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.
- 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
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.
Commonly asked questions
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. |
Both JEE Main ranks are used for admission to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. While allocating the seats the institute will take into consideration the category ranks first for the candidates who belong to any category.
The qualifying marks in JEE Main mean the minimum percentile needed to qualify for JEE Advanced exam. Check JEE Mains 2026 cutoff below:
Category | Cutoff 2026 |
|---|---|
Unreserved (UR) | 93.4123549 |
Gen-EWS | 82.4164528 |
OBC-NCL | 80.9232583 |
SC | 63.9172792 |
ST | 52.0174712 |
UR-PwD | 0.0023186 |
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.
Commonly asked questions
As per the JEE Main 2023 cutoff data released by the NTA, PwD category has the lowest cutoff of 0.0013527. The highest cutoff is for general category which is 90.7788642. The PwD candidates scoring above 0.0013527 NTA score are eligible to appear in JEE Advanced for admission to IITs. The PwD cutoff has been lowered in 2023 to 0.0013527 which was 0.0031029 in the year 2022.
Candidates need not have 75 percent marks in class 12 for appearing in JEE Main. As per the official brochure released by the NTA, there is no minimum percentage required for appearing in the JEE Main. The requirement of 75 percent marks need not be associated with appearing in the JEE Main exam.
It is to be understood that 75 percent marks is required for admission to institutes which include NITs, IIITs, GFTIs and IITs. Many institutes offer admission at 60% and even less, along with JEE Main. Candidates must clearly understand that the requirement of 75 percent marks in class 12 is only for taking admission in the institutes.
Candidates who do not score above JEE Main cutoff marks are eligible to take admissions in NITs, IIITs and GFTIs but not IITs. To appear in the admission process for IITs, candidates need to get marks above than the JEE Main cutoff and appear in JEE Advanced exam.
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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.
Commonly asked questions
The cutoff for NITs vary for various branches and also category of students. Specialised branches like computer Science and electronics engineering has higher cutoff in comparison to other branches. Similarly, JEE Main cutoff for general category candidates is higher in comparison to OBC-NCL and SC, ST candidates. Candidates can check the previous year JEE Main cutoff below for some top NITs and branches. For detailed cutoff report, candidates can check Shiksha page.
- MNNIT Allahabad CSE Closing Rank Open Category: 5627 (Home State)
- MNNIT Allahabad CSE Closing Rank Open Category: 4254 (Open)
- MNIT Jaipur CSE Closing Rank Open Category: 5610 (Home State)
- MNIT Jaipur CSE Closing Rank Open Category: 4631 (Open)
The JEE Main ranks have been released with the JEE Main session 2 result. The ranks are released on an All India basis and also category-wise.
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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.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 4 hours ago
With 57.8 percentile in JEE Main and 73% boards, getting CSE/AI in top government colleges is unlikely. But you still have good chances in private colleges through UPTAC/AKTU or direct admission.
Possible options:
KIET Group of Institutions
ABES Engineering College
Galgotias College of Engineering a
H
Beginner-Level 1
Answered 5 hours ago
Amrut Institute offer admission in BTech and Diploma in Engineering based on merit in last qualifying exam. So, no JEE Main is not compulsory to take admission in Amrut Institute courses.
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
With a JEE Main rank of 291970, you can get into NIT Calicut if you belong to the SC Home State quota category.
For this category, the highest rank admissible was 543879 (as per the last round of NIT Calicut cutoff 2025). See the table below to know which courses you can opt for.
| Course | NIT Calicut JEE Main cutoff 2025 |
|---|---|
| B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering | 343880 |
| B.Tech. in Biotechnology | 386381 |
| B.Tech. in Civil Engineering | 405588 |
| B.Tech. in Production Engineering | 449781 |
| B.Tech. in Energy Engineering | 543879 |
To know the accepte
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
JEE (Main) cutoff for BTech in Computer Science and Engineering in Sagar Institute of Science Technology and Research, Bhopal in the closing round has ranged between 3,75,232 to 10,07,060 from 2021 to 2023.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
Yes, students can get EIT Faridabad scholarship with 97.6 percentile in JEE Main. Applicants can get scholarship on the basis of scores in entrance exam. Check the table below to know eligiblity of scholarships offered on the basis of JEE Main scores:
| Eligibility Criteria | Scholarship (on tuition fee) |
|---|---|
| 95.01 percentile and above | 50% |
| 90.01 - 95 prcentile | 35% |
| 85.01 - 90 percentile | 25% |
| 80.01 - 85 percentile | 20% |
G
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
Yes, you can get admission in BTech in Sagar Institute of Science Technology and Research without JEE (Mains) rank through College Level Counselling based on merit if there are any seats left vacant after DTE Bhopal Counselling.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 4 days ago
Guru Tegh Bahadur 4th Centenary Engineering College BTech admission is based on merit and entrance. Students are selected based on academic scores and JEE Main scores. However, JEE Main scores are not enough for admission. The final seat allotement for BTech is conducted through the centralised coun
G
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
Yes. The syllabus overlaps heavily, and JEE preparation often covers TS EAMCET topics. Just add state-specific mock tests for better speed and familiarity.
M
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 5 days ago
Any candidate who cleared Class 12th with an aggregate of less than 50% must appear for JEE Mains to qualify for Sagar Institute of Science Technology and Engineering (SISTec-E) - Sagar Group of Institutions Bhopal BTech admission. Howver, candidates who cleared Class 12th with a minimum aggregate o
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
You might be able to get a seat at Manipal Institute of Technology with a rank of 50000 if you belong to the General AI category.
According to the Manipal Institute of Technology JEE Main cutoff 2026 for round 1, the cutoff ranged from 32577 to 102650 for the aforementioned category. Students can re
N
Contributor-Level 10