JEE Main 2026 Eligibility Criteria: Class 12th Percentage Required, Age Limit, Number of Attempts

Candidates applying for the JEE Main 2026 exam must fulfill all the conditions of JEE Main eligibility criteria failing which their application form might get cancelled. JEE Main 2026 Eligibility criteria are provided here with details of age limit, number of attempts, and minimum marks in class 12.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026 has been released by the National Testing Agency on the website jeemain.nta.nic.in. Candidates can check here the complete JEE Main 2026 eligibility including how many attempts for JEE Main, marks in class 12, age limit and others. Every JEE Main 2026 aspirant needs to fulfill the eligibility criteria mentioned by NTA to take admission at NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. JEE Main eligibility criteria are of two types:

• Eligibility criteria for appearing in the JEE Main 2026 examination

• Eligibility criteria for admission in institutes- IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs

JEE Main eligibility criteria 2026 for appearing in the exam consist of conditions related to age limit, qualifying exam, subjects in qualifying exam, number of attempts, and year of passing the qualifying exam. JEE Main eligibility criteria for admission in institutes consist of conditions related to the nationality of the candidate, JEE Main class 12th percentage criteria, and year of passing class 12/qualifying exam.
Candidates should check the detailed eligibility criteria of JEE Main 2026 before filling out the application form. JEE Main 2026 application form of candidates who do not fulfill the eligibility criteria will be cancelled and they will not be eligible for admission. It is thus candidates’ responsibility to check the JEE Main eligibility criteria before filling out the form.

Read More: JEE Mains 2025 Question Paper PDF with Solution Download

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026 - Complete Details

Check the eligibility criteria in detail that candidates need to fulfill to appear in JEE Main 2026.

JEE Main 2026 Eligibility Criteria- Age Limit

There is no age limit for the candidates to appear in JEE Mains 2026. The candidates who have passed the class 12/ equivalent examination in 2024, 2025, or appearing in 2026 irrespective of their age can appear in JEE Main 2026 examination.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026 - Qualifying Exam

Candidates need to have passed any one of the following exams to appear for JEE Main 2026

• The final examination of the 10+2 system, conducted by any recognized Central/ State Board, such as the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi; Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi; etc.

• Intermediate or two-year Pre-University examination conducted by a recognized Board/ University.

• Final examination of the two-year course of the Joint Services Wing of the National Defense Academy

• Senior Secondary School Examination conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling with a minimum of five subjects.

• Any Public School/ Board/ University examination in India or any foreign country is recognized as equivalent to the 10 2 system by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

• Higher Secondary Certificate Vocational Examination.

• A Diploma recognized by AICTE or a State board of technical education of at least 3 years duration.

• General Certificate Education (GCE) examination (London/Cambridge/Sri Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level.

• High School Certificate Examination of the Cambridge University or International Baccalaureate Diploma of the International Baccalaureate Office, Geneva.

JEE Main 2026 Eligibility Criteria - Year of Passing Qualifying Examination

Only those candidates who have passed the Class 12/equivalent examination in 2024, 2025, or appearing in 2026 are eligible to appear in JEE Main 2026. Candidates who passed the Class 12/equivalent examination in 2023 or before as well as those who will appear in such examination in 2027 or later are not eligible to appear in JEE Main 2026.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria of Subjects in Class 12/Qualifying Exam

JEE Main 2026 will be held for three separate courses, BTech, BArch, and BPlan. The combination of subjects is different for all three courses.

• For JEE Main 2026 Paper 1 (BTech): Candidates need to have Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects and one subject among Chemistry/Biology/Technical Vocational Subject

• For JEE Main 2026 Paper 2A (BArch): Candidates need to have Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics in class 12/equivalent examination

• For JEE Main 2026 Paper 2B (BPlan): Candidates need to have Mathematics in class 12/equivalent examination.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria- Number of Attempts

The number of attempts in JEE Main is six. NTA conducts JEE Main twice a year. As candidates can appear in JEE Main for three consecutive years of passing class 12 (including the year of passing class 12), the JEE Main number of attempts is six. In 2026, JEE Mains will be conducted two times in January and April respectively.

Candidates who have passed class 12 in 2024 or 2025 or candidates who are appearing in their class 12 exam in 2026 are eligible to appear in JEE Main 2026. Candidates who have passed their class 12 exam before 2024 or would appear in class 12 after 2026 are not eligible to appear in the exam as per JEE Main 2026 eligibility criteria. 

State Code of Eligibility

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria for Admission in IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs

The eligibility criteria for admission in IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs are decided by the institute and not by NTA. JEE Main eligibility criteria decided by NTA are only meant for appearing in the examination. The details about eligibility criteria for admission to the institute are provided by Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA), the counselling authority which admits students to these institutes. For details about the eligibility criteria for admission, candidates can visit the JoSAA website. 

Minimum 75% Marks in Class 12

Candidates need to score at least 75% marks in class 12 to get admission in NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. Candidates belonging to SC/ST need to have at least 60% marks. However, the criteria of marks in class 12 is lower in states like Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), Madhya pradesh (M.P.), Bihar, which accept JEE Main score for admission to BTech courses

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria for Appearing in JEE Advanced

The eligibility criteria for appearing in JEE Advanced is that candidates should have appeared in JEE Main and obtained the minimum cutoff marks decided by NTA. Also, candidates need to be in top 2,50,000 rank in order of merit in the Common Rank List in order to appear in JEE Advanced 2026. One important condition is that candidates can appear in JEE Advanced twice, in two consecutive years from the year of passing class 12/equivalent examination.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria - Important Points to Remember

• It is the candidate's responsibility to check all the details about eligibility criteria before filling out the application form
• Candidates who do not fulfil the eligibility criteria but apply for JEE Main 2026, their application can get cancelled at any stage of the admission cycle
• Candidates need to fill in the correct details in their application form as per the original documents and eligibility conditions
• There is no age limit for appearing in JEE Main 2026, the only condition being is that they can appear in three consecutive years after passing class 12
• There are no criteria for a minimum percentage of marks in class 12 for appearing in class JEE Main 2026