Minimum JEE Main 2026 marks required to qualify for JEE Advanced: Lakhs of students appear for the JEE Main exam to further their careers in science, engineering, and architecture. This exam is conducted to analyze the knowledge of the students in the field of science. It is a gateway for students who wish to take (take with a grain of salt idiom synonym) their bachelor’s degree from the renowned engineering institutes of the country. And therefore, a good score in the JEE Mains exam is mandatory.
But it must be noted that in order to get admission to the top IITs, one must clear the JEE Mains with a good score to be eligible for the JEE Advanced. And after getting a fairly good score in the JEE Advanced the candidates become eligible for a seat in the IIT institutes of the country.
All of this gives rise to the question that every candidate wishing to get a seat in the top engineering institute asks which is what is the minimum JEE Main score requirement to be eligible for the JEE Advanced?
So, before appearing for the paper, the candidates are advised to know everything about it, including the minimum score required to be eligible for the JEE Advanced so that the preparation can be done accordingly.
Who will announce the minimum marks in JEE Main?
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will release the minimum qualifying marks for JEE Main 2026 to be eligible for JEE Advanced. The announcement will be made along with the JEE Main 2026 result of session 2, which is expected to be published by the second week of April. To qualify for JEE Advanced, candidates must score above the minimum marks or JEE Main 2026 cutoff, which can be verified by referring to the previous year’s JEE Main cutoff.
JEE Main serves as a screening test for JEE Advanced, which is the gateway to undergraduate engineering courses offered by the IITs. As of last year, the top 2.5 lakh candidates who qualify for JEE Main are eligible to take the JEE Advanced 2026 exam. It is critical for all applicants to achieve a specific score or exceed the JEE Advanced cutoff.
Read More:
- JEE Main Rank Predictor 2026: Predict Your JEE Rank by Marks
- JEE Advanced Rank Predictor 2026: Predict your JEE Advanced Rank
Expected cutoff for JEE Main 2026
Here, candidates can refer to the previous year’s cutoffs to estimate the expected cutoff for JEE Main 2026. However, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will announce the official cutoff along with the JEE Main 2026 session 1 results in January.
| Category | JEE Main cutoff 2026 (Expected) |
| General | 95+ |
| EWS | 85+ |
| OBC-NCL | 83+ |
| SC | 65+ |
| ST | 50+ |
JEE Main 2025 Cutoff for JEE Advanced
The minimum marks required for JEE Advanced, as per last year’s cutoff, can be found below for candidates to check. Success in any entrance exam is determined by an effective study plan and the amount of hard work put in by the candidate. With little time (race against time phrase meaning) left, let’s take a quick look at the minimum score required for students to qualify for JEE Advanced 2025. The JEE Main cutoff score required for eligibility to take the JEE Advanced is provided below.
| Category | JEE Main Cutoff 2025 (Percentile) by NTA |
| Common Rank List (CRL) | 93.1023262 |
| GEN-EWS | 80.3830119 |
| Other Backward Classes (OBC-NCL) | 79.4313582 |
| Scheduled Caste (SC) | 61.1526933 |
| Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 47.9026465 |
| PwD | 0.0079349 |
The top 2.5 lakh candidates who qualify for the JEE Advanced would comprise students from unreserved as well as reserved categories. The exam conducting authority will publish the raw score obtained by a candidate in JEE Main as well as the corresponding percentile score. The cut-off for JEE Advanced would be based on the percentile score. Candidates can check the expected cut-off percentile and score required to qualify for the JEE Advanced in the table above.
It is expected that the entrance test will be conducted online at 525 Centres for BTech/BE, 480 centres for BArch, and in around 225 cities for BPlanning across the country. The exam acts as a gateway for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) – India’s premier engineering students.
NTA releases the JEE Main 2026 admit card on the official website (idioms website) for eligible candidates only. To download their JEE Mains exam admit card, candidates must enter JEE Main login details like their application number and date of birth on the official website. The exam conducting authority is expected to release the official JEE Main 2026 answer key within 3 days post-conclusion of the exam.
