JEE Advanced Eligibility Criteria 2026 (Out) - Number of Attempts, Age Limit, Qualification

JEE Advanced Eligibility Criteria 2026

Candidates can check the IIT JEE Advanced exam eligibility criteria 2026 here in this article. The eligibility criteria outline the requirements candidates must meet to apply for the entrance exam. For both General and OBC candidates, a 12th percentile of 75% is necessary for JEE Advanced. However, for SC/ST applicants, the required percentile is 65%. Additionally, applicants must attain a qualifying examination score in the top 20% of their category. JEE Advanced eligibility consists of age, number of attempts, qualifying exam marks, JEE Advanced qualifying percentile, minimum marks in the JEE Main exam, and more. Below are the detailed eligibility criteria for JEE Advanced 2026 brochure.

Criterion 1 - Performance in JEE Main

Candidates have to pass the JEE Main (Paper 1). It is also necessary for them to be among the top 2,50,000 candidates. The percentage reservation for the following categories is given below:

• GEN-EWS - 10%

• OBC-NCL - 27%

• SC - 15%

• ST - 7.5%

• OPEN - 40.5%

• PwD - 5% horizontal reservation in all of the above.

Category-wise distribution of top 2,50,000* candidates (Criterion 1)

*Total number of candidates can go above 2,50,000 with “tied” ranks/scores in any category.

Criterion 2: Age Limit for JEE Advanced

• Candidates must have been born on or after October 1, 2001, to meet the JEE Advanced attempt limit.

• There is a relaxation of 5 years for SC, ST, and PwD candidates (born on or after October 1, 1996).

Criterion 3: IIT JEE Advanced Exam Eligibility Criteria- Number of Attempts

• A candidate can attempt JEE Advanced a maximum of two times in two consecutive years.

Criterion 4: JEE Advanced 2026 Eligibility Criteria- Class 12 exam appearance

• JEE Advanced 2026 is open only to students who appeared for the Class 12 (or equivalent) exam for the first time in 2025 or 2026, with mathematics, physics, and chemistry as compulsory subjects.

• Aspirants who appeared for the class 10+2 exam in 2024 or earlier are not eligible

• Additionally, if the result is declared for the academic year 2023-24 on or after June 18, 2024, then candidates from that board who appeared for their 12th standard qualifying exam in 2024 will also be considered eligible for JEE Advanced 2026, provided they meet the other eligibility criteria. However, if the examination board of class 12th declared the results for the academic year 2023-2024 before June 18, 2024, but the result of a particular candidate was withheld, then the candidate will not be eligible to appear in JEE Advanced 2026.

Criterion A5 – JEE Advanced 2026 Eligibility Criteria For IITs

• A candidate should NOT have been admitted to an IIT under any academic program that is listed in JoSAA Business Rules of 2025 or earlier, irrespective of whether or not the candidate continued in the program OR accepted an IIT seat by reporting “online” / at a “reporting centre” in the past. Candidates whose admission to IITs was cancelled (for whatever reason) after joining any IIT are also NOT eligible to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2026.

• Candidates who have been admitted to a preparatory course in any of the IITs for the first time in 2025 can appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026.

• The candidates who were allocated a seat in an IIT through JoSAA but did not report “online” OR (ii) withdrew before the last round of seat allotment, OR, (iii) had their seat cancelled (for whatever reason) before the last round of seat allotment for IITs, are eligible to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2026.

• However, in all of the above cases, the candidate is also required to fulfil the conditions mentioned from Criterion A1 to Criterion A4.

The following qualifying examinations will be considered equivalent to 12th standard:

• Final examination of the 10+2 system, conducted by a Central or State Board recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

• Intermediate or two-year Pre-University examination conducted by a Board or University recognized by the Association of Indian Universities.

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

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

• Any Public School, Board or University examination in India or a foreign country is recognized as equivalent to the 10+2 system by the AIU.

• H.S.C. vocational examination.

• Diploma recognized by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) or a State Board of Technical Education of at least 3 years duration.

• General Certificate Education (GCE) examination (London, Cambridge or 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 Advanced Eligibility Marks in 12th Standard

For admissions into IITs, the candidates will be required to meet the eligibility criteria of JEE Advanced 2026. Moreover, the aspirants can also check the JEE advanced eligibility marks to know how many marks they should obtain in the class 12 exam.

• 12th percentage required for JEE Advanced exam is 75% for General and OBC. While JEE Advanced eligibility 12th percentage for SC/ST candidates is 65%.

• The candidates should be within the top 20 category percentile of the qualifying examination.

• While calculating aggregate marks, the candidates should take into account scores of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Language, and any one other subject.

Process of Total Marks Calculation for 12th (or equivalent) Examination

• If the marks given in a subject are not out of 100, then the marks will be scaled (up or down) to 100 so that the total aggregate marks become out of 500.

• Suppose a Board awards only letter grades without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade sheet. In that case, the candidate will have to obtain a certificate from the Board specifying the equivalent marks and submit it at the time of acceptance of the allocated seat. If the candidate fails to provide the certificate, then the final decision will be taken by the Joint Implementation Committee.

