What is Percentile in JEE: Understanding Calculation, Rank & Importance

What is Percentile in JEE: Understanding Calculation, Rank & Importance

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Team Careers360Updated on 21 Oct 2025, 12:34 PM IST
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What is Percentile in JEE? - Aspirants of JEE Main who are wondering what percentile means have come to the right place. Careers360 has explained in detail what is percentile in JEE Mains signifies and how it is calculated in this article. Candidates aiming for engineering admissions in India appear for the national-level JEE Mains exam every year. Admission to NITs, IIITs and GFTIs is based on the candidate’s performance in the JEE Main examination. National testing authority will conduct the JEE Main 2026 exam for session 1 from January 21 to 30, 2026 while session 2 is scheduled for April 1 to 10, 2026.
Also Check: JEE Main 2026 Registration I JEE Main 2026 exam date

This Story also Contains

  1. What is Percentile?
  2. How is Percentile Calculated in JEE Main?
  3. JEE Main Percentile vs Marks 2026
What is Percentile in JEE: Understanding Calculation, Rank & Importance
What is Percentile in JEE: Understanding Calculation, Rank & Importance

Lakhs of students appear for the exam each year hence the results are announced in terms of "percentiles," which are crucial for determining a candidate's relative performance in comparison to others Read through the article to understand what exactly is a percentile in JEE Mains and how is it calculated.

What is Percentile?

A percentile is a statistical measure that indicates the relative rank of a candidate in a given population. It helps in comparing the performance of a candidate with that of others in the same group. A percentile score reflects the percentage of candidates who have scored lower than or equal to a particular candidate.

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For example, if a candidate has a percentile of 95 in JEE Main, it means that the candidate has scored better than 95% of all the candidates who appeared for the exam. A higher percentile indicates better performance, while a lower percentile shows a relatively lower ranking as compared to other examinees.

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How is Percentile Calculated in JEE Main?

The National Testing Agency (NTA), the conducting body for JEE Main, uses a formula to compute the percentile for each candidate. This ensures that the score reflects the candidate's standing in relation to others. One of the key factors in JEE Main percentile calculation is the normalization process. Since JEE Main is held in multiple shifts and sessions, the difficulty level of the exam may vary. To account for this variation, the NTA uses a normalization method that adjusts the scores based on the relative performance of candidates in each shift. This ensures fairness in the evaluation process and makes sure that candidates are not disadvantaged due to the exam’s difficulty. In the case of JEE Main, percentile calculation is a bit more complex because it is not based on raw marks, but instead on the relative performance of all the candidates. The percentile score in JEE Main is calculated using the following formula

Calculating JEE Main Percentile

Total Percentile (T1P)

(100 x No. of candidates from the session with a raw score equal to or less than T1 score) / Total No. of candidates who appeared in the session

Mathematics Percentile (M1P)

(100 x No. of candidates appeared from the session with a raw score equal to or less than than M1 score in Mathematics)

/ Total No. of candidates who appeared in the session

Chemistry Percentile (C1P):

(100 x No. of candidates appeared from the session with a raw score equal to or less than C1 score in Chemistry) / Total No. of candidates who appeared in the session

Physics Percentile (P1P)

(100 x No. of candidates appeared from the session with raw score equal to or less than P1 score in Physics) / Total No. of candidates who appeared in the session

JEE Main percentile calculation

JEE Main Percentile vs Marks 2026

NTA calculates the JEE Main 2026 percentile by applying the process of normalization of marks. There is a certain number of marks against which the percentile score is allotted which in turn can be called the JEE Main 2026 marks vs percentile. Aspirants may refer to the table below to know the expected range of marks for which a certain percentile is allotted to the respective candidates.

JEE Main Percentile vs Marks 2026 (Expected)

Marks out of 300

Percentile

288- 294

99.99826992- 99.99890732

280-284

99.99617561 - 99.99790569

270-279

99.99034797 - 99.99417236

252- 268

99.95228621- 99.99016586

231-249

99.87388626-99.95028296

215-230

99.74522293-99.87060821

202-214

99.57503767- 99.73930423

190-200

99.39319714- 99.56019541

175-189

99.02150308 - 99.3487614

161-174

98.52824811-98.99673561

149-159

98.07460288-98.49801724

132-148

97.0109678-97.97507774

120-131

96.0687115-96.93721175

110-119

95.05625037-95.983027

102-109

94.01228357-94.96737888

95-101

93.05600452 -93.89928202

89-94

92.05811248 -92.88745828

79-88

90.0448455 -91.79177119

62-87

84.56203931-91.59517945

41-61

70.26839007-84.22540213

1-42

66.6590786-69.5797271

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What is the percentile score in JEE?
A:

In JEE Mains, a percentile score indicates how many students are equal to or less than the said percentile. It shows the performance of the candidate with respect to all other students who took the exam.

