Forty-five days before JEE Main is too late to learn new chapters and exactly the right time to revise the ones that carry the paper. Across 101 JEE Main shifts from 2020 to 2025, 40 of the 72 chapters asked carried 72% of the questions. A 45-day plan revises those 40 for four weeks, with a full mock every week, then spends the last two weeks on full papers only.
Nothing in this plan is new material. That is the point of it.
Why only revision, 45 days before JEE Main?
Because a chapter started now will not be finished well by exam day, and a half-finished chapter costs more than it gives. Every question in JEE Main Paper 1 is +4 right and −1 wrong, the numerical ones included (how the numericals are marked). A chapter you half know produces confident wrong answers, and confident wrong answers are the most expensive kind.
The paper is 75 questions, 25 each in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, each subject being 20 multiple-choice and 5 numerical-answer questions, in three hours. The marks you can still add in six weeks are in three places: chapters you have studied but not revised, the numerical questions you leave blank or round wrongly, and the pacing of the three hours. A revision-only plan goes after all three.
Which JEE Main chapters carry the most questions?
For each subject, take the chapters in order of how many questions they carried and stop when they hold about 70% of the subject's questions. In our count of 101 shifts, that line falls at 12 chapters in Physics, 16 in Chemistry and 12 in Mathematics.
"Average per shift" is the total divided by 101. "Share" is that chapter's part of the subject's questions across all 101 shifts. The shares are the steadier number; see "How we counted" for why.
Mathematics: 12 of 20 chapters, 73% of the questions
| Chapter | Questions in 101 shifts | Average per shift | Share of Mathematics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integral Calculus | 286 | 2.8 | 10% |
| Matrices and Determinants | 222 | 2.2 | 8% |
| Three Dimensional Geometry | 207 | 2.0 | 7% |
| Limits, Continuity and Differentiability | 192 | 1.9 | 7% |
| Conic Sections | 186 | 1.8 | 6% |
| Sequences and Series | 178 | 1.8 | 6% |
| Differential Equations | 161 | 1.6 | 6% |
| Trigonometry | 160 | 1.6 | 5% |
| Vector Algebra | 145 | 1.4 | 5% |
| Applications of Derivatives | 141 | 1.4 | 5% |
| Binomial Theorem | 132 | 1.3 | 5% |
| Sets, Relations and Functions | 129 | 1.3 | 4% |
Integral Calculus is the single heaviest chapter in the whole count. Within it, properties of definite integrals (90 questions) and area under curves (84) carried most of the weight. In Three Dimensional Geometry, 115 of its 207 questions were on the equation of a line. In Vector Algebra, 132 of 145 were on scalar and vector products. Revision can be that specific.
Physics: 12 of 21 chapters, 71% of the questions
| Chapter | Questions in 101 shifts | Average per shift | Share of Physics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrostatics | 218 | 2.2 | 7% |
| Optics | 212 | 2.1 | 7% |
| Properties of Bulk Matter | 196 | 1.9 | 7% |
| Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism | 189 | 1.9 | 6% |
| Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents | 181 | 1.8 | 6% |
| Kinematics | 181 | 1.8 | 6% |
| Current Electricity | 179 | 1.8 | 6% |
| Oscillations and Waves | 161 | 1.6 | 6% |
| Atoms and Nuclei | 160 | 1.6 | 5% |
| Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body | 136 | 1.3 | 5% |
| Laws of Motion | 134 | 1.3 | 5% |
| Electronic Devices | 127 | 1.3 | 4% |
Physics is flat at the top: the heaviest chapter carries 7%, and the first seven run from 218 questions down to 179 across 101 shifts, less than half a question a shift apart. The practical reading is that no single Physics chapter is worth over-revising. Breadth across these twelve is what pays.
Chemistry: 16 of 31 chapters, 71% of the questions
| Chapter | Questions in 101 shifts | Average per shift | Share of Chemistry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Chemistry: Some Basic Principles and Techniques | 198 | 2.0 | 7% |
| Coordination Compounds | 163 | 1.6 | 6% |
| Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure | 148 | 1.5 | 5% |
| p-Block Elements | 146 | 1.4 | 5% |
| Hydrocarbons | 144 | 1.4 | 5% |
| d- and f-Block Elements | 143 | 1.4 | 5% |
| Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids | 127 | 1.3 | 4% |
| Amines | 125 | 1.2 | 4% |
| Some Basic Concepts of Chemistry | 124 | 1.2 | 4% |
| Solutions | 122 | 1.2 | 4% |
| Electrochemistry | 108 | 1.1 | 4% |
| Thermodynamics | 107 | 1.1 | 4% |
| Equilibrium | 105 | 1.0 | 4% |
| Chemical Kinetics | 104 | 1.0 | 4% |
| Biomolecules | 104 | 1.0 | 4% |
| Structure of Atom | 100 | 1.0 | 3% |
Chemistry needs the most chapters to reach the line, 16, because its weight is spread across 31. Coordination Compounds is worth a special mention: 77 of its 163 questions were on crystal field theory, a single topic that can be revised in a day.