• In case any of the subjects Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Language are not evaluated in the final year, then the marks for the same subject from the previous year/s will be used to calculate the percentage of aggregate marks.

• Candidates who appeared in the 12th standard (or equivalent) board examination for the first time in 2026 and reappeared in all subjects in 2026 will have to note that the best of the two performances will be considered.

• If a Board gives aggregate marks considering both 11th and 12th standard examinations, then only 12th standard marks will be considered. If a Board gives aggregate marks considering the results of all three years of a 3-year diploma or courses of equivalent duration, then only the marks scored in the final year will be considered. Similarly, for Boards that follow a semester system, the marks scored in the final two semesters will be considered.

• If a Board does not release marks scored in individual subjects but gives only the aggregate marks, then the aggregate marks given by the Board will be considered.

JEE Advanced 2026 Eligibility for Foreign Students

The application process for JEE Advanced 2026 will be open to all Indian citizens. Additionally, international candidates, who make up less than 10% of the SNQ, are also eligible. Candidates need to have completed their Class 12 exams during the academic year 2025-2026.

Factors that determine the cut off of JEE Advanced

Here are various factors that determine the JEE Advanced cutoff 2026:

• Previous year’s cutoff trends

• The total number of applicants of JEE Advanced

• The difficulty level of the exam

• Candidates’ performance in the JEE Advanced 2026

• The number of seats available for admission

Eligibility Criteria for Cutoff of JEE Advanced 2026

• Category-wise cutoff marks of JEE Advanced for the top 20 percentile are calculated based on the marks scored by the candidates who pass in their respective boards in the particular year.

• JEE Advanced cutoff marks for PwD candidates will be the same as the lowest of the cutoff marks for other categories.

• Top 20 percentile cutoff for the academic year 2026 will be considered for those candidates who passed the 12th standard (or equivalent) examination in the same year. Similarly, the cutoff of 2026 will be taken for candidates who qualified the exam in the academic year 2026.

• Candidates who appeared for the qualifying exam for the first time in 2026 and wish to reappear in 2026 for the objective of qualifying for the top 20 percentile cutoff will have to reattempt all of the subjects. The top 20 percentile cutoff of 2026 will be considered for such candidates.

• In case a Board does not provide information about the top 20 percentile cutoff, the candidates will have to produce a certificate from the respective board stating that he/she fall within the top 20 percentile of successful candidates.

IIT JEE Advanced 2026 Cutoff (Qualifying Marks)

The minimum percentage of marks prescribed for inclusion in the rank list will be mentioned here.
JEE Advanced Past Year's Cut-Off (Qualifying)

Candidates can check the cutoff to predict the expected JEE Advanced qualifying percentile in 2026. Below is the JEE Advanced qualifying percentile for the previous years.

JEE Advanced 2025 Cutoff (Qualifying Marks)

JEE Advanced 2024 Cutoff (Qualifying Marks)

JEE Advanced 2024 cutoff for Inclusion in a Rank List

JEE Advanced 2023 Cutoff (Qualifying Marks)

Check the qualifying marks to know what are the minimum marks in JEE Advanced to get IIT for general, OBC, and SC/ST. However, the minimum marks in JEE Advanced will vary from year to year.

Relaxation in JEE Advanced Exam Eligibility Criterion 2026

Candidates who successfully registered for JEE Advanced but were absent in both the papers, i.e. Paper 1 and Paper 2, will be eligible to appear for JEE Advanced 2026 and do not need to fulfil eligibility criteria 1 to 4 mentioned above. However, they must successfully register for the JEE Advanced in the online registration portal and pay the registration fee.

Criterion 5: JEE Advanced 2026 Eligibility Criteria - Earlier Admissions at IITs

Candidates who were previously admitted to an IIT through JoSAA 2026 are not eligible for JEE Advanced, irrespective of whether they continued in the programme or not. Also, those candidates who accepted an IIT seat by reporting at a reporting centre in the past will not be deemed eligible for admission. Along with the above-mentioned eligibility criteria, those candidates whose admissions to IITs were cancelled after joining will also not be eligible for JEE Advanced 2026 as per the condition.

However, candidates who were admitted to a preparatory course in any of the IITs for the first time in 2026 will be able to appear for JEE Advanced 2026. Those candidates who had paid the seat acceptance fee in JoSAA 2026 will also be eligible for JEE Advanced 2026 if they meet the following conditions:

• If the candidates did not report at any reporting centres OR

• Withdrew before the last round of seat allotment OR

• Had their seat cancelled (for whatever reason) before the final round of seat allotment.

JEE Advanced 2026 Stats

The authority will announce JEE Advanced 2026 stats on the official website. The stats will contain the details regarding the number of students who appeared and how many students qualify for JEE Advanced. Knowing the number of qualifying candidates will help to understand the ratio of qualifying candidates, category-wise. Candidates can check the previous year stats to know how many students qualify for the JEE Advanced compared to the number of applied candidates.

JEE Advanced 2025 Staistics – Summary of Number of Candidates

JEE Advanced 2024 Statistics: Summary of Number of Candidates

JEE Advanced 2023 Statistics: Summary of Number of Candidates