IIT JAM Counselling 2026: Registration, Choice Filling and Round-Wise Seat Allotment

IIT JAM 2026 Counselling is conducted centrally through the JOAPS (Joint Online Admission Portal for Science) at joaps.iitb.ac.in, administered by IIT Bombay as the organizing institute for JAM 2026. All five rounds of seat allotment are now complete, and offer letters have been available for download from the JOAPS portal since July 9, 2026 — students who have been allotted a seat must download their offer letter and report to their institute as per that institute’s schedule.

• IIT JAM 2026 counselling offers approximately 3,000 seats across 89 postgraduate programmes at 22 IITs, with additional seats at NITs, IISc, and other CFTIs through a separate CCMN process.
• The entire admission process — registration, document upload, choice filling, seat offer responses, and offer letter download — is managed on joaps.iitb.ac.in.
• Seat booking fee is ₹15,000 for General, OBC-NCL, and EWS students and ₹7,500 for SC, ST, and PwD students; a non-refundable ₹6,000 processing charge is deducted if a student withdraws after paying.
• During active rounds, students chose between Accept and Freeze (confirm seat, exit further rounds), Accept with Upgrade (hold seat while competing for a better option in the next round), or Reject and Quit (exit the process permanently).
• Offer letters issued through JOAPS are the official JAM admission document — no physical letter or separate email is sent by the JAM administration.

Reservation of Quotas for IIT JAM Counselling 2026

IIT JAM 2026 seat allocation follows the Government of India’s reservation policy. Seats at each programme are distributed across categories, and the JOAPS system maintains separate All India Merit Lists (AIR) for each category based on JAM 2026 scores.

PwD reservation is applied horizontally — 5% of seats within each vertical category (General, OBC-NCL, EWS, SC, ST) are reserved for PwD students. Students must select the correct category during JOAPS registration; category changes after final submission are not permitted. Students who claimed a reserved category but cannot produce a valid certificate at the institute’s document verification stage may lose their allotted seat.

How to Apply for IIT JAM Counselling 2026?

IIT JAM 2026 counselling is fully online through the JOAPS portal at joaps.iitb.ac.in. The application and choice-filling phases for JAM 2026 are now closed. The steps below describe the complete end-to-end process — they serve as a reference for students completing the current admission cycle and for those preparing for JAM 2027.

Registering for counselling is mandatory — your JAM rank alone does not guarantee a seat. Students who do not register on JOAPS are not included in any admission list regardless of their rank.

Step 1: Register on the JOAPS Portal

Visit joaps.iitb.ac.in and click “New Registration.” Enter your JAM 2026 Enrolment ID, registered email address, and mobile number. The system sends an OTP to verify your contact details. Set a password and complete registration to receive your JOAPS login credentials. All future portal access — document upload, choice filling, seat offer response, and offer letter download — uses your Enrolment ID and that password. Store these credentials securely.

Step 2: Upload Documents and Pay Application Fee

After logging in, upload all required supporting documents as scanned PDFs (see the Documents Required section for the full list). Year-wise marksheets of the qualifying degree must be merged into a single PDF per year (maximum 4 MB per file). Pay the non-refundable application processing fee of ₹750 through the JOAPS payment gateway. No physical document submission is required at this stage; all primary verification is digital, with originals checked by the admitting institute at the reporting stage.

Step 3: Submit Application Form

Complete the application form with your personal details, qualifying degree information, category details, and contact information. Verify that your name is entered exactly as it appears on your qualifying degree certificate — any mismatch may result in rejection at the institute’s document verification stage. Submit the form before the April 15, 2026 deadline; incomplete or unsubmitted applications are not considered.

Step 4: Fill Programme Choices

Log in to JOAPS and use the choice-filling interface to select and rank the programmes you wish to apply for, in order of preference. You can list all programmes whose MEQ criteria you satisfy. Fill at least 15–20 choices to maximise your chances across all rounds. The list can be revised multiple times until the May 6, 2026 finalisation deadline. After that deadline, choices are locked and cannot be modified.

