IIT · 180 min
IIT JAM Economics (EN) is conducted each year by one of the IITs on a rotating basis, and is the primary route into MSc and dual MSc-PhD Economics programmes at the IITs and a few other institutes (including IISc) that accept JAM scores. The paper runs 3 hours (180 minutes) and carries 60 questions across three formats -- Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ, negative marking applies), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ, no negative marking, more than one option can be correct), and Numerical Answer Type (NAT, no negative marking, you type a value rather than pick an option) -- split across 1-mark and 2-mark questions with different negative-marking fractions for each. It leans more mathematical than CUET-PG, with a full section on constrained optimisation, real analysis and estimation theory examined directly.
A bachelor's degree with Economics as one of the subjects studied, typically with a minimum aggregate score set by the conducting IIT for that year. The exact eligibility criteria are published in the official IIT JAM information brochure each cycle — always confirm against the current year's brochure.
Based on JAM 2026 paper's marking scheme.
Weightage below is computed from real topic-tagged questions in this platform's IIT JAM question bank (360 questions) — not an estimate.
Yes for MCQ-type questions; Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) and Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions carry no negative marking. See the exam pattern table above for the exact split this platform's papers use.
IIT JAM's eligibility requires Economics as a subject studied at the bachelor's level — check the current year's brochure for the exact wording, since it can be interpreted differently by different candidates' degree structures.
They overlap heavily in syllabus, but GATE XH-C1 tends to go slightly further into general equilibrium, welfare economics and real analysis, and its candidate pool skews toward those also preparing for a PhD-track admission.
Exact repeats are rare, but topic emphasis is stable year to year — which is exactly what a real, topic-tagged weightage breakdown from past papers can show you, rather than guessing from the syllabus alone.
This varies by year and by which institute's cut-off you're targeting — treat any fixed number you read elsewhere as one data point, not a target, and check the conducting institute's official cut-off list from the most recent cycle.