{"id":294988,"date":"2026-01-25T00:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T19:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aakash.ac.in\/blog\/?p=294988"},"modified":"2026-01-25T00:54:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T19:24:27","slug":"jee-main-2026-january-23-shift-2-expected-marks-vs-percentile-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aakash.ac.in\/blog\/jee-main-2026-january-23-shift-2-expected-marks-vs-percentile-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"JEE Main 2026 January 23 Shift 2 Expected Marks vs. Percentile Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attempting JEE Main is an emotional\u00a0 rollercoaster for students, and the Jan 23rd Evening Shift (Shift 2) has certainly left many students talking. However if you felt this year exam was tough, you are not alone. According to experts at JEE@Aakash, this particular shift was relatively difficult, which significantly impacts the marks required to hit those top percentile brackets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this post, Lets\u2019s see how the level of difficulty\u00a0 influenced the expected scores and what marks you need to secure your dream percentile.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\ud83d\ude28JEE Main 2026 Marks vs Percentile Will SHOCK You | 23rd Jan Evening Shift\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mojM0sVycJ8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shift Difficulty Breakdown<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The evening shift on January 23rd stood out due to its technical complexity. Unlike some of the more balanced papers, this shift pushed students to their limits in two key areas:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b> Physics: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This part of the test was noticed as quite challenging, moving\u00a0 from traditional\u00a0 formula-based questions to more conceptual challenges.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b> Maths: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As is often the case with JEE, Maths was both lengthy and difficult, requiring high speed and precision.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because of this overall higher difficulty level, the &#8220;marks vs percentile&#8221; ratio has shifted, meaning you can achieve a high percentile even with a slightly lower score compared to easier shifts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expected Marks vs Percentile (Jan 23rd &#8211; Shift 2)<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Based on the performance data and the difficulty of the paper, here are the projected marks required for various percentile levels:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Percentile Target<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Required Marks (Expected)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">99.9 Percentile<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">215 \u2013 218 Marks<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">99 Percentile<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">153 \u2013 155 Marks<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">95 Percentile<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">95 \u2013 98 Marks<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Expected Cutoff<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Estimated Cutoff Marks:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Around <\/span><b>86<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indicates the minimum qualifying score for the next stage<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cutoff is likely lower because of the challenging Mathematics section<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key Takeaways for Aspirants<\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><b> Lower Score, Higher Percentile: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the question paper is hard, it\u2019s natural to not be too pleased with the raw score. Even in this tough shift in the question pattern, it is possible to attain a score as high as 99 percentile on scoring as few as 153 to 155 marks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b> Accuracy over Quantity: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your greatest strength is your accuracy when Physics and Maths are hard\/long subjects.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The January 23rd Evening Shift was a test of endurance. Physics was challenging, while Maths was a long question paper, however, as we see from this data, those that were able to cope with this challenge were rewarded quite handsomely in terms of percentile.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b> Why were the marks vs percentile so &#8220;shocking&#8221; for this shift?\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The results are surprising because the difficulty of the Physics and Maths sections brought down the average score far. So, you don&#8217;t need an enormous score to get a top-tier percentile. You see, you will only need 215 to 218 marks to reach the 99.9 percentile.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><b> How was the Physics section compared to other shifts?<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going by the reports, the Physics section was pretty tough in the Jan 23rd Evening Shift, while in other sessions, it is usually more accessible.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><b> What do I do if my score is around 95 marks?\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your score is between 95 and 98 marks, you are currently on track to achieve a 95 percentile for this specific shift. This is a strong position that generally qualifies you for JEE Advanced.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><b> Was the Mathematics section manageable?<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most students found it very challenging. The source confirms that the Maths section was both quite lengthy and difficult, which is why the marks needed for a high percentile have dropped.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attempting JEE Main is an emotional\u00a0 rollercoaster for students, and the Jan 23rd Evening Shift (Shift 2) has certainly left many students talking. However if you felt this year exam was tough, you are not alone. According to experts at JEE@Aakash, this particular shift was relatively difficult, which significantly impacts the marks required to hit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719,1295],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-294988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jee","category-jee-main"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>JEE Main 2026 January 23 Shift 2 Expected Marks vs. Percentile Analysis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"JEE Main 2026 Jan 23 Shift 2 marks vs percentile analysis with expected cutoff near 86, difficulty review, score ranges for 99 &amp; 99.9 percentile and FAQs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aakash.ac.in\/blog\/jee-main-2026-january-23-shift-2-expected-marks-vs-percentile-analysis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JEE Main 2026 January 23 Shift 2 Expected Marks vs. Percentile Analysis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JEE Main 2026 Jan 23 Shift 2 marks vs percentile analysis with expected cutoff near 86, difficulty review, score ranges for 99 &amp; 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