Step 5: Respond to Seat Offer

After each admission list is published on JOAPS, log in and review your seat offer. Respond before the round deadline by choosing one of three options: Accept and Freeze (confirm the offered seat and exit further rounds), Accept with Upgrade (provisionally accept the current seat while remaining in the pool for a better offer), or Reject and Quit (withdraw permanently from the entire process). Pay the seat booking fee if you accept. Missing the deadline without responding is treated as Reject and Quit and removes you from all subsequent rounds.

How to Lock Choices (Step-by-Step Guide)

Choice filling and locking are conducted on the JOAPS portal. After the finalisation deadline, all choices are locked automatically. Students should review and confirm the order of their preferences well before the deadline, as no changes are accepted once the window closes.

Step 1: Log In to the JOAPS Portal

• Go to joaps.iitb.ac.in and enter your Enrolment ID and password.
• Navigate to the “Programme Choices” or “Choice Filling” section from your dashboard.

Step 2: Browse and Add Programmes

• Use the search filters to browse available programmes by test paper, subject, or institute name.
• Only programmes matching your JAM test paper and MEQ criteria are eligible to be added to your list.
• Add all programmes you are interested in before ordering them.

Step 3: Order Programmes by Preference

• Drag and reorder the added programmes from most preferred (Rank 1) to least preferred (last rank).
• Place your absolute first-choice programme-institute combination at Rank 1.
• Add safety options lower in the list to ensure you receive at least one offer even if top choices are oversubscribed.

Step 4: Review the Final Ordered List

• Read through the complete ranked list carefully before the finalisation deadline.
• Confirm that Rank 1 reflects your true top preference — if you are offered this programme, no upgrade beyond it is possible.

Step 5: Finalise Choices Before the Deadline

• Click “Finalise Choices” before the May 6, 2026 deadline (for JAM 2026).
• A confirmation screen displays your final ranked list — review it once more before clicking Confirm.
• Once confirmed, the list is locked. No further changes are accepted under any circumstances.

The JOAPS algorithm allocates seats after each round based on AIR rank, category, and programme availability, matching each student to the highest-ranked programme on their list for which a seat is available in that round.

IIT JAM Counselling Documents Required 2026

Students must upload the following documents during the JOAPS application phase. At the institute reporting stage, the admitting IIT or CFTI verifies all originals in person. Carry both originals and self-attested photocopies when you report.

• Nationality proof (any one): Birth certificate; Voter ID; first page of passport; school Transfer Certificate (TC) mentioning nationality; government-issued Nationality Certificate; or a signed Declaration Form if no standard nationality document is available.
• Class X (SSC) marksheet and certificate — used to verify date of birth.
• Class XII (HSC) marksheet and certificate.
• Qualifying degree marksheets — year-wise or semester-wise covering all years of the Bachelor’s degree (first, second, third, and fourth or fifth year where applicable). Upload year-wise marksheets merged as a single PDF per academic year (maximum 4 MB per file).
• Consolidated marksheet of the qualifying degree, if issued by the university.
• Degree or Provisional Certificate of the qualifying degree (required if you have already graduated at the time of application).
• Declaration Form for missing documents — mandatory if any marksheet or certificate is unavailable; must be countersigned by the Head of Institution if the reason is related to COVID-19 disruptions.
• Category certificate (if applicable):
  • OBC-NCL certificate — issued on or after April 1, 2025.
  • EWS certificate — issued on or after April 1, 2025.
  • SC or ST certificate — issued by the competent authority.
  • PwD disability certificate with UDID number.
• Recent passport-size photograph (digital, as per JOAPS specifications).
• Digital signature (scanned image).
• JAM 2026 Declaration Form (available for download on the JOAPS portal).

Note: The name in the JOAPS application must exactly match the name on your qualifying degree certificate. A mismatch — even a spelling difference — can result in cancellation of admission at the institute’s document verification stage.

How Much Money is Needed for IIT JAM Counselling 2026?

IIT JAM 2026 counselling involves two types of fees: a non-refundable application processing fee paid during JOAPS registration, and a seat booking fee paid upon accepting a seat offer. The JOAPS platform does not levy any separate service charge; any payment gateway fee is collected by the bank and not by the JAM organizers.

Non-Refundable Fees

Refundable Fees (Seat Booking Fee)

If you withdraw after accepting a seat, the seat acceptance fee is not fully refunded — the ₹6,000 processing charge is retained in all withdrawal scenarios. Students who join their institute have the seat booking fee adjusted against their admission fee, so no amount is lost to the processing charge. Students who were not offered any seat across all rounds receive a full refund of their application fee per institute policy, without deduction.

