Which is tougher, MHT-CET or JEE Main? The CET Cell's own answer is that they are meant to be the same level. Its syllabus document says the difficulty of MHT-CET Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry "will be at par with the JEE (Main)".
Same level does not mean same paper. The two exams are built very differently: twice as many questions in the CET, no negative marking, a locked clock, and a state board syllabus instead of NTA's list. This article compares them point by point, from the CET Cell's 2026 documents and NTA's JEE (Main) 2026 Information Bulletin.
The short answer
- Difficulty: the CET Cell says MHT-CET PCM is set at JEE (Main) level, with mainly application based questions. That is its stated aim. We have not measured whether any paper meets it.
- Speed: MHT-CET asks 150 questions in 180 minutes. JEE Main asks 75. The CET gives you half the time per question.
- Risk: MHT-CET has no negative marking. JEE Main takes 1 mark off for every wrong answer.
- Clock: MHT-CET locks you into Physics and Chemistry for 90 minutes, then Maths for 90. JEE Main lets you move between subjects for the full 3 hours.
- Syllabus: MHT-CET follows the Maharashtra state board. JEE Main follows NTA's own syllabus. They overlap a lot, but each has chapters the other does not.
What the CET Cell says about difficulty
The MHT-CET 2026 syllabus document makes two statements about the level of the paper. The difficulty for Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry will be at par with JEE (Main), and for Biology at par with NEET. And the questions will be mainly application based.
Read that carefully. It is a statement of intent by the paper setter. It does not say the papers are identical in style, and it gives no measure of how close a given paper came. When students say one exam "felt easier", they are describing a mix of question style, time pressure and the marking rules, not only the difficulty of the questions.
Those other parts are not opinions. They are written in the official documents, and they differ a great deal.
The two papers side by side
| MHT-CET PCM (2026 rules) | JEE Main Paper 1 (2026 rules) | |
|---|---|---|
| Conducted by | State Common Entrance Test Cell, Maharashtra | National Testing Agency |
| Questions | 150: 50 each in Physics, Chemistry and Maths | 75: 25 each in Physics, Chemistry and Maths |
| Question types | Multiple choice only, four options, one correct | 20 multiple choice and 5 numerical answer questions per subject |
| Total marks | 200: Physics 50, Chemistry 50, Maths 100 | 300: 100 per subject |
| Marks for a right answer | 1 in Physics and Chemistry, 2 in Maths | 4 |
| Wrong answer | 0, no negative marking | Minus 1, for both question types |
| Time | 180 minutes: Physics and Chemistry first for 90, then Maths for 90, no going back | 3 hours, and you can move between sections at any time |
| Syllabus | Maharashtra state board (SCERT): whole Std XII, plus 10 listed Std XI chapters per subject | NTA's JEE (Main) 2026 syllabus |
| Std XI share | About 20%: 10 of 50 questions per subject | No split stated in the bulletin |
| Attempts in 2026 | Two, best total percentile counts | Two sessions, January and April, best NTA score counts |
| Calculator | Not allowed in the hall | Not allowed in any form |
Speed: the CET wants more answers per minute
This is the difference students feel most, and it follows straight from the numbers.
- MHT-CET Physics and Chemistry: 100 questions in 90 minutes, which is 54 seconds a question.
- MHT-CET Maths: 50 questions in 90 minutes, which is 108 seconds a question.
- JEE Main: 75 questions in 180 minutes, which is 144 seconds a question on average, for all three subjects.
So a JEE Main question gets more than twice the time of a CET Physics or Chemistry question. A question that is fair at 144 seconds would be very long at 54. That alone suggests why the two papers can be at the same level of concept and still feel different. This is our reading of the numbers, not a CET Cell statement.
Our guide to the MHT-CET 90 plus 90 minutes turns this into a minute plan.
Risk: negative marking changes how you answer
In JEE Main, NTA's bulletin gives 4 marks for a right answer and takes 1 mark off for a wrong one, for multiple choice and numerical questions alike. A wrong guess costs you, which is why leaving a doubtful question blank can make sense there.
In MHT-CET, a wrong answer costs nothing. A blank and a wrong answer both score zero, so a blank is never the better choice. The habit that protects you in JEE Main, leaving doubtful questions alone, loses you marks in the CET. Our article on the MHT-CET marking scheme works through the guessing arithmetic.
The clock: open in JEE, locked in the CET
NTA's instructions for the computer based test say you can move between sections and questions at any time during the exam. If Chemistry goes well, you can spend the saved time on Maths.
