Aspirants of the JEE Main 2026 exam must check this article for the category-wise JEE Main age limit.
JEE Main 2026 Age Criteria: Engineering aspirants who wish to know about the JEE Main age limit will get answers to their questions in this article. Candidates must fulfil the JEE Main age criteria to apply for the exam. The National Testing Agency has announced the detailed JEE Mains eligibility criteria in its notification at jeemain.nta.nic.in. There is no age limit for JEE Main. The JEE Main notification states that the candidates should have passed the class 12/equivalent examination in 2024, 2025, or should be appearing in 2026. JEE Main candidates need to fulfil other eligibility requirements mentioned in the article.
Explore colleges based on JEE Main
- JEE Main 2026 Age Criteria
- JEE Main 2026 Age Criteria Summary
- JEE Main Age Limit: Category-wise
- JEE Main 2026 Qualifying Year Eligibility
- How Many Attempts For JEE Mains?
- JEE Advanced Age Limit
JEE Main 2026 Age Criteria
Qualifying marks for JEE Mains 2026, also called qualifying percentile for JEE Mains will be announced by the NTA along with the JEE Main 2026 session 2 result. Candidates must note that qualifying percentile for JEE Mains 2026 is the minimum percentile required to appear in JEE Advanced 2026. For admission to NIT or IIITs, there is no provision of qualifying marks in JEE Mains 2026 and admission is given based on All India Rank in JEE Mains exam. NTA will announce JEE Mains 2026 All India rank in April after session 2 exam results.
The official website to apply for JEE Main 2026 is jeemain.nta.nic.in. NTA has released the JEE Main application form 2026 session 1. Candidates can fill the form online from the website. Details regarding JEE Main application fee, documents required to fill the form, how to apply and other important details related to application process is available on this page. JEE Main 2026 Session 2 application form will be available in January last week, 2026.
There is no age limit, and candidates can appear for the exam at any age. This means that droppers and repeaters can also appear for JEE Main 2026, provided they fulfil all other eligibility conditions. The only condition to the 'no JEE Main age limit' lies in the year of passing your qualifying exam. A candidate can appear for the exam as long as they have passed their qualifying exam in the year 2024, 2025 or are appearing in 2026. Those who have passed their qualifying exam before 2024 are not eligible for the JEE Mains exam, no matter what their age is.
JEE Main 2026 Age Criteria Summary
| Criteria |
Details |
|---|---|
| Age Limit |
No upper or lower age limit |
| Year of Passing Class 12 |
2024, 2025, or appearing in 2026 |
| Attempts Allowed |
3 consecutive years after passing Class 12 (max 6 attempts) |
| JEE Advanced Age Limit |
Born on or after Oct 1, 2000 (5-year relaxation for SC/ST/PwD) |
JEE Main Age Limit: Category-wise
Candidates must check the category-wise JEE Mains age limit to know the JEE Main age limit for general, OBC and more. NTA JEE Main age limit is the same for all categories. There is no JEE Main age limit for OBC, SC and ST categories, and the JEE Main 2026 age criteria remain unchanged for the general category.
JEE Main 2026 Qualifying Year Eligibility
- Have passed Class 12 or its equivalent examination in 2024 or 2025, or
- Appear in 2026
How Many Attempts For JEE Mains?
A candidate can appear in three consecutive years after passing Class 12. Since JEE Main is held twice a year (January and April sessions), students get a total of six attempts for the JEE Mains exam.
JEE Advanced Age Limit
The top 2,50,000 rankers of JEE Mains become eligible for the JEE Advanced exam. The JEE Advanced exam is held for admission to the prestigious 23 IITs. While NTA allows candidates of any age for JEE Main, the IIT JEE Advanced exam has its own age restrictions. Students must keep in mind the following JEE age criteria to apply for the JEE Advanced exam:
- Candidates should have been born on or after October 1, 2000.
- A relaxation of five years is provided to SC, ST, and PwD candidates.