Q: How is JEE percentile calculated?
A:

The National Testing Agency uses a set formula for the calculation of percentile in JEE Mains. Candidates must check the JEE Mains percentile calculator for more details on how the percentile is calculated.

Q: Is a higher percentile better in JEE?
A:

Yes, a higher percentile indicates a better performance of the individual as compared to others who took the test.

Q: Can two students have the same percentile in JEE?
A:

Yes. It is possible for two students to have the same percentile in JEE Mains. In this situation, the authorities use the JEE Mains tie-breaking rule for the allocation of ranks.

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Questions related to JEE Main

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to JEE Main ?

Hello there,

Understanding and solving different question papers is one of the best practices for preparation ,especially when it comes to JEE. It gives you a proper understanding of the exam pattern, important topics to cover, and the marking scheme.

Here is the link attached from the official website of Careers360 which will provide you with the question papers of JEE exam. Hope it helps!

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/jee-main-question-papers

thank you!

Hello aspirant,

In order to prepare for the JEE Main 2026 exam, it is strongly advised that students complete the JEE Main 2025 Question Paper. This will help them comprehend the exam's difficulty level and question kinds. The JEE Main 2026 session 1 test will be administered by NTA from January 21 to 30, while the session 2 exam will take place from April 2 to 9.

To get the previous year question papers, you can visit our site through following link:

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/jee-main-question-papers

Thank you

With a BC-E category certificate, EWS certificate, and Telangana home-state quota, your chances of getting admission to AIML or related CSE branches in CBIT, VNR VJIET, or similar top private colleges in Telangana depend mainly on your JEE Main percentile and the TS EAMCET counselling process, because these colleges fill seats through both TS EAMCET ranks and JEE Main scores (Category-B seats).

For Category-A seats (through TS EAMCET), JEE Main percentile is not considered. Admission is purely based on your TS EAMCET rank, reservation category, gender, and home-state status. CBIT and VNR are highly competitive, especially for AIML, CSE, and IT branches, so you generally need a very strong TS EAMCET rank (usually within a few thousand for BC-E candidates, sometimes slightly relaxed for girls).

For Category-B seats (JEE Main quota), JEE Main percentile matters. Based on recent trends, to have a realistic chance:

  • For CBIT (AIML / CSE / IT), a JEE Main percentile of around 95+ is usually expected, even for reserved categories, because Category-B seats are limited and competition is high.

  • For VNR VJIET (AIML / CSE / IT), candidates with 92–95 percentile sometimes have chances, depending on availability and the specific branch.

  • If your percentile is below 90, getting AIML or core CSE in CBIT or VNR becomes difficult, but you may still have chances in slightly lower-demand branches (like ECE, EEE, or emerging specialisations) or in other good private colleges affiliated with JNTU or autonomous institutions.

Your BC-E and EWS certificates do help mainly in TS EAMCET counselling (Category-A seats), not significantly in Category-B (JEE Main) admissions, where merit largely dominates. Home-state status is already assumed for these colleges, so there is no extra advantage beyond eligibility.

In summary, if your JEE Main percentile is 95 or above, you can reasonably target AIML/CSE in VNR and possibly CBIT through Category-B. If it is 90–94, VNR or related branches are more realistic than CBIT. Below that, it is better to focus on TS EAMCET performance or consider other reputed Telangana colleges offering AIML. If you want, you can share your exact JEE Main percentile and TS EAMCET rank, and I can give you a more precise college- and branch-wise estimate.

Hello,

JEE Mains is a national level entrance examination conducted for admission to UG engineering course in IITs, NITs, etc. This also is a qualifying test for JEE Advanced.

Practicing with previous year question paper will give you on overview of the entire exam pattern, marking scheme, types of questions asked, etc.

Check out the official website of Careers360 for the question papers, preparation tips, etc.

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/jee-main-question-papers

Careers360 is also conducting a free JEE Mains mock test which you can attempt. The last date for registration is 8th January, 2026.

https://learn.careers360.com/test-series-jee-main-2026-free-mock-test/

Thank you.

Hello,

The link to the mock test series is attached here. The mock test of Careers360 is completely free, and the structure and questions were prepared keeping in mind the exam of JEE Mains. The registration is ongoing. the last date of registration on 8th January.

https://learn.careers360.com/test-series-jee-main-free-mock-test/

Thank you.