Are NCERT Books sufficient for JEE Main?
Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is the most coveted engineering entrance examination in India and is the gateway for admissions to the various technical institutes in the country. It has two rounds, first being JEE Main for admissions to NITs, IIITs and other colleges, and then JEE Advanced for admissions to the IITs, taken by students who clear the JEE Main cut offs. In a country obsessed with technical education, JEE Main is the most anticipated entrance examination, taken every year by more than 12 lakh students.
JEE Main is conducted by the Central Board of Secondadry Education (CBSE) and is based on their secondary and higher secondary curriculum. As competitiveness of the examination has increased over the years, the professional entrance coaching industry has also grown, making available number of courses and guides for the students apart from the NCERT textbooks that CBSE follow. So as every year goes by, the crucial question keeps popping up – Are NCERT books enough to crack JEE Main ?
Infact the commitee that set up the question papers for JEE Main has iterated that their questions are based on NCERT books, but many a times, we have found it difficult to trace the origins of questions back to NCERT books. Surprisingly, there also has been cases where answers to few questions were difficult to spot in coaching guides, but were clearly mentioned in NCERT books. So, we decided that we shall answer this question with respect to each subject of the exam. Read on.
NCERT books sufficient for JEE Main Chemistry?
One can’t deny that NCERT textbooks are the most crucial material to refer for JEE Chemistry. Almost 60-75 % of the questions are directly taken from NCERT textbook for Chemistry. Major portion of the remaining requires application of concepts and mechanisms explained in the text, a trend especially seen in Organic Chemistry. Inorganic Chemistry too has most questions from NCERT. Questions from Physical chemistry, however, are easier to attend if you have learned the concepts and applications from somewhere other than just NCERT books. Importantly on the other hand, there are few chapters like Biomolecules, Polymers, Redox reactions etc. which, otherwise broad topics to learn from external sources, can be best dealt with through NCERT textbooks. All said, make sure you read every chapter of NCERT Books at least once for JEE, because it might not be sufficient but it is definitely necessary.
Download NCERT Solutions for Class 5 to 12 here.
NCERT books sufficient for JEE Main Mathematics?
Mathematics is regarded as the hardest section to crack in JEE Main and make it a point that you do ample practice to be able to answer as many questions as possible, asked in this section. This is one reason why NCERT Mathematics is the best for CBSE board exams, but not definitely not sufficient for JEE Mains. Questions in this section need greater thinking and problem solving skills, and you can’t expect to do that in the given timeframe in the exam hall without variegated practice. Moreover, questions from sections like Co-ordinate geometry, Complex numbers, Functions etc. require concepts and techniques that are not discussed in the NCERT book, stressing the need to go beyond NCERT books for good scores in Mathematics. Again, it is compulsory to go through problems in NCERT Mathematics because there have been instances when a problem has directly been asked from there. You wouldn’t want to miss that chance, now would you?
NCERT books sufficient for JEE Main Physics?
Regarding physics, the answer to our question is a bit tricky. The basics for most problems in JEE Mains are from NCERT textbook for Physics and all you require is to alter the arguements as required in the problem. This ofcourse requires deep understanding of the concepts, which few students find difficult to learn from NCERT textbooks, hence requiring other books. But there have been few questions in the past which can be answered only by reading between the lines of NCERT chapters. While questions from most of the chapters lie within limits of NCERT, there are chapters like Optics, Rotational Dynamics, Oscillations, Waves which require a broader knowledge of the topics. For Modern Physics and Mechanics, the concepts in NCERT books seem just sufficient. It’s noteworthy here that you should definitely check out the ‘Points to Ponder’ section at the end of each chapter. Because questions from that section were served in past years’ JEE papers.
One has to note the fact that modules in NCERT textbooks are divided in two separate textbooks – so the concepts are much lavishly explained supported by many sample problems in them. But, just practicing from NCERT textbooks will never do the trick. You might get a rank but not a good one. So, you should refer other topics, based on this article, from reference books. Another important point is that you make sure to investigate previous years’ question papers and understand how they can be rooted back to what you learn in NCERT books.
Hope this article helps you settle the question – ‘Are NCERT Books sufficient for JEE Main’. All the best & Keep Shining!!
