JEE Main eligibility criteria are divided into two categories, including criteria for appearing for the JEE Main Examination and JEE Main admission criteria. NTA has prescribed the JEE Main eligibility criteria in the JEE Main information bulletin on the official website at jeemain.nta.nic.in.

  • To appear for JEE Main 2026, you only need to fulfil qualifying examination criteria and year appearance in qualifying examination criteria.
  • To get admission based on JEE Main scores, you must fulfil criteria like subject combination, and minimum marks requirement.
Criteria General Requirement SC/ST/PwD Requirement
Age Limit No age restriction Same
Minimum Subjects 5 subjects (PCM + 1 language + any other) Same
Aggregate Marks ≥75% in 5 subjects ≥65%
Top 20%ile ≥75 percentile in board Same
Attempts 3 consecutive years post-Class 12 Result Same

You can check the detailed JEE Main eligibility criteria by going through the JoSAA Business Rules/CSAB Information Brochure on the official websites at josaa.nic.in and csab.nic.in.

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JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026

Key Summary

  • No minimum age is required for JEE Main 2026, however, you can appear for JEE Main 2026 in only 3 consecutive years.
  • You can only have a maximum of 6 attempts in JEE Main examination, with 2 attempts each year in 3 years.
  • Eligibility for JEE Main is determined based on year of passing class 12 exam. Students who passed class 12th in 2023 or earlier are not eligible to appear for JEE Main 2026.
  • Candidates who passed class 12 in 2024 have only 2 attempts remaining and those passed class 12 in 2025 have 4 attempts left.
  • Physics, Mathematics, and a Language subjects are compulsory for Paper 1. For Paper 2A Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics are compulsory.
  • For Paper 2B, Mathematics is a compulsory subject.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria: Eligibility and Qualification

JEE Main eligibility and qualification criteria include age criteria, qualifying examination, year of appearance in the qualifying examination, and state of eligibility.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026: Age Criteria

To appear for JEE Main 2026, there is no age restriction prescribed by NTA on the official website. If you have passed the class 12th examination in 2024 or 2025 or are appearing for the class 12 examination in 2026, you are eligible to appear for JEE Main 2026.

After qualifying the JEE Main 2026, you may be required to fulfil the JEE Main age requirement prescribed by instituition to which you are desirous of taking admission.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026: Qualifying Examination

Aspirants must have completed class 12th or equivalent from any recognized board or institute to be eligible to appear for JEE Main 2026. You can check the list of qualifying examinations required to appear for JEE Main 2026 in the table below.

S.No. Qualifying Examination Conducted by/Recognized by
1 Class 10+2 Examination conducted by Any recognized Central/ State Board, such as the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi; Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi, etc, recognized Central/ State Board, such as the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi; Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi, etc.
2 Intermediate or two-year Pre-University examination Recognized Board/ University
3 Final examination of the two-year course of the Joint Services Wing National Defence Academy
4 Senior Secondary School Examination (with a minimum of five subjects) National Institute of Open Schooling
5 Public School/ Board/ University examination in India or any foreign country Association of Indian Universities (AIU)
6 3-year Diploma AICTE/State board of technical education
7 General Certificate of Education (GCE) examination (London/Cambridge/Sri Lanka) at theAdvanced (A) level
8 High School Certificate Examination or InternationalBaccalaureate Diploma Cambridge University/International Baccalaureate Office, Geneva
9 Class 10+2 Board of Open Schooling and Skill Education (BOSSE), Sikkim

Note:

  • Those who have cleared class 12th or equivalent from outside India or from a Board not specified in the table above must have a certificate from the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) stating that the qualification is equivalent to class 12th.
  • If the class 12 examination is not a public examination, then the candidates must have cleared at least one public examination earlier (Board or Pre University).

JEE Main Qualifying Examination Criteria: Year of Appearance

Aspirants who cleared class 12th in 2024 or 2025 are eligible to appear for JEE Main exam 2026.

  • Students appearing for the Class 12th or equivalent examination in 2026 are also eligible to appear for the JEE Main 2026 examination.
  • Candidates who have passed class 12th in 2023 or before are not eligible to appear for JEE Main 2026.