Students and parents should note that the expected cutoff provided above is based on the cutoff for 2025. The exact cutoff for 2026 may vary. However, depending on the number of students who appear and the general trends observed over the years, the expected cutoff score remains the same with a variance range of about 5 marks either way.
The percentile of a candidate is the basis for calculating the JEE Main score. As candidates appear for the exam on different shifts on different days, the percentile scores of the students are normalized and calculated as per the formula available on the official website: Joint Entrance Examination (Main). The exam conducting authorities will release the cut-off for JEE Main only after the conclusion of the JEE Main 2026 April exam, along with the JEE Main 2026 ranks and final results.
Read More:
- JEE Main 2026 Marks vs Percentile vs Ranks: Check Marks using Percentile Score
- What is a Good NTA Score in JEE Main 2026?
- JEE Main Previous Year Question Paper with Answer Key and Solution
JEE Main Cut-off Trends
| Category/Year | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| General | 90.7788642 | 93.2362181 | 93.1023262 |
| OBC-NCL | 73.6114227 | 79.6757881 | 79.4313582 |
| SC | 51.9776027 | 60.0923182 | 61.1526933 |
| ST | 37.2348772 | 46.6975840 | 47.9026465 |
| Gen-EWS | 75.6229025 | 81.3266412 | 80.3830119 |
| PwD | 0.0013527 | 0.0018700 | 0.0079349 |
JEE Main 2026 Dates
Below are the announced exam dates for both the January and April sessions of JEE Main 2026 by the NTA.
| Events | January Session Dates | April Session Dates |
| Release of Application form | October 2025 | January 2026 |
| Last date to fill the form | November 2025 | February 2026 |
| Intimation of exam city to candidates | January 2026 | March 2026 |
| Release of admit card | January 2026 | March 2026 |
| JEE Main exam date 2026 | January 2026 | April 2026 |
| Display of Answer key | February 2026 | April 2026 |
| Declaration of Result | February 2026 | April 2026 |
Eligibility Criteria for JEE Advanced 2026
Every year, the NTA publishes the eligibility criteria for JEE Advanced on its official website, which outlines the requirements and guidelines for applicants. The eligibility criteria for JEE Advanced 2026 are as follows:
- Candidates who rank within the top 250,000 positions in the JEE Main 2026 exam are eligible to apply for JEE Advanced 2026.
- Candidates must have attained a minimum of 75% marks in their Class 12 board exams. For candidates belonging to reserved categories, the minimum score required is 65%.
- Candidates are only allowed to take the JEE Advanced exam twice in consecutive years, regardless of whether they have passed or failed the exam.
- Applicants who are Indian citizens, foreign nationals, PIOs, or OCIs are eligible to take the JEE Advanced 2026 exam. However, foreign candidates must meet certain criteria set forth by the NTA.
Based on last year’s records, the percentage of reservations for various categories is as follows:
| Category | Percentage |
| GEN-EWS | 10% |
| OPEN | 40.50% |
| Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 7.50% |
| Scheduled Caste (SC) | 15% |
| PwD | 5% Horizontal Reservation |
| OBC & NCL | 27% |
The distribution of the top 250,000* JEE Main candidates for JEE Advanced 2026, categorized by their respective categories, is as follows:
| Order | Category | Number of “Top” candidates | |
| 1 | OPEN | 96187 | 101250 |
| 2 | OPEN-PwD | 5063 | |
| 3 | GEN-EWS | 23750 | 25000 |
| 4 | GEN-EWS-PwD | 1250 | |
| 5 | OBC-NCL | 64125 | 67500 |
| 6 | OBC-NCL-PwD | 3375 | |
| 7 | SC | 35625 | 37500 |
| 8 | SC-PwD | 1875 | |
| 9 | ST | 17812 | 18750 |
| 10 | ST-PwD | 938 | |
Age Limit for JEE Advanced 2026
To be eligible, candidates must have been born on or after October 1, 2000. However, SC, ST, and PwD candidates are given a relaxation of five years, meaning they must have been born on or after October 1, 1995.