Where do the numerical questions come from?
Numerical-answer questions are the ones most often left blank in the last minutes, so it helps to know which chapters produce them. In our count, the physical chemistry chapters were mostly numerical: 74% of Thermodynamics questions and 74% of Chemical Kinetics questions, 71% of Solutions, 69% of Some Basic Concepts of Chemistry, 60% of Electrochemistry and 52% of Equilibrium. In Physics, Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body (51%) and Current Electricity (48%) led. In Mathematics, Permutations and Combinations (59%) and Binomial Theorem (47%) did.
So when you revise those chapters, revise them as numericals: finish every calculation to the rounded integer the bulletin asks for, in the unit the question asks for. A correct method with an unrounded answer is marked wrong.
The 45 days, week by week
The plan runs backwards from the exam and ends the week before it: six weeks, so a little under the 45 days of the name.
Weeks 1 to 4: revision only, with a full mock every week
The 40 chapters above, heaviest first, about ten a week across the three subjects. The plan sizes these weeks at about 38 hours of focused study and 320 practice questions.
Revision here means four things, in this order:
- The formula sheet or revision sheet for the chapter, read once, then rewritten from memory on a blank page. The gaps between the two are the revision.
- Flash cards for what will not stay: the exceptions in p-Block, the colours in d- and f-Block, the standard integrals, the conditions for consistency of linear systems.
- The chapter's previous-year questions, timed, at about the pace of the real paper: three hours for 75 questions is a little over two minutes a question.
- The mistake book. Every logged question from that chapter re-attempted cold (why the mistake book works).
Each week ends with one full mock: 75 questions, three hours, one sitting, at the time of day your shift will be. Review it the next day. The chapters where you lost marks to "did not know" move to the top of next week's list, ahead of their place in the tables; the mock analysis post has the method.
Weeks 5 and 6: papers only
No new chapters and no more chapter-by-chapter revision. Two full papers a week under exam conditions, one of them a previous-year shift, and every mistake from a paper re-attempted the next day. About 40 hours and 400 questions a week, most of them inside the papers.
Week 6 is the last full week before the exam and is lighter: light revision from your own notes and sheets, sleep on the timetable of your shift, and nothing new. A paper early in the week is fine; one the night before is not.
That makes eight full papers in six weeks: one a week for four weeks, then two a week for two.
Which chapters can I leave out in the last 45 days?
The chapters below the 70% line in our count. Together they carried 28% of the questions:
- Physics (9 chapters, 29% of Physics, 8.4 a shift): Gravitation (121), Physical World and Measurement (115), Work, Energy and Power (108), Dual Nature of Matter and Radiation (106), Thermodynamics (101), Behaviour of Perfect Gas and Kinetic Theory (101), Electromagnetic Waves (94), Communication Systems (61) and Experimental Skills (44).
- Chemistry (15 chapters, 29% of Chemistry, 8.5 a shift): Alcohols, Phenols and Ethers (95), Classification of Elements and Periodicity (86), Haloalkanes and Haloarenes (85), Isolation of Metals (73), Surface Chemistry (72), Environmental Chemistry (66), s-Block Elements (63), Hydrogen (56), Polymers (48), Principles Related to Practical Chemistry (45), Chemistry in Everyday Life (44), Redox Reactions (40), Solid State (39), Principles of Qualitative Analysis (35) and Practical Organic Chemistry (10).
- Mathematics (8 chapters, 27% of Mathematics, 7.8 a shift): Probability (123), Permutations and Combinations (122), Complex Numbers (111), Quadratic Equations (103), Circles (94), Straight Lines (84), Statistics (75) and Mathematical Reasoning (74).
