JEE Advanced: Students Question Over 100-Mark Discrepancies Between Paper 1 And 2 Scores, IIT Roorkee Responds | Education and Career News
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IIT Roorkee stated such differences in marks do not indicate any discrepancy, cheating, or evaluation error, and can instead be explained through statistical principles.
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After the JEE Advanced 2026 results were announced, a fresh controversy erupted on social media. Many students claimed there was a large gap between their Paper 1 and Paper 2 scores, in some cases exceeding 100 marks. This led to questions about the evaluation process. IIT Roorkee has now responded, stating that such differences do not indicate any discrepancy, cheating, or evaluation error, and can instead be explained through statistical principles.
After the results were declared, numerous students and parents shared their experiences on the social media platform X. A user named Ananya Chopra posted an example of a student who scored -3 in Paper 1 and 104 in Paper 2. The post pointed out that both papers were conducted on the same day with the same syllabus, raising doubts about how such a large difference could occur. Many other students then shared similar scorecards showing gaps of more than 100 marks.
IIT Kanpur Director and Professor Manoj Agarwal explained that although such scores may appear shocking initially, they are entirely possible in large-scale exams. When around 60,000 students take an exam, some extremely unusual results are statistically bound to appear and cannot be treated as proof of irregularities.
Claims like below show a lack of understanding of basic statistics. When there are 60,000 students, some will have large gaps in marks for two papers. Chebychev’s inequality quantifies it. It has been the case in JEE Advanced since two papers were introduced. 😊 https://t.co/tbtjzh4lPH— Manindra Agrawal (@agrawalmanindra) June 7, 2026
IIT Roorkee’s clarification via email
Student Nikunj Gupta shared an email response he received from IIT Roorkee. The institute wrote that large differences between Paper 1 and Paper 2 scores are completely expected in an exam with nearly 60,000 candidates. IIT Roorkee stated that this variation can be understood using a well-known statistical concept called Chebyshev’s Inequality. According to the institute, this is purely a matter of mathematical probability and should not be interpreted as evidence of any wrongdoing.
The institute has firmly stated that a large difference in marks, by itself, does not prove cheating, evaluation mistakes, or any other irregularity. According to IIT Roorkee, there were no indications of malpractice or irregularities at any point in the examination. The institute also pointed out that such score gaps have been seen earlier in the two-paper format.
The reply i got from IIT roorkee such a reply that -3 to 104 score is possible because of so called statistics and mathematics Its very tough to score 100+ in JEE advanced so the conditional probability(2k students have capability) is of 177/2000(impossible) not 177/60000 pic.twitter.com/qCCIi1k3L8— Nikunj Gupta (@NikunjG55759310) June 8, 2026
What is Chebyshev’s Inequality?
Chebyshev’s Inequality is a key concept in statistics. It states that some values in a data set can lie far from the mean without being considered abnormal. This principle applies to any probability distribution as long as its mean and variance are known. It helps estimate how likely it is for extremely high or low values to appear in a data set.
According to Stanford University’s study material, the purpose of Chebyshev’s Inequality is to indicate how far values can deviate from the average, though it does not give an exact probability, only a bound. Stanford notes that beyond mean and variance, there is much more important information in any data set, so relying solely on these two parameters does not provide the complete picture.
Cases with more than 100 marks difference also reported
Several examples shared online showed a very large gap between Paper 1 and Paper 2 scores: 97 in Paper 1 and 5 in Paper 2, 96 in Paper 1 and 25 in Paper 2, 96 in Paper 1 and 30 in Paper 2, 95 in Paper 1 and 20 in Paper 2. In some instances, the difference ranged from 120 to 129 marks. Based on these cases, students raised concerns about the examination process.
The nature and difficulty of questions in Paper 1 and Paper 2, the marking scheme, and the candidate’s mental state can also influence performance. This year, many students felt that Paper 2 was comparatively more difficult. Therefore, a substantial difference in scores between the two papers is entirely plausible.
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