The JEE Main 2026 qualifying cutoff is the minimum percentile needed for JEE Advanced. Released by the NTA with Session 2 results, candidates must beat this score to qualify for IIT JEE.
JEE Main Qualifying Marks 2026
JEE Mains Qualifying Marks 2026: The qualifying cutoff is the minimum percentile score released by the NTA after JEE Main results. Candidates must score above this mark to appear for JEE Advanced. Only the top 2,50,000 JEE Main candidates qualify to take the next exam.
JEE Mains 2026 is the first step to get into IITs. Candidates must score above the minimum cutoff in JEE Main 2026 to qualify for JEE Advanced. The JEE Main Qualifying Marks change every year, depending on the number of students appearing for the exam, the difficulty level of exam, etc. JEE Main Qualifying Marks for General category are usually the highest. Read more to know about JEE Main Cutoff 2026.
| Want to know what your JEE Main 2026 Percentile will be based on your marks? Check out the JEE Main Percentile Predictor 2026 by Shiksha.com, which predicts your percentile after analysing several years’ marks vs percentile data. JEE Main Percentile Predictor 2026 |
- JEE Main 2026 Marks Required for JEE Advanced
- JEE Main Qualifying Marks 2026 Vs JEE Main Cutoff 2026
- Factors Affecting JEE Mains Qualifying Marks 2026
- When will the JEE Main 2026 Qualifying Marks be Released?
- JEE Advanced Eligibility Criteria
JEE Main 2026 Marks Required for JEE Advanced
The Minimum marks in JEE Mains to appear for JEE Advanced differ for every category. Candidates must note that getting the minimum qualifying score does not guarantee admission to IIT. The JEE Main 2026 score will only make the candidates eligible for JEE Advanced.
Based on the previous year's trends and exam difficulty levels, the expected JEE Main 2026 cutoff for IIT JEE are given below. These scores depend on various factors and can change every year.
Also Read: JEE Main 2026 Marks Vs Percentile
| Category | Percentile |
|---|---|
| UR-ALL | 93.4123549 |
| UR-PwBD | 0.0023186 |
| EWS-ALL | 82.4164528 |
| OBC-ALL | 80.9232583 |
| SC-ALL | 63.9172792 |
| ST-ALL | 52.0174712 |
JEE Main Qualifying Marks 2026 Vs JEE Main Cutoff 2026
Many students confuse qualifying marks with the admission cutoff. Candidates can check the difference below.
- JEE Mains Qualifying Marks 2026 is minimum score in JEE Main required to qualify for JEE Advanced.
- JEE Main Cutoff is the minimum marks required to appear for JoSAA counselling. After the counselling, candidates are given admission in NITs, IIITs and GFTIs.
JEE Main cutoff 2026 will be different for the course and the college that the candidates want to apply.
Read More
Factors Affecting JEE Mains Qualifying Marks 2026
Several factors affect the JEE Main Qualfying marks calculation each year.
- Number of Candidates appearing for JEE Main 2026.
- Overall Difficulty Level of the exam across sessions.
- Performance of the candidates.
- Availability of Seats in IITs
- Normalization Process used to calculate the percentile.
Since JEE Main is conducted in multiple sessions, the percentile is calculated using the normalisation formula.
When will the JEE Main 2026 Qualifying Marks be Released?
The official qualifying marks for JEE Main 2026 will be released with the JEE Main 2026 Session 2 Results. NTA will release the category-wise qualifying score.
Important Points to Remember
- JEE Mains 2026 qualifying marks are based on percentile and not marks.
- Appearing in both sessions helps to improve the percentile.
- Only the best percentile in the two sessions will be considered.
- The candidates must score above the minimum percentile score to qualify for JEE Advanced.
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JEE Advanced Eligibility Criteria
To appear for the JEE Advanced, candidates must fulfil all the JEE Advanced eligibility requirements. The eligibility criteria are listed below.
Qualifying in JEE Main
Candidates must qualify in JEE Mains 2026 by getting the minimum qualifying percentile. Only the top 2.5 Lakh students are eligible to appear for JEE Advanced.
Age Limit
General/EWS/OBC-NCL
Candidates who belong to these categories must be born on or after 1 October 2001.
SC/ST/PwD
A 5-year relaxation is given to these candidates. They must be born on or after 1 October 1996.
Number of Attempts
A candidate can attempt JEE Advanced a maximum of two times, in two consecutive years. Appearing in JEE Advanced once is counted as one attempt, irrespective of qualification or rank.
Class 12 Examination
Candidates must have passed Class 12 in 2025 or 2026. Candidates appearing in Class in 2026 are also eligible.
Subjects in Class 12
Candidates must have studied Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
Earlier Admission to IITs
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Commonly asked questions
This year, a total of 18,951 seats are available across all 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
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.
NTA does not release marks vs rank data officially. The data available on the internet is provided by various experts and is subject to changes due to various variables.
As per the JEE Main cutoff data released by the NTA, PwD category has the lowest cutoff.
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 cutoff for GFTIs is released by the JoSAA after the counselling is over. Candidates can check previous year JEE Main cutoff for GFTIs from the Shiksha page. The cutoff for GFTIs vary for various branches and also category of students.
Yes, candidates are required to submit proof of domicile in case availing the home-state quota in NITs. It is only NIT where admission is offered against the Home State quota.
Candidates home state is determined based on the state from which you appear for your 12th board exam and on the basis of the state to which you belong.
As per the analysis of JEE Main marks vs percentile, 120 marks would be around 95 to 97 percentile.
Candidates who were already admitted to an IIT in any previous year are NOT eligible to appear for JEE Advanced again. This applies even if the candidate later withdrew from the IIT.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a week ago
According to the MSU Baroda CSE Cutoff 2026 for the General AI category, the maximum rank accepted was 900019 in the last round (Round 3).
As seen from the table below, admission for the General and ST category was the toughest and the easiest for the CSE course. For more information, check the table
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
The JEE Mains 2027 notification can be expected in the last week of September 2026 or in the first week of October 2026.
A
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a week ago
The JEE Mains 2027 session 1 application form is expected to be released in the last week of October 2026.
M
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a week ago
NTA will release the JEE Main 2027 exam date soon. The expected exam dates are:
- Session 1: Last week of January 2027
- Session 2: First week of April 2027
N
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a week ago
Yes, IEM Kolkata offers JEE Main scholarships to BTech students as financial assistance. Students with rank 1-10,000 in JEE Main are eligible to receive full tuition fee waiver for four-years.
G
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes. Galgotias University accepts both JEE Main and CUET scores for B.Tech admissions. The university states that students with JEE Main/JEE Advanced or CUET scores are given preference in the merit list.
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
No, a JEE Main score alone is not sufficient for direct entry to UG courses at the TUM. For direct entry to UG courses at TU Munich having a qualifying JEE Advanced score is mandatory.
Students with a JEE Main score and a Class 12th completion certificate will need to take the Studienkolleg (prepar
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Not always. While most reputed colleges prefer JEE Main scores, some private engineering colleges in Indore also offer direct admission based on Class 12th merit, especially under management quota seats. So, if you haven't cleared JEE Main with a strong rank, you may still get into a decent private
T
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, JECRC University grants scholarship to BTech students based on JEE Main scores. Check below score-wise scholarship:
- Candidates with JEE Main percentile score of 85 to 89.99 (General Category), shall get 15% scholarship on Tuition Fee.
- Candidates with JEE Main percentile score of more than 90 (Ge
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
No. While there is an overlap, the GUJCET syllabus is more aligned with state-level board books and is less advanced than JEE Main.
V
Contributor-Level 8
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