Top 5 Toughest JEE Advanced Paper Ever
Wondering which was the toughest JEE Advanced paper ever? This article analyses the top 5 toughest JEE Advanced papers with section-wise difficulty, student feedback, and expert insights to help you prepare better. You can also get links to question paper PDFs here!
If you have written JEE Main 2026 and are now preparing for JEE Advanced, one question naturally comes to mind:How tough can JEE Advanced really be?Most students hear stories about certain years being “nightmares” or “unforgettable”, and you must also be a bit nervous. But, truthfully, it helps a lot to know what exactly made those papers so difficult. This will help you prepare better!
As per trends and paper analysis, we came across that someJEE Advancedpapers were not difficult just because the syllabus was hard, but because the questions were lengthy, confusing, or risky to attempt due to negative marking. Even well-prepared students struggled with time management and accuracy in these years.
In this article, you can take a look at five JEE Advanced papers that students still talk about as the toughest. For each year, you will find a section-wise difficulty level of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, based on what students felt during the exam and what experts later pointed out. We have listed them from the toughest to least challenging among all. Keep reading!
CheckMinimum Marks in JEE Main 2026 to Qualify for JEE Advanced
JEE Advanced 2016 Paper Difficulty Analysis
The JEE Advanced of 2016 is regarded as the toughest JEE Advanced paper of all time. It was conducted by IIT Guwahati. Check out the complete paper analysis below:
Section | Difficulty Level | Feedback from Experts and Students |
|---|---|---|
Mathematics | Very Difficult | Most experts and students still remember this Math section as one of the hardest ever. The questions were heavily concept-based, not straightforward at all. Topics like functions and probability were especially tricky and confusing |
Physics | Moderate to Tough | Physics looked manageable at first, but it became stressful during the exam. Many questions had multiple correct options with negative marking, so even a small mistake could cost marks. Rotation and electromagnetism dominated the paper |
Chemistry | Difficult | Compared to earlier years, Chemistry felt unusually tough. The Matrix Match questions took a lot of time and increased the chances of silly mistakes. |
Overall | Extremely Tough | This was a low-cutoff year because total scores dropped sharply. Experts often call 2016 the “conceptual trap” year. Guesswork almost always backfired due to strict marking rules, so accuracy mattered more than attempting more questions. |
Download JEE Advanced 2016 Question Paper PDFs here:
JEE Advanced 2022 Paper Difficulty Analysis
Conducted by IIT Bombay, the 2022 exam is known to be the toughest JEE Advanced paper after 2016. Some might also argue that it was even more difficult than JEE Advanced 2026. Take a look at what made it a nightmare for students:
Section | Difficulty Level | Feedback from Experts and Students |
|---|---|---|
Mathematics | Nightmare Level | Many experts believe this was the toughest Math section ever set in JEE Advanced. The problems were extremely calculative, and even questions that looked easy on paper needed 10 or more steps to solve. |
Physics | Moderate to Tough | Physics was concept-heavy and quite lengthy. Students felt it was similar in style to the 2016 paper. They had to clearly imagine physical situations to solve questions, which made it tiring. |
Chemistry | Moderate | For most students, Chemistry was a relief. Inorganic questions were mostly NCERT-based. However, Paper 2 had some tricky Organic reaction sequences. |
Overall | Brutally Lengthy | Most recent aspirants agree that 2022 was even tougher than 2016, mainly because of the extreme length and complexity of the Math section. Finishing the paper itself felt like a big achievement. |
Download JEE Advanced 2022 Question Paper PDF here:
JEE Advanced 2015 Paper Difficulty Analysis
This year’s exam was also conducted by IIT Bombay, which makes it safe to say that IIT Bombay tends to prepare very tricky question papers for students. Check out the section-wise difficulty analysis for JEE Advanced 2015 paper below:
Section | Difficulty Level | Feedback from Experts and Students |
|---|---|---|
Mathematics | Difficult & Tricky | Math was long and mentally draining. Questions from Conic Sections and Calculus were seen as true IIT-level problems. They were very lengthy and time-consuming. |
Physics | Very Difficult | Physics was clearly the toughest section of the paper. Even good students found it hard to score positive marks. The questions demanded strong application skills rather than direct formulas. |
Chemistry | Moderate to Difficult | Chemistry was more balanced but still not easy. Physical Chemistry needed strong memory and clear concepts. Organic Chemistry was comparatively simpler, but the questions were lengthy and time-consuming. |
Overall | Legendary Toughness | This paper is remembered for its brutal negative marking and very high total marks of 504. Many students felt exhausted by the end. Experts often describe it as one of the most mentally demanding JEE Advanced papers of the decade. |
Download JEE Advanced 2015 Question Paper PDF here:
JEE Advanced 2019 Paper Difficulty Analysis
As we discussed with the students and test takers, we came to know that JEE Advanced 2019, organized by IIT Roorkee, is often remembered as a "deceptive" year. The exam looked easy at first, but turned out to be quite difficult. Check the complete analysis below:
Section | Difficulty Level | Feedback from Experts and Students |
|---|---|---|
Mathematics | Tough & Lengthy | Math focused more on Algebra and Coordinate Geometry this year. Calculations were long and repetitive, and many students ran out of time before attempting enough questions. |
Physics | Difficult | Physics was tougher than the 2018 paper. Several questions were worded in a confusing way, especially in Mechanics and Modern Physics, which made students second-guess their answers. |
Chemistry | Easy to Moderate | Chemistry turned out to be the easiest section for most students. The questions followed standard patterns, so it became a good scoring area and helped balance the paper. |
Overall | Moderate to Hard | The paper pattern changed, with no paragraph-type questions. This surprised many students. After the relatively easier 2017 paper, 2019 felt like a sudden jump in difficulty. |
Download JEE Advanced 2019 Question Paper PDF here:
JEE Advanced 2018 Paper Difficulty Analysis
JEE Advanced 2018, conducted by IIT Kanpur, holds a unique place in history as the year the exam transitioned from pen-and-paper to a fully Computer-Based Test. This change in itself was stressful for students. Check out the section-wise difficulty analysis for JEE Advanced 2018 paper below:
Section | Difficulty Level | Feedback from Experts and Students |
|---|---|---|
Mathematics | Moderate | Many students felt Math was easier than Chemistry this year. It still included new and unfamiliar problem types, so it was not completely straightforward. |
Physics | Moderate to Tough | Physics was lengthy but manageable for students with strong basics. It focused more on thinking and analysis rather than heavy calculations. |
Chemistry | Difficult | Chemistry was widely considered the toughest section of the paper. Some questions felt outside the usual NCERT scope. |
Overall | Moderate to Difficult | This was the first year JEE Advanced was fully online. The shift to CBT and the introduction of decimal-entry numerical questions made the paper feel more demanding than expected. |
Download JEE Advanced 2018 Question Paper PDF here:
Looking at these past JEE Advanced papers, one thing becomes very clear: difficulty in JEE Advanced is not always about tough concepts alone. Many of the hardest years became memorable because of long questions, tricky framing, strict negative marking, or the pressure of managing time.
For you as a JEE Advanced aspirant, the biggest learning from this analysis is that knowing all concepts is important, but so is knowing when to skip a risky question, how to manage time, and how to stay calm when the paper feels overwhelming.
Also ReadWho is Eligible for JEE Advanced 2026?
Every year, JEE Advanced tests students differently. While you cannot predict the exact difficulty of your paper, understanding past trends can help you avoid common mistakes and prepare with the right mindset.