Every NEET and JEE (Main) question is worth +4 right and −1 wrong. Students are told both "never guess" and "always attempt". Neither is right. The arithmetic is short, so let us do it.
A blind guess
Four options, one right, no idea. On average, one time in four you gain 4; three times in four you lose 1.
Expected marks = ¼ × 4 − ¾ × 1 = 1 − 0.75 = +0.25
Slightly positive. On average, blind guessing every question you do not know gains a quarter of a mark each. That is not nothing, but it is not much, and it comes with a lot of variance: a bad run of guesses is real.
After ruling out one option
Three options left. One in three you gain 4; two in three you lose 1.
Expected marks = ⅓ × 4 − ⅔ × 1 = +0.67
After ruling out two
Two options left. One in two you gain 4; one in two you lose 1.
Expected marks = ½ × 4 − ½ × 1 = +1.5
Now guessing is clearly worth it: each such question is worth more than a third of a right answer.
The rule this gives you
- Can rule out two options? Attempt it. Always.
- Can rule out one? Attempt it, unless you are near the end and protecting a score you are happy with.
- Cannot rule out any? The average gain is tiny and the swings are not. Leave it, and use the minute on a question you can actually work.
A blank costs nothing. Our result reports show you separately what your blanks and your wrong answers cost on each paper, so you can see whether you are leaving marks on the table or throwing them away.
JEE (Advanced) is different
The scheme changes by question kind. In the recent papers numerical questions carried no negative marking — attempt every one. Multiple-correct questions charge −2 for a single wrong option but give partial credit for a correct subset, so the right move is to mark only the options you can justify. There is a full breakdown in JEE (Advanced) marking, explained.
One caution
This is arithmetic about averages over many questions. It says nothing about a particular question, and it assumes your "ruled out" options really are ruled out. The habit that makes negative marking safe is not bravery; it is being honest with yourself about what you actually know.
Checked against the official sources on 27 September 2026.