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Preparing for JEE during board exams? Focus on balance, experts advise

On days of the board examinations, students should spend the majority of their time on the subject of the next board examination. This includes thoroughly reviewing NCERT and practicing past board pattern questions, and making sure they understand all concepts well.

5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 6, 2026 11:06 AM IST

JEE Main 2026 prep vs board exams: What to focus on now (Express photo by Praveen Khanna/ representative)

– By Dr Saurabh Kumar

When preparing for board examinations, many JEE candidates feel overwhelmed. The key to success is having balance and not burning out. This time is about developing a strategy or planning instead of aggressively studying. The first step needs to be ensuring you prioritise your board examinations. The percentage you receive from your boards will not only help with your eligibility for JEE Main but also can be used for qualifying into many institutions and, of course, as a backup for when you don’t qualify for JEE.

On days of the board examinations, students should spend the majority of their time on the subject of the next board examination. This includes thoroughly reviewing NCERT and practicing past board pattern questions, and making sure they understand all concepts well. Interestingly, studying for boards in physics and chemistry gives you a much better foundation for study in JEE.

Keep JEE Main engagement light

At this time, it would be unwise to cease JEE prep entirely until after the end of March. Instead, keep light JEE engagement through brief four periods of time (45-60 minutes) each day doing mathematical formula revision; revisiting your JEE conceptual repository; redrawing from short-form notes produced previously. These will all help keep the JEE interpretation active in your mind without overtly taxing your brain.

Full length mock test

Be cautious not to take any JEE Main full-length mock tests during the days you are actively taking your board exams; you will be fatigued from taking your board exams already. Thus, trying to complete a full daily practice session will be excessively taxing and unproductive.

At this time, one should only attempt at least one section-based mock testing session within a 4 to 5 day time period; preferably on the weekend or after a break of 1-3 days between two JEE and board exams.

Keep your emphasis on maintaining speed and accuracy of your testing as opposed to creating higher test results. Do your best not to over analyse your mock successes or failures during the mock testing period you have thus far; you will have the chance to write down and analyse the specifics of your JEE sessions after you complete all of your board exam testing periods.

Read More | JEE Main 2026 session 2 exam dates

Time investment balance

During the board examination period, you must be most mindful of your time investment balance. On the days leading up to your board exams, allocate your time in accordance with writing two blocks of available time, the first being for your board exam preparation and the second being for your JEE exam preparation. However, while you are writing your board exams, you should not be attempting JEE prep. Be more concerned with having a clear head than you are with how many hours of JEE preparation you are actually undertaking.

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Health and sleep

Never sacrifice your health and sleep. Many students stretch their study time into the late hours of the night thinking they’re using their time wisely. In fact, this will produce fatigue which will keep you from retaining information and create anxiety when taking your exam.

The brain performs at a higher level with a good night’s sleep, whether you’re taking board exams or competitive exams.

Avoid emotional comparison

Students should avoid emotional comparisons between themselves and other students when interacting via social media and talking about how well they are preparing for the exam. Consistency and the ability to maintain anything around preparation should be your first consideration. You may be able to prepare for the exam at a low-intensity rate of once a day for 1 hour per day while you are preparing for the board exam; if so, this will definitely help you for one month.

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What after the board exams are over?

When board exams are completed in March or April, the new strategy should quickly turn into preparing for the JEE Main April attempt. This is when full-length mock exams should start being taken and ideally should be taken every other day and followed up by a complete analysis of each mock exam.

Identify weak areas, review high-weight-bearing chapters and practice mixed sets of problems to help with exam temperament.

Students who are preparing for the JEE Main and JEE Advanced should not completely stop preparing for the exam while they are preparing for the board exam, but they should limit themselves to preparing at a low level. The time you will need to focus on preparing for the boards should come first, you will be required to keep a light study program for the JEE, and to take at least a few sectional tests, focus on protecting your mental health, and prepare for a strong return in April. This is a balanced method that guarantees neither your boards nor your April JEE exam will suffer because of it.

The author is the founder and CEO of Shiksha Nation

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