JEE Main + Advanced — results, answer keys, RTI (2026)

Your percentile dropped 40 places after the final answer key, and NTA's portal gives no explanation? A ₹10 RTI to the National Testing Agency can pull the normalisation arithmetic, the challenge-decision sheet and the file movement on your case — the things the result PDF never shows.

JEE Main is the national engineering entrance run by the National Testing Agency for NITs, IIITs and GFTIs, and the qualifier for JEE Advanced. JEE Advanced is run by a rotating IIT for IIT admission. JoSAA then allocates seats across 138 institutes using both rank lists.

• Public authorities. The National Testing Agency, every IIT and the JoSAA secretariat are public authorities under §2(h) of the RTI Act 2005 — statutory or government-funded bodies holding your exam records.
• Exam records are “information”. CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497 — evaluated answer books fall within §2(f); an examining body's bye-laws cannot override RTI; you get inspection and certified copies, not re-evaluation. ICAI v. Shaunak H. Satya, (2011) 8 SCC 781 extended this to professional exams. Case notes in our case-law database.
• Deadlines. Reply within 30 days under §7(1); first appeal within 30 days under §19(1); second appeal to the CIC within 90 days under §19(3).
• Fees. ₹10 for the RTI application under the RTI Rules 2012; answer-sheet copies at ₹2 per page.

• JEE Main 2026 ran in two sessions — Session 1 in January, Session 2 in April (jeemain.nta.nic.in). It is not a four-attempt exam.
• The best of the two total NTA scores counts for candidates who appear in both sessions (NTA Information Bulletin).
• Answer-key challenges cost ₹200 per question, refunded only if upheld (NTA challenge portal).
• JEE Advanced 2026 is conducted by IIT Roorkee; eligibility is the top 2,50,000 of JEE Main BE/BTech ranks, maximum two attempts in two consecutive years (jeeadv.ac.in).
• JoSAA 2026 at josaa.nic.in runs joint seat allocation across 138 institutes.

1. Download everything first — recorded responses, provisional answer key, final key. These vanish from the portal after a window.
2. File a challenge in the window at ₹200 per question, with page-referenced proof. The window is short — usually days.
3. If the challenge is rejected silently, ask its fate by RTI: which expert examined it, on what date, with what reasoning (template below).
4. For normalisation doubts, RTI to the CPIO, National Testing Agency, for the session-wise raw and normalised score distribution and the formula as applied to your roll number.
5. For JoSAA allocation doubts, RTI to the JoSAA secretariat at the organising IIT for the seat matrix and your choice-by-choice allocation log.
6. No reply in 30 days? Deemed refusal under §7(1). First appeal under §19(1) with the First Appeal Builder.

• Second appeal to the Central Information Commission under §19(3) within 90 days. Track dates with the Timeline Tracker.

• Application number, date of birth and JEE roll number
• Copy of the scorecard or rank letter in dispute
• Screenshots of your challenge submission and the ₹200 payment receipt
• The provisional and final answer keys (PDF) for that session
• ₹10 RTI fee — IPO or demand draft favouring the concerned authority, payable at its city

• Skipping the challenge window and jumping to RTI. Courts respect the exam's own remedy first; the ₹200 window is that remedy.
• Asking for re-evaluation. CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay gives copies and inspection — never a fresh marking of your sheet.
• Writing an essay instead of numbered questions. §6(1) rewards precise, answerable queries; vague queries invite §7(9) replies.
• Wrong addressee. NTA for JEE Main matters, the organising IIT for JEE Advanced, the JoSAA secretariat for allocation. A mis-addressed application costs five days in a §6(3) transfer.
• Missing the 30-day clock. No reply is not no news — it is deemed refusal, and your §19(1) window is already running.

To:
The Central Public Information Officer,
National Testing Agency, [address].

Subject: Information under §6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 —
JEE Main 2026 Session [1/2], Roll No. [NUMBER]

Sir/Madam,

Kindly provide:

1. Status and outcome of my answer-key challenge for
   question(s) [Q. Nos.] of [shift/date], including the name,
   designation and findings of the subject expert.
2. My recorded responses for the above shift, in the form in
   which they are held.
3. The normalisation formula applied to my session, and my
   raw and normalised marks before and after its application.
4. Noting on the movement of my challenge file, with dates.
5. The number of challenges received and accepted for the
   above question across all sessions.

I enclose the ₹10 fee by [IPO/DD no. ___]. Please supply the
information within 30 days under §7(1), failing which I will
file a first appeal under §19(1).

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, phone, email]

Auto-fill this letter in the AI RTI Drafter; test any reply against the PIO Reply Checker.

Two sessions — January and April in 2026. Sit one or both; if both, the better total NTA score counts. Each session needs its own registration.

No. NTA publishes the method in its bulletin, but the arithmetic applied to your session is not shown in the result. An RTI is the standard way to extract session-wise raw and normalised figures — disclosable exam records after CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay.

Yes — “information” under §2(f), at ₹2 per page. NTA usually publishes recorded responses after each session; if your shift's copy is missing, ask by RTI.

No. Re-evaluation is outside RTI. You can get copies of your responses, the answer key and the marking as applied. Two attempts in two consecutive years are all you get, so protect the year you have.

The JoSAA secretariat sits at the organising IIT for JEE Advanced that year — IIT Roorkee for 2026. Address the RTI to its CPIO with your JoSAA registration number.

Thirty days under §7(1), as for any central public authority. If the reply is evasive, grade it with the PIO Reply Checker and appeal.

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• NTA, JEE Main 2026 portal and information bulletin — https://jeemain.nta.nic.in/
• IIT Roorkee, JEE Advanced 2026 eligibility — https://jeeadv.ac.in/eligibility.html
• JoSAA 2026, joint seat allocation — https://josaa.nic.in/
• CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497 — https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1519371/
• RTI Act 2005 and State-wise RTI fees

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Verified session structure, best-of-two scoring and the ₹200 challenge fee against the NTA JEE Main portal and information bulletin, and the top-2,50,000 and two-attempt rules against the official JEE Advanced 2026 eligibility page of IIT Roorkee.