IIT JAM 2026 Round-Wise Seat Allotment

IIT JAM 2026 conducted five rounds of seat allotment — four regular rounds and one additional (final) round — between May and July 2026. All rounds are now complete. The additional round filled seats vacated by students who withdrew before the July 3, 2026 withdrawal window closed. No further allotment rounds will be conducted for JAM 2026.

Between rounds, students who chose “Accept with Upgrade” remained in the pool and could be moved to a higher-preference programme if a seat became available. Students who chose “Accept and Freeze” were removed from subsequent rounds with their seat confirmed. The additional round was the last opportunity for students who had not yet been allotted a seat or who had vacated their earlier allotment through withdrawal.

Upgrade, Freeze, or Withdraw — Which Option Should You Choose?

After each admission list in JOAPS, students who receive a seat offer must choose one of three actions before the round’s response deadline. This decision affects both your current seat and your eligibility for future rounds.

Choose “Accept and Freeze” when you have received a seat in your top-priority programme — remaining in the pool when your best option is already allocated gains nothing and risks a disruptive late change. Choose “Accept with Upgrade” if you hold a seat you would accept but have higher-ranked choices still unallocated. If you withdraw after accepting a seat, the seat acceptance fee is not fully refunded — the ₹6,000 processing charge is retained regardless of the reason for withdrawal.

Students who chose “Accept with Upgrade” in an earlier round and were subsequently moved to a better programme had their previous seat automatically released back to the pool. The seat booking fee paid for the earlier seat was carried forward to the new allotment within the same cycle — no additional payment was required for the upgrade itself.

IIT JAM 2026 Offer Letter Download and Institute Reporting

With all five rounds of seat allotment completed, the final phase of IIT JAM 2026 admission is downloading the offer letter from JOAPS and reporting in person to the allotted institute. Offer letters have been available for download from the JOAPS portal since July 9, 2026 — students with a confirmed allotment must download this document and present it when reporting to their institute.

How to Download Your IIT JAM 2026 Offer Letter

Step 1: Log In to the JOAPS Portal

• Visit joaps.iitb.ac.in.
• Enter your Enrolment ID and password.

Step 2: Check Your Dashboard

• Your current admission status is displayed on the dashboard after login.
• If a seat has been confirmed in your name across any round, you will see an “Offer Letter Available” prompt or a dedicated Download button.

Step 3: Download and Save the Offer Letter

• Click the “Download Offer Letter” button.
• The offer letter is a PDF document containing your name, JAM roll number, allotted programme, allotted institute, and the JAM Joint Admission Board’s confirmation of your admission offer.
• Save a digital copy and print at least two physical copies — carry one when reporting and keep one for your records.

Step 4: Note Reporting Instructions from Your Institute

• Your allotted institute communicates the reporting date, time, venue, and institute-specific fee payment instructions through its own admission portal or official website.
• JAM administration does not set institute-level reporting dates — check your allotted IIT’s or CFTI’s admission website directly for this information.

Note: The JOAPS Offer Letter is the official document from the JAM organizing committee. Your admitting institute may also issue its own admission letter covering hostel, fee breakdown, and academic calendar details — monitor that institute’s website for that document separately.

Reporting to the Allotted Institute

After downloading the offer letter, report in person to your allotted institute on the date specified in its admission communications. The institute conducts document verification at this stage before confirming final admission.

• Carry the printed JAM 2026 Offer Letter downloaded from JOAPS.
• Carry all original documents listed in the Documents Required section above.
• Also carry self-attested photocopies of all originals — most institutes require one or more complete sets of copies.
• Pay the institute admission fee as specified by the admitting institute. The seat booking fee of ₹15,000 or ₹7,500 paid on JOAPS is adjusted against this fee.
• If any document is found to be inconsistent with what was uploaded on JOAPS, or if original certificates are missing, the institute may cancel the admission — resolve all document issues before the reporting date.
• Students who paid the seat booking fee on JOAPS but do not report will forfeit the ₹6,000 processing charge; the remaining balance is refunded by August 15, 2026.