Note:

  • Class 12 passing year means the year in which the result is released and the candidate is declared “Pass” for the first time in that particular year.
  • If a candidate has cleared class 12th with Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in 2023 and has passed class 12th with Mathematics in 2024, then 2023 will be considered as the year of their class 12 passing.
  • If you are appearing in class 12th in 2026, you must mention your Roll Number/ Registration Number/ Enrollment Number, etc., in the relevant fields while filling out the JEE Main application form 2026.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026: State of Eligibility

JEE Main State Code of Eligibility is the code of the state from which aspirants have passed their class 12th or equivalent examination. Students become eligible for JEE Main 2026 based on the state code of eligibility.

  • State code of eligibility does not depend on the place of residence or the native place of students. However, it is the state from which candidates have passed the Class 12 examination.
  • Students who have passed class 12th from one state and appeared for improvement from another state, the state from which they first passed the examination will be their state of eligibility.
  • For students who passed or are appearing for class 12th from NIOS, their state code of eligibility will be the state in which the study Centre is located.
  • Indian nationals who passed class 12th from Nepal/Bhutan, their state code of eligibility will be determined based on their permanent address in India, as mentioned on their passports.
  • The state code of eligibility for OCI candidates is similar to that of Indian Nationals. However, such candidates are eligible only for All India quota seats, but not the home state quota seats.

Also Read: JEE Main Attempts

Ques. I first appeared in class 12 in 2023 but passed in 2025. Will I be eligible for the JEE Mains 2026?

Ans. As per the JEE Main eligibility criteria, only the passing year will be considered to calculate your remaining attempts. If ou have passed class 12th examination for the first time in 2025, then only you are eligible for JEE Main 2026. If you have passed few subjects in 2023 and remaining subjects in 2025, then you are not eligible for JEE Main 2026.

official brochure

Source: @ jeemain.nta.nic.in official brochure

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026: Reservation

Reserved categories ike EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, and PwD are eligible to avail the JEE Main reservation benefits. JEE Main eligibility criteria are designed as per the reservation criteria prescribed by the Government of India.

  • The OBC-NCL category has the highest reservation percentage of 27% seats in JEE Main.
  • 10% seats are reserved for EWS candidates.
  • For SC and ST candidates, 15% and 7.5% seats are reserved, respectively.
  • 5% seats from each category are reserved for PwD candidates. To avail of the reservation benefits, students must have a specified disability of at least 40%.
Category Reservation(%)
EWS 10%
OBC-NCL 27%
SC .15%
ST 7.5%
PwD 5% in each category

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria: Admission

At the time of admission, students must follow the admission policies prescribed by the respective institutions. Aspirants can check below the eligibility criteria for admission to NITs, IIEST, IIITs & GFTIs.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria for NITs, IIEST, IIITs & GFTIs

For NIT+ system (NITs, IIEST, IIITs, & GFTIs), aspirants must have passed class 10+2 or equivalent board examination with a minimum of 5 subjects.

  • In the qualifying examination, students must have secured at least 75% marks in aggregate in 5 subjects.
  • For reserved categories like SC, ST, and PwD candidates, the minimum marks required are 65% in aggregate.
  • Candidates must be within the category wise top 20 percentile of successful candidates in their respective class 12th board examination.

Students musst have relevant subject combinations in class 12th for respective courses as prescribed in the table below.

Course Subjects Requirement for Class XII / Equivalent qualifying Examination
Programs based onPaper 1 rank (BE/Btech) Physics, Mathematics, Language, one from Chemistry/ Biotechnology/ Biology/ Technical VocationalSubject and any other subject
Programs based on Paper 2A rank (B.Arch) Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and two other subjects
Programs based on Paper 2B rank (B.Planning) Mathematics and four other subjects
jeemain eligibility crieteris

Source: @jeemain.nta.nic.in

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria for Other Institutions

Other institutions can also consider the above mentioned eligibility criteria adopted by institutes participating in JoSAA/CSAB counselling. Institutes affiliated with state universities are free to prepare their separate rank list as per the eligibility criteria prescribed by them.

