The Rule That Eliminates Candidates After They Crack the Exam
Most JEE aspirants spend months mastering the JEE Main syllabus, taking mock tests, and tracking their percentile. They skip the page that actually decides whether their rank converts into a seat. The 75% class 12 rule is not an exam-entry barrier. It is an admission gate that swings shut during counselling, months after you celebrate your NTA score. If you do not understand this distinction now, your entire preparation could rest on a foundation that cracks at the last step.
NTA's JEE Main eligibility criteria for 2026 split cleanly into two layers: conditions to sit for the exam, and conditions to claim a seat at NITs, IIITs, and CFTIs. The exam-entry layer is deliberately simple. No age cap. No minimum board percentage. A qualifying examination in the right year with the right subjects, and you are in. The admission layer is where the agency tightens the screws: aggregate marks thresholds, top-20 percentile rules, subject combinations that vary by programme, and a state code of eligibility that can shift your seat prospects by thousands of ranks.
You need both layers before you fill the JEE Main registration form. Here is each one, clause by clause, so your counselling session does not end with a rejection notice.
Age Limit: No Barrier, Except When It Is
NTA imposes no age restriction for JEE Main 2026. The official information bulletin states it plainly: candidates who passed class 12 in 2024, 2025, or are appearing in 2026 can apply regardless of their date of birth. The upper age cap that once existed is gone, and the 2026 bulletin confirms it stays gone.
One catch endures. Individual institutes can set their own age criteria at the admission stage. NITs, IIITs, and state engineering colleges that admit through JoSAA or CSAB may enforce age limits independent of NTA's exam eligibility. Before you lock your preference list, visit each target institute's admission page and check. A 22-year-old dropper who clears JEE Main with a strong percentile still needs the institute to say yes.
The removal of the age barrier has shifted the candidate pool. Data from recent cycles shows an approximate 11% rise in applicants aged 21 to 25, and roughly 17% of top performers now fall above age 20. Older candidates with gap years are not outliers; they are competitive contenders.
If you are targeting JEE Advanced as well, note that the Advanced age rule is separate and stricter. For 2026, general category candidates must have been born on or after 1 October 2001. SC, ST, and PwD candidates get a five-year relaxation and must be born on or after 1 October 1996.
Qualifying Examinations: The 12 Pathways NTA Accepts
You need a class 12 or equivalent qualification from a recognised board. NTA's list in the 2026 information bulletin is exhaustive. The following examinations make you eligible:
- Class 12 or 10+2 from any recognised central or state board (CBSE, CISCE, and state boards).
- Intermediate or two-year pre-university examination conducted by a recognised board or university.
- Final examination of the two-year course of the Joint Services Wing of the National Defence Academy.
- Senior secondary school examination conducted by NIOS with at least five subjects.
- Any public school, board, or university examination in India or abroad recognised as equivalent to the 10+2 system by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
- Higher Secondary Certificate vocational examination.
- A three-year diploma recognised by AICTE or a state board of technical education.
- General Certificate Education (GCE) examination at the Advanced (A) level (London, Cambridge, or Sri Lanka).
- High School Certificate Examination of Cambridge University or International Baccalaureate Diploma from the International Baccalaureate Office, Geneva.
- Class 12 or equivalent from the Board of Open Schooling and Skill Education (BOSSE), Sikkim.
If your qualifying examination is not on this list, you must obtain a certificate from AIU stating that your qualification is equivalent to class 12. NTA will not make this determination for you. Apply for the AIU equivalence certificate well before the JEE Main dates timeline tightens. The application window for Session 1 opened on 31 October 2025 and closed on 27 November 2025. Session 2 applications ran from 1 February to 25 February 2026.
Candidates who completed class 12 outside India or from a board not specified must produce the AIU certificate. If your class 12 examination is not a public examination, you must have passed at least one public (board or pre-university) examination earlier.
Year of Passing: The Three-Year Window
Eligibility for JEE Main 2026 is locked to three specific passing years: 2024, 2025, or appearing in 2026. If you passed class 12 in 2023 or earlier, you are not eligible under any category. There is no appeal process.
The passing year is defined as the year in which your result was declared and you were first marked "pass." If you cleared some subjects in one year and others later, the first year of passing counts. A candidate who passed biology and chemistry in 2023 but cleared mathematics only in 2024 will have 2023 as the qualifying year and is ineligible for JEE Main 2026.