"Leave out" here means "do not give them revision weeks", not "never look at them". Three qualifications:
The line is a line, not a cliff. Gravitation (121) sits just below Electronic Devices (127); Probability (123) just below Sets, Relations and Functions (129). If a chapter just below the line is one you know well, a quick pass through its previous-year questions in a spare evening is cheap marks.
Your strong chapters below the line are worth keeping warm. If Complex Numbers or Quadratic Equations is a chapter you are good at, one set of its previous-year questions in week 3 or 4 keeps it from going stale. What you should not do is start learning one of these for the first time.
Some chapters in older shifts may no longer be in the syllabus. The syllabus can be revised between years. Check the current chapter list on our JEE Main page; a chapter in these lists that is not on it can be dropped without a second thought.
If you are sitting both sessions
The better of January and April counts (how the two sessions work), so these 45 days can come twice. Before January, run the plan as written. After January, use your subject percentiles and your wrong answers from the real paper to reorder the tables: the chapters that cost you marks in January go to the top for April, whatever their weight. And if two candidates tie, Mathematics breaks it first, which is one more reason the Mathematics table gets its full share of the four revision weeks.
How Nikaalle sets up the 45 days
The 45-day sprint on Nikaalle is this plan: four revision weeks over the heaviest chapters of each subject until they hold about 70% of its weight, a full mock each week, then two weeks of papers. It uses its own chapter weights for the current syllabus, so its list can differ slightly from the tables here. The length is not something you choose: the plan counts the weeks from the day you join to the exam and picks the longest that fits, which with five to seven weeks left is this one (see the JEE Main page).
How we counted
Every question in the 101 complete JEE Main shifts in the Nikaalle database, from 2020 to 2025 (14 shifts from 2020, 26 from 2021, 24 from 2022, 12 from 2023, 18 from 2024 and 7 from 2025), was classified to the NCERT-based chapter and topic it tests, then counted by chapter. Papers with pages missing from the official file were left out. That gives 8,775 questions.
Limits to keep in mind:
- The shifts are not all the same length. The 101 shifts average 86.9 printed questions each, more than today's 75, because some years in the count printed a longer paper. That is why the averages per shift run a little high against a 25-question subject, and why the shares are the better guide.
- The years are not evenly represented. 2021 and 2022 contribute 50 of the 101 shifts; 2025 contributes 7. A chapter that changed weight recently will show it only faintly.
- The classification is ours. Some questions span two chapters, and where they are counted is a judgement.
- A shift's mix changes from shift to shift. Two shifts on consecutive days can look quite different. The count tells you where the weight has been across six years, not what your shift will ask.
What to do with this, this week
- Count the weeks to your session. If it is five to seven, this is your plan.
- Copy the three tables onto one page and split the 40 chapters across four weeks, about ten a week, heaviest first, all three subjects every week.
- Put four mock days and two double-paper weeks on the calendar, each with a review day after it.
- Write a formula sheet for any chapter in the tables that does not have one yet. That is this week's first job.
- For the physical chemistry chapters, practise every question to the rounded integer, every time.
Frequently asked questions
Is 45 days enough to revise for JEE Main?
It is enough to revise the chapters that carry most of the paper and to sit eight full papers. In our count of 101 shifts, 40 of 72 chapters carried 72% of the questions; four weeks of revision covers those, with two weeks left for papers.
Should I study new topics in the last 45 days before JEE Main?
No. A topic started now will be half-learned on the day, and with −1 for every wrong answer, half-learned chapters cost marks. Revise what you have, and for chapters you never studied, decide honestly whether a quick read of their easy questions is worth one evening.
Which JEE Main chapters are most important for last-minute revision?
In our count, Integral Calculus, Matrices and Determinants and Three Dimensional Geometry led Mathematics; Electrostatics, Optics and Properties of Bulk Matter led Physics; and Organic Chemistry: Some Basic Principles and Techniques, Coordination Compounds and Chemical Bonding led Chemistry.
How many mock tests should I take in the last 45 days of JEE Main?
About eight: one a week for the four revision weeks, then two a week for the last two. Each needs a review the next day, which is where the marks come from.
What if I have only 30 days left before JEE Main?
Then the revision weeks shrink and the papers start sooner. Revise the heaviest chapters for two weeks instead of four, then move to full papers; the last thirty days post is written for NEET but its week-by-week shape applies to Main as well.
Sources
- Nikaalle analysis of 101 previous-year JEE Main shifts (method above)
- https://jeemain.nta.nic.in
- https://ncert.nic.in
Checked against the official sources on 25 October 2026.