Guide
Negative marking strategy: when guessing is worth it
By the MyAbhyasa team ·
Whether to attempt an uncertain question is not a matter of nerve — it is arithmetic. The big entrance exams split into two marking regimes, and each implies a different attempt strategy.
What does each exam's marking scheme look like?
MHT-CET (both PCM and PCB) has no negative marking. NEET and JEE Main both award +4 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one — and in JEE Main that now applies to numerical-value questions as well as MCQs, since the earlier no-negative exemption for numericals was removed.
That splits the exams into two regimes — penalty-free CET versus penalised national exams — and each regime answers the same question differently: should I attempt something I am not sure about?
Why should you attempt everything in MHT-CET?
With no negative marking, a blank answer and a wrong answer score identically — zero. Any attempt, even a blind guess, can only help. Leaving a CET question blank is strictly giving marks away.
The CET skill is therefore speed: budget time so that every question at least receives a guess before the clock runs out.
When is guessing worth it in NEET and JEE Main MCQs?
With four options, a purely blind guess has a one-in-four chance of +4 against a three-in-four chance of −1 — slightly better than blank on average, but barely. The picture changes sharply the moment you can eliminate options: ruling out even one option tilts the expected value clearly positive, and eliminating two makes guessing the obviously correct play.
The practical rule: never leave an MCQ blank if you can eliminate at least one option with confidence. Reserve true blanks for questions where every option looks equally plausible and time is short.
What about JEE Main numerical questions?
They are no longer a free attempt: numerical-value questions now carry the same −1 penalty as MCQs. A wild numerical guess is strictly worse than an MCQ guess, because there are no options to eliminate — a random number is almost never right.
Attempt a numerical only when your working produces an actual value you have some confidence in. If the calculation never got off the ground, a blank protects the mark a guess would likely lose.