How JEE Main Rank Normalization Works Across Sessions

JEE Main is conducted across two sessions each year (commonly referred to as Session 1 and Session 2), primarily so candidates get more than one opportunity to perform well and to reduce the impact of a single bad exam day. A common misconception is that CSAB or JoSAA might use a "session-wise" rank, or that your Session 1 and Session 2 results are somehow averaged or combined into a blended score. This is not how it works.

Instead, NTA computes a single, final All India Rank (AIR) for each candidate, using their best normalized percentile across whichever session(s) they appeared in. This one final rank — not a session-specific rank — is what is used throughout JoSAA and subsequently CSAB counselling. There is no additional normalization or recalculation done separately for CSAB; it uses the exact same AIR and category ranks as JoSAA.

Since JEE Main is conducted across multiple shifts and days within each session, different candidates attempt different question papers of varying difficulty. Comparing raw scores directly across shifts would be unfair, since a slightly harder paper in one shift shouldn't disadvantage those candidates relative to an easier paper in another shift. To address this, NTA converts each candidate's raw score into a percentile score relative to all candidates who appeared in that specific shift, which accounts for relative difficulty differences.

When a candidate appears in both Session 1 and Session 2, NTA considers their best percentile score across both sessions for the purpose of the final merit list and All India Rank calculation. Your weaker session's result is not used, and it does not drag down or otherwise affect your final rank once the better session's percentile has been identified.

Since CSAB uses the exact same final All India Rank and category ranks as JoSAA (see our page on General category cutoff (CRL) for how these ranks are then used to determine cutoffs), you do not need to separately track or worry about which session your final rank "came from." Your single AIR — and your category-specific rank, if applicable, based on your category certificate — is simply what determines your eligibility and competitiveness for every seat in both JoSAA and CSAB counselling.

If you appeared in both sessions and are unsure which one contributed to your final rank, this information, along with your percentile, is available on your official JEE Main scorecard from NTA.