JEE Main vs JEE Advanced: What’s the Difference?

JEE Main is the first stage: a computer-based test covering Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, used for admission to NITs, IIITs, and other centrally funded institutes, and as a qualifying round for JEE Advanced. Only the top scorers in JEE Main (a fixed number set each year) become eligible to sit for JEE Advanced, which is used exclusively for admission to the IITs and has a different, typically harder exam pattern with more emphasis on conceptual, multi-step problems. In practice, this means most aspirants prepare for both using the same core syllabus, but shift toward more advanced problem sets in the months closer to JEE Advanced if they qualify.