There is no minimum or maximum age to apply for JEE Main as per JEE Main eligibility criteria by NTA. You can appear in JEE Mains for three consecutive years from the year of passing class 12. You must have passed class 12 in 2024, 2025 or you are appearing in 2026 if you plan to apply for JEE Main 2026.
Report to JEE Main exam centre as per time mentioned in admit card. Try to report at least one hour before JEE Mains exam starts. The first shift of exam starts at 9 am and the second shift at 3 pm.
No minimum percentage is required to appear in JEE Mains exam as per NTA. In some various institutes, there is a creiteria for class 12 minimum percentage for admission. For example, IITs and NITs need minimum 75% marks in class 12 for BTech courses.

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Student Forum
Answered 2 days ago
Even though the syllabus of the BCECE Mathematics is same as that of JEE Main, the difficulty level is not the same. JEE Main exam is much tougher than the BCECE exam.
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Beginner-Level 5
Answered 4 days ago
Jiwaji University BE cutoff 2025 was released for all rounds for admission to the BE programmes on the basis of the JEE Main cutoff ranks. According to the Jiwaji University JEE Main Cutoff 2025, the cutoff range in the last round was between 158341 and 337310. The hardest and the easiest course for
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
Amity University, Lucknow accepts JEE Main scores for admission to BTech programme. However, it is not compuslory. Aspirants can also get admission in BTech based on AMCAT or any other national or state-level Engineering entrance exam scores.
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Guide-Level 15
Answered 6 days ago
DBRAU JEE Main cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the BE courses. Yes, students can get admission to the DBRAU BE courses according to the JEE Main cutoff 2024 with a rank of 30000. The cutoff ranged from 327178 to 1341021 in the first and last round closing ranks. The hardest and the easiest
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
The DBRAU JEE Main Cutoff 2024 was published for admission to various BE/BTech course specialisations for different categories under the Home State quota. The cutoff for the General HS category ranged from 520157 to 1341021, wherein B.E. in Computer Science and Engineering was the toughest course fo
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No, JEE Mains scores are not compulsory for admissions to the BTech course at Sai University, because the university also takes other entrance exam scores into account to get students. The scores that the university accepts, apart from the JEE Mains scores, are SAIU CAT, SAT, and other national/stat
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Contributor-Level 9
Answered a week ago
CCSU JEE MAIN Cutoff 2024 was released for admission to BTech course and its various specialisations. According to the CCSU BTech cutoff 2024, the cutoff ranks were in the range of 255179 to 1244485 for the General HS quota. Among all, B.Tech. in Computer Science was the hardest course for admission
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
General applicants with JEE Main rank up to around 1.4 million could get admission to B.Tech at MDU Rohtak in 2025, and for competitive branches like CSE, the closing rank was around 167,000.
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Beginner-Level 2
Answered a week ago
Bundelkhand University considers AKTU Entrance Test or Bundelkhand University Entrance Test scores for admission to BTech. Aspirants do not require passing JEE Main for admission to BTech programme of the university. Candidates must also meet the eligibility requirements for admission. Aspirants who
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Guide-Level 15
Answered a week ago
JEE Main is a national-level engineering entrance exam. It is held for candidates who pass the class 12 exam for admission to the best colleges of the nation, like the NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. Various top private engineering colleges also accept the JEE Main exam score for admission.
JEE Main is also
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Contributor-Level 6
Exam On - 21 Jan '26 - 30 Jan '26

Criteria
Decription
Age limit
There is no age limit to appear in JEE Main.
Year of passing qualifying exam
The candidates who have passed the class 12 / equivalent examination in 2024, 2025 or are appearing in 2026, irrespective of their age, can appear in JEE Mains 2026.
Nationality
Candidates must be Indian citizens. Foreign Nationals, NRIs, PIOs (Persons of Indian Origin), and OCIs (Overseas Citizens of India) can also apply.