JEE (Main) Session 1: Consistency and clarity lead the way

The National Testing Agency (NTA) had announced the JEE (Main) 2026 Session 1 results on February 16, ending the wait for over 13.04 lakh engineering aspirants across the country. The outcome is crucial for students seeking eligibility for JEE Advanced 2026 and admission to leading institutions such as NITs, IIITs, and other centrally funded technical institutes. The examination was conducted from January 21 to 29 in ten shifts across 323 cities, including 15 international centres, with 33 new test centres introduced this year.

Scores were prepared using the final answer keys released earlier, with candidates’ best performance in the first session taken into account. According to the NTA, 12 candidates achieved a perfect 100 percentile. The students of Apeejay Education were not far behind. Three students from Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg, made the school and their parents proud. Meet Goransh Bahri (99.35), Aaruni Bansal (97.06), Aakash Aggarwal (96.95), Manraj Singh (96.83), Ruhaan Anand (96.75), and Pranavi Bajaj (95.48).

In a short, candid interview, they share their plans, among other things.

Goransh shared, “I am quite thrilled with the result and strive for a better score for JEE (Main) Session 2. For JEE Advanced, I plan to continue my preparation using extra reference books, NCERT, and the notes provided by my teachers. My strategy was to learn as much as possible in school and practise extensively at home. I believe it was my teachers’ guidance that enabled me to achieve this rank efficiently. I wish to pursue Computer Science or Mechanical Engineering,” he stated.

Aaruni said that she is happy with her result but feels she can still do better in the April attempt of JEE Main and also in JEE Advanced. “I have worked consistently over the past two years and tried to give equal importance to all three subjects. Staying regular with studies really helped me. My schoolteachers have supported me throughout, whether it was clearing doubts or motivating me when I felt stressed. I want to pursue Computer Science, but I am still exploring which branch would suit me best in the future,” she shared.

Aakash was thrilled with his result; it was rewarding to see his hard work finally translate into success, though he sees it as only one milestone in a longer journey. “My immediate focus is now on JEE Advanced, the gateway to the IITs. I am revising concepts thoroughly and solving previous year papers to strengthen clarity, speed, and accuracy. My strategy has always centred on strong conceptual understanding in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, along with consistency, disciplined time management, analysing mistakes, and working steadily on my weak areas,” he shared.

Manraj, too, was thrilled with his result and hopes to appear for JEE Advanced. The preparation phase was overwhelming at times, but he realised that focusing on strong basics and clear concepts helped him manage both Board exams and JEE.

“Only toward the end did the preparation strategies begin to differ. My school teachers played a crucial role in my journey. They were always supportive and ready to clear every doubt. I am still deciding on my next step, but I hope to pursue Computer Science Engineering in the future,” he shared.

Ruhaan shared that the JEE journey has made him more confident and hopeful about his goals. “I believe JEE requires dedication, but instead of studying for very long hours, I focused on studying with full concentration and understanding concepts clearly. I am very thankful to my teachers at the school for their constant guidance and encouragement. I hope to pursue BTech in Computer Science from a reputed institute and later start something of my own in the tech field,” he said.

Like Aaruni, Pranavi too was genuinely happy with her result because it felt like the outcome of two years of hard work. “For JEE Advanced, I plan to focus more on strengthening my concepts and improving in topics where I am weaker. My preparation strategy mainly included revising regularly, solving previous years’ questions, and analysing my mistakes in mock tests. The biggest challenge was managing board exams along with JEE preparation since both have different patterns, but following a disciplined schedule helped me balance both,” she stated.