For JEE Advanced eligibility, the window is narrower: you must have appeared for class 12 for the first time in either 2025 or 2026. Candidates who first appeared in 2024 or earlier are not eligible for Advanced, regardless of their combination or number of subjects attempted.
Attempt Limits: Six Shots Across Three Years
You can appear for JEE Main in three consecutive years starting from the year you pass class 12. NTA conducts two sessions each year (January and April), so the maximum number of attempts across three years is six. Both sessions in a single year together count as one attempt year for the three-year limit.
This means a candidate who passed class 12 in 2024 can attempt JEE Main in 2024, 2025, and 2026. A candidate passing in 2025 gets 2025, 2026, and 2027. The window is rigid. Skipping a year does not extend it. If you passed in 2024 and only attempt in 2026, that is your only eligible year left, regardless of how many unused sessions sit behind you.
The attempt limit is uniform across all categories. General, OBC-NCL, EWS, SC, ST, and PwD all get the same six attempts. Only the qualifying marks for admission differ.
For JEE Advanced, the limit shrinks to two attempts in two consecutive years. If you appeared for Advanced in 2025, you can appear again in 2026, but not beyond. Your Advanced attempts are completely separate from your JEE Main attempts.
The 75% Rule: Exam Entry vs. Admission
This is the clause that causes more counselling rejections than any other. Let us state it plainly.
There is no minimum percentage requirement to appear for JEE Main. You can register, download your JEE Main admit card, and sit for the exam with any class 12 marks. 60%. 55%. It does not matter at the exam-entry stage.
The 75% aggregate condition applies solely at the admission stage for NITs, IIITs, and CFTIs participating through JoSAA/CSAB counselling. Here are the thresholds from the 2026 information bulletin:
- General, OBC-NCL, and EWS candidates: 75% aggregate in class 12 or a position in the top 20 percentile of their respective board.
- SC, ST, and PwD candidates: 65% aggregate in class 12 or a position in the top 20 percentile of their respective board.
Both routes are alternatives. If your aggregate sits at 74% but your score places you in the top 20 percentile of your board, you meet the admission criterion. The top-20-percentile cut-offs vary by board and by year. JoSAA publishes them during counselling. For reference, CBSE's top 20 percentile cut-off for the general category was 417 out of 500 in 2024 and 420 out of 500 in 2023. Boards with tougher evaluation tend to have lower absolute percentage thresholds, which can work to your advantage.
The aggregate is calculated over the subjects in your class 12 marksheet according to your board's norm. If your board computes aggregate over five subjects, use that figure. If it uses all six, use that. NTA does not impose a separate PCM-only aggregate for the 75% rule, though individual subject passes are mandatory.
For B.Arch and B.Planning admissions through JoSAA, the minimum is 50% aggregate in the qualifying examination, with specific subject-wise requirements detailed in the subject combinations section below.
A candidate who does not meet the 75% or top-20-percentile threshold can still use their JEE Main score for admission to private universities, state engineering colleges with lower cut-offs, and institutes that do not participate in JoSAA. The JEE Main college predictor can help you identify these options.
The 75% rule has a practical deadline that matters. For JoSAA 2026, the final marksheet submission deadline is 15 July 2026. If your marks remain below the threshold by that date and you have no eligible marksheet to submit, your seat allotment will be cancelled, even if you have already paid the acceptance fee. This deadline covers students awaiting re-evaluation results, compartment exam outcomes, and improvement exam marksheets. If you are close to the threshold, use every legitimate pathway: re-evaluation, top-20-percentile verification, and improvement exams.
Subject Combinations: What Your Class 12 Mark Sheet Must Show
Your class 12 subject mix determines which JEE Main paper you can meaningfully take and which programmes you can subsequently join. NTA specifies distinct combinations for each stream.
B.E./B.Tech (Paper 1): Physics and Mathematics are compulsory. You need one additional subject from Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology, or a technical vocational subject. Chemistry is not mandatory for B.Tech eligibility. A PCB student with mathematics as an additional subject qualifies, though the preparation burden is heavier. You must also have studied at least five subjects in total.
