Overview

What is JEE Advanced?

Official website : https://jeeadv.ac.in/index.html

The top entrance exam in India for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) is defined as JEE Advanced. It tests your conceptual knowledge and problem-solving skills in physics, chemistry, and mathematics and is designed for top performers who have qualified in JEE Main.

Examination Date

JEE (Advanced) 2026 will be held on Sunday, 17th May, 2026.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for JEE (Advanced) 2026, aspirants must simultaneously fulfill all five of the following requirements:

Criterion A1 – Performance in JEE (Main) 2026

Candidates should be in the top 2,50,000 successful candidates (across all categories) in the JEE (Main) 2026 B.E./B.Tech. exam.

The percentages of candidates from each category that will be shortlisted are as follows: 10% for GEN-EWS, 27% for OBC-NCL, 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST, and 40.5% for everyone else. PWD candidates are eligible for a 5% horizontal reservation within each of these five categories.

The order to be followed when selecting the top 2,50,000 applicants in different categories based on their performance in the JEE (Main) 2026 B.E./B.Tech. paper is as follows:

Distribution of the top 2,50,000* applicants by category (Criterion A1)

SI No.	Category	Number of “Top” candidates
1	OPEN	96187	101250
2	OPEN-PWD	5063
3	GEN-EWS	23750	25000
4	GEN-EWS-PwD	1250
5	OBC-NCL	64125	67500
6	OBC-NCL-PwD	3375
7	SC	35625	37500
8	SC-PwD	1875
9	ST	17812	18750
10	ST-PwD	938

If there are “tied” ranks or scores in any category, the total number of applicants may be slightly more than 2,50,000.

Except for OPEN-PWD, OCI/PIO (1) candidates are not eligible for any type of reservation benefits (such as GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, or ST). In other words, such OCI/PIO (1) applicants are not eligible for SI No. (3) to (10) in the above table; instead, they must be listed in the rank list in Sl. No. 1 and/or 2.

Criterion A2 – Age Limit

Candidates who apply must have been born on or after October 1, 2001. SC, ST, and PWD candidates are granted a five-year age relaxation; i.e. they must have been born on or after October 1, 1996.

Criterion A3 – Number of attempts

The maximum number of JEE (Advanced) attempts that a candidate may make in two consecutive years is two.

Criterion A4 – Appearance in Class XII (or equivalent) examination

In 2025 or 2026, an applicant must have taken the Class XII (or equivalent) test for the first time, with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as required subjects.

Candidates who first appeared in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination in 2024 or earlier are unable to take the JEE (Advanced) 2026, regardless of the combination or number of subjects attempted/offered.

By appearing in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination, the Board responsible declared the result for that year, irrespective of whether or not the examination was conducted. Even if a candidate’s results are not disclosed, it will still be regarded as an appearance.

However, candidates from that Board who took their Class XII (or equivalent) exam in 2024 are also eligible to take JEE (Advanced) 2026 if the examination Board announced the results for the academic year 2023–2024 on or after June 18, 2024, as long as they fulfill all other eligibility requirements. A candidate will not be allowed to take JEE (Advanced) 2026 if the Class XII (or equivalent) examination board announced the results for the academic year 2023–2024 before June 18, 2024, but their results were not released for any reason.

Criterion A5- Earlier admission at IITs

A applicant should not have been admitted to an IIT under any academic program indicated in the JOSAA Business Rules of 2025, regardless of whether the candidate continued in the program OR accepted an IIT seat by reporting “online” / at a “reporting centre” in the past. Candidates are also unable to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2026 if their admission to any IIT was canceled (for any reason) after they joined.

Candidates may apply for JEE (Advanced) 2026 if they have been admitted into a preparatory course at any IIT for the first time in 2025.

Candidates who were assigned a seat in an IIT through JoSAA 2025 but (i) did not report “online” or at any “reporting center” OR (ii) withdrew before the final round of seat allotment OR (iii) had their seat cancelled (for any reason) before the final round of seat allotment for IITs are qualified to take JEE (Advanced) 2026.

However, in all of the above situations, the candidate must also meet the requirements listed from Criterion Al to Criterion A4.