The CET Cell's brochure does the opposite. Physics and Chemistry are open for the first 90 minutes and are then submitted automatically. Maths opens only after that, for the last 90. Time saved in the first half cannot be moved to Maths, and you cannot return to the first half.
Syllabus: state board against NTA's list
MHT-CET is set on the syllabus of the State Council of Educational Research and Training, Maharashtra. JEE Main is set on the syllabus NTA publishes for each year. Most of the core is shared: mechanics, electricity, optics, modern physics, physical, inorganic and organic chemistry, calculus, algebra, coordinate geometry, vectors and probability. The edges are where they part.
JEE Main topics whose Std XI chapters are not on the CET list
The CET Cell names only ten Std XI chapters per subject. Comparing that list with NTA's JEE (Main) 2026 syllabus, these JEE Main topics sit in state board Std XI chapters the CET list leaves out:
- Maths: sequence and series, the binomial theorem, sets and relations, and measures of dispersion.
- Physics: elasticity (the state board's Std XI Mechanical Properties of Solids) and electromagnetic waves.
- Chemistry: classification of elements and periodicity, the elements of groups 13 to 15, chemical equilibrium, and the purification and analysis of organic compounds. Std XII Ionic Equilibria is on the CET, though, and so are the elements of groups 16 to 18.
- Practical work: NTA's syllabus has an Experimental Skills unit in Physics and a Principles Related to Practical Chemistry unit. The CET Cell's list has no such section.
State board chapters NTA's 2026 syllabus does not name
It runs the other way too. We searched the text of NTA's JEE (Main) 2026 syllabus for some state board chapters that are on the CET, and found no unit or topic for these:
- Std XII Maths: Linear Programming, and Mathematical Logic.
- Std XII Chemistry: Solid State, Introduction to Polymer Chemistry, and Green Chemistry and Nanochemistry.
- Std XI Chemistry on the CET list: Adsorption and Colloids, and Chemistry in Everyday Life.
If you have prepared only from JEE material, these are the chapters to pick up from the Balbharati textbooks before the CET. Our MHT-CET PCM syllabus guide lists every chapter the CET covers.
Preparing for both
Many Maharashtra students sit both exams. A few practical points:
- Depth carries over, speed does not. JEE Main preparation builds the concepts. The CET then asks you to apply them twice as fast. Add timed CET practice on top of JEE practice, not instead of it.
- Switch your answering habit by exam. Leave doubtful questions in JEE Main. Answer every question in the CET.
- Cover the state board chapters. The CET tests chapters that NTA's syllabus does not name, listed above. Study them from the Balbharati textbooks, since that is the syllabus the CET is set on.
- Mind the calendar. In 2026, JEE Main Session 2 ran between 2 and 9 April and the CET's first attempt window opened on 11 April. Neither exam had 2027 dates on 17 October 2026. News reports say the 2027 CET will move to March to May. Our MHT-CET 2027 exam date page tracks it, with official and reported dates kept apart.
Where these facts come from
- CET Syllabus and its Marking Scheme, MHT-CET 2026, State CET Cell, Maharashtra, dated November 2025: difficulty at par with JEE (Main), mainly application based questions, the 20 and 80 split, the Std XI chapter list, no negative marking.
- MHT-CET 2026 Information Brochure, State CET Cell: sections 7.1 and 7.3 (four options, 1 and 2 marks, the 90 minute halves and the automatic submission), the hall rules on calculators, and section 10 (best of two total percentiles). CET Cell final extension notice of 20 February 2026 for the 2026 attempt windows.
- JEE (Main) 2026 Information Bulletin, National Testing Agency: section 2.4 (25 questions per subject, 20 multiple choice and 5 numerical, plus 4 and minus 1, 300 marks), the 3 hour duration, the two sessions and best NTA score, the 2026 session dates, and the instruction that candidates can move between sections and questions at any time. NTA public notice of 2 November 2025: calculators are not permitted in any form.
- Syllabus for JEE (Main) 2026, National Testing Agency, Paper 1: the unit list compared above. The comparison with the state board chapters is ours.
- State board textbooks, Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research, Std XI and Std XII Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, English medium, for the chapter names.
Practise the CET's speed
If JEE Main is your main exam, the CET's pace is the skill to add. munotes publishes MHT-CET PCM mock tests in the CET format: 150 original questions, Physics and Chemistry first for 90 minutes, then Maths for 90, no negative marking, and a worked solution for every question. A new mock is added every week.