Which subject is the hardest in JEE? Real insights from top scorers and past papers

Every year, thousands of students sit for JEE - and almost all of them ask the same question: Which subject is the hardest in JEE? The answer isn’t simple. It’s not just about syllabus length or number of formulas. It’s about how your brain works, what you’ve practiced, and how the exam changes year after year.

Physics: The subject that breaks confidence

For most students, Physics is the first subject to make them doubt their abilities. It’s not because the concepts are impossible - it’s because they demand deep understanding, not memorization. A question might give you a pulley system with friction, variable mass, and non-uniform acceleration - and expect you to derive the equation from first principles in under three minutes.

Unlike Chemistry, where you can often spot the right answer by recalling a pattern, Physics forces you to think on your feet. In JEE Advanced 2024, over 68% of Physics questions were classified as ‘application-based’ by the NTA analysis report. That means you can’t just plug numbers into formulas. You need to visualize motion, trace energy flow, and connect Newton’s laws to rotational dynamics in real time.

Many students lose marks not because they don’t know the theory - but because they panic under time pressure. A single misstep in sign convention or unit conversion can derail the entire solution. And there’s no partial credit for “almost right.”

Mathematics: The subject that rewards precision

If Physics breaks your confidence, Mathematics makes you question your sanity. It’s not the hardest topic-wise - Calculus, Algebra, and Coordinate Geometry are all manageable if you’ve practiced enough. But the problem is the trap.

JEE Math questions are designed to look simple. A quadratic equation might seem like a routine problem - until you realize the roots are complex and the question asks for the sum of their squares. Or you’re given a piecewise function with a hidden discontinuity that breaks the integral. These aren’t tricks - they’re subtle tests of attention to detail.

In 2023, the average score in JEE Advanced Math was 27% lower than in Chemistry. Why? Because one wrong step - a missed absolute value, an incorrect substitution, a sign error in differentiation - and the entire answer collapses. There’s no room for approximation. No “close enough.”

Top scorers say Math is the subject where practice matters most. You don’t just solve 50 problems. You solve 50 variations of the same problem. You redo them. You time yourself. You analyze why you got it wrong. It’s not about being smart. It’s about being consistent.

Chemistry: The subject that feels easy - until it isn’t

Chemistry is often called the “easiest” subject in JEE. And for good reason. Organic reactions follow patterns. Inorganic has facts you can memorize. Physical Chemistry has formulas that are predictable.

But here’s what no one tells you: Chemistry is the subject that punishes complacency.

In JEE Advanced, the Organic section doesn’t ask you to recall a reaction. It gives you a 5-step synthesis and asks you to identify the intermediate. You have to trace electron movement, recognize steric hindrance, and predict regioselectivity - all without a mechanism sheet. And if you misremember the order of directing groups in electrophilic substitution? You lose 4 marks instantly.

In Inorganic, the questions aren’t about memorizing the periodic table. They’re about predicting the magnetic moment of a complex ion based on its ligand field strength. Or identifying which transition metal forms a tetrahedral complex with cyanide. These aren’t rote questions. They test how well you understand trends - and whether you can apply them under pressure.

Physical Chemistry seems straightforward - until you get a question that combines thermodynamics, kinetics, and equilibrium in one multi-part problem. One student in 2024 lost 12 marks because they used the wrong value for R in a gas law calculation. It wasn’t a calculation error. It was a unit mismatch. And that’s all it took.

Why the “hardest” subject depends on you

Here’s the truth no coaching center will tell you: The hardest subject in JEE isn’t fixed. It changes based on your strengths.

If you’re a visual thinker, Physics feels natural. You can imagine springs, pulleys, and magnetic fields. But if you struggle with spatial reasoning, even basic rotational motion becomes a nightmare.

If you have a sharp memory and enjoy patterns, Chemistry might feel like a game. You see the reaction flow like a story. But if you forget details under stress - like the color of a precipitate or the oxidation state of chromium in dichromate - you’ll lose points fast.

If you’re methodical and patient, Math rewards you. You can sit through 20 minutes of algebraic manipulation and still stay calm. But if you rush, get distracted, or skip steps - you’ll make errors that cost you rank.

Top 100 rankers don’t say Physics is hardest. They say: “My weakest area was my hardest.” One student from Delhi scored 98 percentile in Chemistry and Physics but barely cleared the cutoff in Math. Another from Hyderabad crushed Math but lost 20 marks in Organic because she misremembered the order of SN1 vs SN2 reactivity.

What the data says

Looking at JEE Advanced results from 2020 to 2024, here’s the average difficulty ranking based on student performance:

• Physics: Lowest average score across all papers (32%)
• Mathematics: Highest variance in scores - some students ace it, others fail to clear 20%
• Chemistry: Highest average score (41%), but also the most consistent drop in scores for students who over-rely on memorization

There’s a clear pattern: Students who treat Chemistry as “easy” and skip practice end up scoring lower than those who treat Physics as “impossible” and grind through problems daily.

How to pick your battle

Don’t waste time asking which subject is hardest. Ask: Which subject am I most likely to improve in?

If you’re scoring below 30% in Physics, don’t just do more problems. Start with NCERT examples. Build your intuition. Watch videos that show real-time problem solving - not just theory. Focus on 3 topics: Mechanics, Electromagnetism, and Modern Physics. These make up 65% of the paper.

If Math is your weakness, stop doing random questions. Build a “mistake journal.” Write down every error - not just the answer, but why you made it. Was it a formula mix-up? A skipped step? A calculation error? Then redo those exact problems every 3 days for two weeks. You’ll train your brain to avoid the same trap.

If Chemistry feels overwhelming, stop memorizing reactions. Start mapping them. Draw reaction pathways. Group compounds by functional groups. Use flashcards for exceptions - like why aniline doesn’t undergo Friedel-Crafts. Focus on high-yield topics: Coordination Compounds, Qualitative Analysis, and Organic Name Reactions. These appear every year.

Final truth: Hardness is temporary

The hardest subject in JEE isn’t the one with the most formulas. It’s the one you avoid because it makes you feel stupid. And that’s exactly why you need to face it.

Students who improve the most aren’t the ones who study the longest. They’re the ones who stop running from their weakest subject. They sit with it. They break it down. They fail. They try again. And slowly, it stops being scary.

Physics? It gets easier when you stop trying to memorize it and start thinking like a physicist.

Math? It becomes manageable when you stop rushing and start respecting every step.

Chemistry? It stops being a memory test when you start seeing the logic behind every reaction.

There’s no single hardest subject. Only the one you haven’t mastered yet.