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 16 Jan 2026, 01:04 PM IST
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What is a Percentile in JEE? - NTA releases the JEE Main result in the form of percentile. Eve the cutoff is based on JEE percentile. Hence, aspirants should know what a percentile is in JEE 2026. Careers360 has explained in detail what the 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. The National Testing Agency will conduct the JEE Main 2026 exam for session 1 from January 21 to 29, 2026, while session 2 is scheduled from April 2 to 9, 2026.
Also Check: JEE Main 2026 Registration I JEE Main 2026 Exam Date

LiveJEE Main 2026 Answer Key Date (Out) LIVE: Session 1 response sheet on Feb 4; marks calculationFeb 1, 2026 | 6:13 PM IST

The JEE Main cut-off scores are the minimum marks required to qualify for JEE Advanced and college admissions. These vary by category and year, with general cut-offs typically ranging from 93–95 percentile (90–100 marks) and being lower for reserved categories.

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This Story also Contains

  1. What is a Percentile in JEE?
  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 a Percentile in JEE?

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 normalisation 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 normalisation 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 normalisation 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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JEE Main 28 Jan shift 2 exam will end at 6 PM. The complete analysis and memory-based questions will solution will be updated in the below article. Keep checking the page-

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/jee-main-2026-january-28-shift-2-question-paper-with-solutions-pdf

Math and Chemistry was difficult and Physics was moderate. The complete analysis is available here- https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/jee-main-2026-january-28-shift-1-question-paper-with-solutions-pdf

You can also check the memory-based questions and detailed solutions for JEE Main Jan 28 shift 1 paper.