JEE Advanced 2026: Number of Attempts
Candidates can appear for the JEE Advanced exam two times in two consecutive years.
JEE Advanced 2026 Eligibility for class 12th boards or other equivalent exams
A candidate should have appeared for the Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in either 2025 or 2026 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as compulsory subjects.
Candidates who had appeared in Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2024 or earlier, are NOT eligible to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026, irrespective of the combination or number of subjects attempted/offered.
* By appearance in Class XII (or equivalent) examination, it is meant that the Board concerned declared the result for that year irrespective of whether or not examination was conducted. It will be considered as an appearance even if the result of a particular candidate got withheld.
However, if the examination Board of Class XII (or equivalent) declared the results for the academic year 2023-24 on or after September 21, 2024, then the candidates of that Board who appeared for their Class XII (or equivalent) examination in 2024 are also eligible to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026, provided they meet all the other eligibility criteria. In case the examination Board of Class XII (or equivalent) declared the results for the academic year 2023-24 before September 21, 2024 but the result of a particular candidate was withheld for whatever reason, then the candidate will not be eligible to appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026.
Eligibility for Foreign Students for JEE Advanced 2026
Candidates who are foreign nationals must meet a separate set of eligibility criteria for JEE Advanced 2026. Foreign nationals are individuals who are neither citizens of India nor have parents of Indian origin. Additionally, candidates who do not belong to the OCI/PIO category are also considered foreign nationals.
The NTA has established certain guidelines for foreign nationals who wish to appear for the JEE Advanced exam. Foreign nationals are not eligible for any reservations under any category as directed by the GOI. They should have completed their 10+2 level education at the time of applying for the JEE Advanced 2026 exam.
Foreign nationals who have completed their class 12th boards in India with the required percentage are considered under the OPEN category for the JEE Advanced exam. They must provide identity proof for both their parents as well.
In the JEE Advanced course, foreign candidates are allocated a total of 10% of the total seats.
JEE Advanced 2026 Cutoff
After the conduct of the JEE Advanced exam, the JEE Advanced Cut Off will be announced. The cutoff score refers to the minimum marks that candidates need to obtain to secure admission to IITs. The JEE Advanced exam authorities will publish two types of cutoffs – admission cutoffs and qualifying cutoffs.
Several factors influence the JEE Advanced cutoff score, including the previous year’s cutoff trends, the total number of applicants, the difficulty level of the exam, the candidate’s performance in the exam, and the number of seats available for admission.
FAQs: Minimum Marks in JEE Mains to Qualify for JEE Advanced 2026
Q1. Who is eligible for JEE Advanced?
Ans. Candidates who place among the top 2,50,000 in the JEE Main examination are eligible to take the JEE Advanced examination. More information is provided above.
Q2. Can we take the JEE Advanced again?
Ans. Yes, candidates can apply for the JEE Advanced exam twice in a row beginning with the year they complete their 12th grade.
Q3. Is it necessary to take JEE Main before taking JEE Advanced?
Ans. Yes, candidates who want to take the JEE Advanced must be among the top 2,50,000 successful JEE Main candidates.
Q4. What subjects are taken into account for JEE Advanced 2026 eligibility?
Ans. Candidates who want to apply for the JEE Advanced 2026 must have completed Class XII (or equivalent) with the subjects Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.
Q5. Do 12th-grade marks count in IIT?
Ans. No, it does not. JEE Advanced gives no weightage to class 12 grades. It will all be determined by their performance on the entrance exam.
Q6. How many points do you need to get into JEE Advanced?
Ans. The expected JEE Main cutoff for general categories in 2026 was around 70-75 points. To be eligible for a seat based on JEE Advanced 2026, students must achieve the specified marks.
