JEE Main 2026 Cutoff Hits 5-Year High; General Category Rises to 93.41 Percentile

The National Testing Agency announced JEE Main 2026 qualifying cutoff percentiles on April 20. The General category cutoff reached 93.4123549 percentile, the highest qualifying threshold recorded in the past five years, surpassing previous records and indicating substantially increased competition among engineering aspirants.

• This cutoff increased from 93.1023262 in 2025 to 93.4123549 in 2026, marking a 0.31-percentage-point increase.
• The Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category cutoff rose to 82.4164528 from 80.3830119 in 2025, representing a substantial 2.03-percentage-point jump.
• Other Backward Classes (OBC-NCL) cutoff climbed to 80.9232583 from 79.4313582, representing a 1.49 percentile point increase.
• Scheduled Caste (SC) category cutoff reached 63.9172792 from 61.1526933, the highest in five years with a 2.76 percentile point rise.
• Scheduled Tribe (ST) category cutoff increased to 52.0174712 from 47.9026465, marking a 4.11 percentile point jump—the most significant increase among all categories.

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JEE Main 2026 Cutoff for JEE Advanced

JEE Main 2026 cutoff percentile released is the minimum marks required by candidates to qualify JEE Main and be eligible for IIT JEE. This year, a total of 250,182 students have qualified for JEE Advanced 2026.

Category	Percentile Cutoff (From)	Candidates Eligible
UR-ALL	93.4123549	96,873
EWS-ALL	82.4164528	25,009
OBC-ALL	80.9232583	67,597
SC-ALL	63.9172792	37,522
ST-ALL	52.0174712	18,790
UR-PwBD	0.0023186	4,391

Expert analysis suggests that the cutoff increase stems from multiple factors including record registration numbers, improved student preparation, and consistent examination difficulty levels.

The total unique candidate registration across both JEE Main 2026 sessions reached 16,04,854, with 15,38,468 candidates appearing for the examination. This massive participation pool directly influences cutoff calculations, as NTA determines qualifying percentiles based on relative performance within each session. The normalization process ensures fairness across multiple shifts and sessions, adjusting for varying difficulty levels to maintain equitable evaluation standards.

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• JEE Main 2026 Participation Hits All-Time High; 16.04 Lakh Unique Registrations Recorded
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Approximately 2.5 lakh candidates have now qualified to register for JEE (Advanced) 2026, the gateway to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Experts advise that while qualifying is a major milestone, students should shift their focus immediately to the more rigorous, concept-heavy format of the Advanced exam. Meanwhile, JoSAA 2026 Counselling is expected to begin in June 2026.

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• JEE Advanced 2026 Registration from April 23; Exam Scheduled for May 17
• IISc Bengaluru to Participate in JoSAA for BTech Admission 2026