However, for B.Plan. and BArch programs, students must fulfil the below eligibility criteria.

  • For B.Planning programs, aspirants must have passed qualifying examination with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate.
  • No candidate will be admitted to BArch course unless she/he has passed 10+2 or equivalent with at least 45% marks in aggregate in Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry or Biology or Technical Vocational subject or Computer Science or Information Technology or Informatics Practices or Engineering Graphics or Business Studies.

Also Check

Eligibility Criteria for Appearing in JEE Advanced

After clearing JEE Main, students must fulfil the eligibility conditions to appear for JEE Advanced examination. To be eligible for appearing in JEE Advanced 2026, students must be among the top 2,50,000 candidates in B.E./B.Tech. Paper of JEE Main 2026.

The last year’s JEE Main qualifying marks for appearing in JEE Advanced are listed in the table below.

Category Qualifying Percentile (from) Qualifying Percentile (to)
UR 100 93.1023262
PwBD 93.0950208 0.0079349
EWS 93.0950208 80.3830119
OBC 93.0950208 79.4313582
SC 93.0950208 61.1526933
ST 93.0950208 47.9026465

Read More: JEE Advanced Eligibility

People asked on quora: What is the JEE Mains eligibility criteria for a dropper student?

A Quora user replied: You must have scored atleast 75 % in your 12th exam. This is the only eligibility criteria assuming that it's your 1st or 2nd drop after your class 12th.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria FAQs

Ques. How is JEE Main eligibility criteria different from BITSAT eligibility criteria?

Ans.

Aspect JEE Main BITSAT
75% Aggregate
  • 75% in best 5 subjects (PCM + English + 1 other)
  • 74.8% or below = ineligible for counseling
  • SC/ST: 65%
  • 75% in PCM only (≥60% each subject)
  • overall aggregate ignored
Subjects
  • PCM mandatory + 2 others
  • Vocational Subjects (e.g., Biotech) can replace Chem for NITs (not IITs)
  • PCM only: theory + practicals count
Age Limit
  • No limit mentioned: based on Class 12 passing year (2024-2026 eligible)
  • No specific age; same as JEE
Attempts/Improvement
  • Up to 3 years (6 sessions): 2 attempts every year
  • All 5 subjects must be improved if partial; no partial eligibility
Top 20%ile
  • >75% needed in CBSE for qualification if aggregate is low
  • Not directly applicable: PCM-focused

Ques. What if I do not fulfil the JEE Main 75% eligibility criteria?

Ans. if a candidate fails to fulfil the JEE Main eligibility criteria of 75% marks, such candidates must appear for improvement exams. Improvement exams can help aspirants to get 75% marks or more if prepared well.

If any of your main subjects are weak, you must appear for improvement for those papers in which you are confident.

Aspect Key Details User Advice/Tips
75% Criteria
  • ≥75% aggregate for NIT/IIIT (PCM aggregate ~69-70% is OK if overall hits)
  • SC/ST: 65%
  • If 69%, improve 1 subject (revaluation can add 0.2-1%).
Subjects
  • PCM core: 1-subject compartment must clear first, then improve others.
  • Avoid improving Maths if weak; pick confident one.

Ques. Is 75 criteria removed from JEE 2026?

Ans. No, 75% criteria is not removed from JEE Main 2026. Students must have scored a minimum of 75% marks in aggregate to be eligible for admission to NIT+ system (NITs, IIITs, GFTIs, etc.).

Ques. Do we need 75 in PCM or overall for JEE?

Ans. for JEE Main 2026, you do not need 75% in PCM only. However, you must have secured a minimum of 75% marks in 5 subjects chosen by candidates. That means, overall 75% marks are required for JEE Main 2026 admissions.

Ques. What happens if I am OBC but not ncl?

Ans. If you are OBC but not NCL, you will not be eligible for JEE Main reservation benefits for OBC candidates. You will be considered as general candidate while appearing for JEE Main exam and JEE Main counselling.