The National Testing Agency (NTA) is set to conduct the JEE Main 2026 examination in two sessions, with Session 1 tentatively scheduled for late January 2026 (around January 21–29) and Session 2 in April. As the official qualifying cutoffs are released only after the results of each session, experts, coaching institutes, and education portals have analyzed past trends to provide expected cutoffs for qualifying to appear in JEE Advanced 2026 and for admissions to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs.
Expected Qualifying Cutoff for JEE Main 2026 (Percentile)
The qualifying cutoff refers to the minimum percentile required to be eligible for JEE Advanced (for IIT admissions) and to be considered for JoSAA counselling. These are percentile-based, not raw marks.
Based on consistent expert predictions from sources like Careers360, Physics Wallah, Shiksha, Jagran Josh, Economic Times, and others, the expected category-wise qualifying percentiles for JEE Main 2026 are:
- General (UR): 93 – 95 percentile
- Gen-EWS: 80 – 82 percentile
- OBC-NCL: 79 – 81 percentile
- SC: 60 – 63 percentile
- ST: 46 – 50 percentile (some estimates around 48–52)
- PwD (across categories): Usually very low, often below 1–5 percentile, depending on the year.
These estimates assume a moderate to high level of competition and paper difficulty similar to recent years. The General category cutoff has hovered around 93+ percentile in 2024 (93.23) and 2025 (93.10), showing a slight upward trend in recent cycles due to increasing candidate numbers and performance normalization.
Approximate Corresponding Marks (Out of 300)
While cutoffs are officially in percentiles (due to normalization across shifts), rough marks equivalents based on expert analyses and previous years’ marks-vs-percentile data include:
- General: ~88–95+ marks (for ~93–95 percentile)
- OBC-NCL/EWS: ~70–80 marks
- SC: ~55–65 marks
- ST: ~40–55 marks
Note: Actual marks required can vary significantly by shift difficulty. A score of 140+ is often considered “safe” for General category candidates aiming well above the qualifying cutoff for better ranks and NIT/IIIT seats.
Historical Trends (Qualifying Percentile – General Category as Reference)
- 2025: 93.10
- 2024: 93.23
- 2023: 90.78
- 2022: 88.41
The cutoff rose noticeably from 2022 to 2024 and has stabilized around 93 in recent years. Experts expect it to remain in the 93–95 range for 2026 unless exam difficulty or participation sees a major shift.
Key Factors Influencing 2026 Cutoffs
- Number of applicants: Expected to exceed 12–14 lakh again, maintaining high competition.
- Exam difficulty: If papers are easier, cutoffs rise; tougher papers lower them slightly.
- Normalization process: NTA’s percentile system ensures fairness across multiple shifts.
- Reservation policies: Category-wise cutoffs remain relatively stable year-to-year.
Candidates should aim significantly higher than the qualifying cutoff for good ranks — typically 180+ marks for 99+ percentile and top NIT/IIIT branches.
Official cutoffs will be announced by NTA after each session’s results (likely April–May 2026 for the final consolidated list). Aspirants are advised to focus on consistent preparation and use rank predictors once answer keys are released.
Stay updated via the official NTA website (jeemain.nta.ac.in) for the latest notifications. Good luck to all JEE Main 2026 aspirants!