics portions." Nilesh Anand, another student, said: "Many questions were from Class IX, which is a new trend. Earlier, questions were mostly asked from Class XII."

Teachers also said the maths portion was tough.

"The physics portion was complex, while mathematics was tricky and lengthy," said Anand Kumar of Super 30 fame. "Students had to finish 90 questions in 180 minutes, which means two minutes for every question; but there were many questions that took four to five minutes to solve."

He said this year, too, the cut-off for general category students will be around 100, while for those from the OBC section it will be around 75.

Anand, a mathematician under whose guidance many students have cleared the JEE, said: "For competitive tests such as the IIT, it is advised to attempt easy questions first."

The JEE (main) offline was conducted on Sunday, while the online examination will be conducted on April 8 and 9.

From this year, the CBSE, which is conducting the test, has brought in changes in the examination pattern. From this year, candidates who qualify for the IITs/NITs and other centrally funded institutions whose admissions are based on JEE (advanced)/JEE main ranks, should have at least 75 per cent marks in Class XII.

For SC/ST students, the Class XII marks must be 65 percent. The Class XII marks will be the qualifying score. Earlier, there was a system of allotting 40 per cent weightage to Class XII marks for determining ranks in the JEE.

Students were not allowed to enter the examination hall with mobile phones, walletsor even pens. The CBSE provided them with pens.

The examination was held at 1,781 centres in 109 cities. In Patna, there were 61 examination centres. In Bihar, there were test centres at Gaya and Muzaffarpur too. The JEE (main) results will be declared in mid-April.