B.Arch (Paper 2A): Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. All three are compulsory. There is no optional subject substitution. If you did not study chemistry in class 12, you cannot claim a B.Arch seat through JoSAA, regardless of your NTA score. Additionally, for Council of Architecture approval, you need at least 50% marks in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics combined, plus 50% aggregate in the qualifying examination.
B.Planning (Paper 2B): Mathematics is compulsory. No other specific subject is mandated beyond having at least five subjects overall. Admission requires a minimum of 50% aggregate in the qualifying examination.
A minimum of five subjects in the qualifying examination is required across all categories and papers. Candidates with only four subjects are not eligible for NIT, IIIT, or CFTI admission through JoSAA.
Align your preparation with the JEE Main syllabus for the specific paper you intend to take.
State Code of Eligibility: The Factor That Decides Home Quota
The state code of eligibility determines whether you compete for seats under the home state quota or the other state quota during JoSAA counselling. NITs typically reserve 50% of their seats for home state candidates. Choosing the wrong code can lock you out of seats you would otherwise have claimed.
The rule is straightforward: your state code is the state or union territory from which you passed (or are appearing in) your class 12 qualifying examination. It is not your birthplace. It is not your current residence. It is not your parents' domicile state.
A student who lives in Noida, Uttar Pradesh but passed class 12 from a Delhi school has a state code of Delhi. That student competes for the Delhi home state quota, not the UP quota. This single entry on the application form can shift your closing rank prospects by several thousand positions.
Special scenarios have defined rules in the official bulletin:
- Improvement candidates: If you first passed class 12 from one state and later took improvement exams from another, the state of your original passing determines the eligibility code.
- NIOS and open school candidates: The state code is the location of the study centre where you appeared for the qualifying examination, not your home address.
- Indian nationals who passed class 12 from Nepal or Bhutan: The code is based on the permanent Indian address in your passport.
- OCI/PIO candidates who passed class 12 in India: Treated on par with Indian nationals for state quota purposes.
- OCI/PIO candidates who passed from an institution abroad: Eligible only for other state or all India quota seats, not home state quota in any NIT.
During the Session 2 correction window (27-28 February 2026), existing candidates could modify their state code of eligibility along with other select fields. New candidates for Session 2 had a broader set of editable fields. This facility is a one-time opportunity; errors left uncorrected cannot be fixed during counselling.
NIS, Open School, and Foreign Board Candidates
Students from NIS, BOSSE Sikkim, and other recognised open school boards are eligible for JEE Main provided their qualification is equivalent to class 12 and accepted by NTA. The conditions are specific:
- You must have passed with at least five subjects.
- Subject requirements for your chosen paper (PCM for B.Tech, for example) must be met.
- The board must be recognised by MHRD or AIU.
- The state code of eligibility follows the location of your study centre, not your residential address.
If your class 12 qualification is from a foreign board not explicitly listed by NTA, secure the AIU equivalence certificate before the application window opens. NTA will not process it retroactively, and counselling authorities will not accept your seat claim without it.
Diploma Holders and the IIT Pathway
Candidates with a three-year AICTE-recognised diploma can appear for JEE Main Paper 1. However, their score is usable only for qualifying to JEE Advanced. Diploma holders are not eligible for admission to NITs, IIITs, or CFTIs through JEE Main.
If you hold a diploma and aim for an IIT, your route runs: JEE Main Paper 1, then JEE Advanced, then IIT admission. If you want an NIT or IIIT seat, you need a class 12 qualification with the prescribed subject combination. There is no workaround.
Reservation Policy
The reservation percentages for JEE Main 2026 are set by the Government of India and applied at the admission stage through JoSAA:
These percentages determine the composition of the 2,50,000 candidates shortlisted for JEE Advanced as well. The category-wise distribution of top 2,50,000 candidates: Open (40.5%), Open-PwD (remaining from 5% horizontal), EWS (10%), EWS-PwD, OBC-NCL (27%), OBC-NCL-PwD, SC (15%), SC-PwD, ST (7.5%), ST-PwD.
For the 2026 cycle, the official qualifying cutoffs for JEE Advanced eligibility were released with the Session 2 results on 20 April 2026. General category: 93.4123549 percentile. EWS: 82.4164528. OBC-NCL: 80.9232583. SC: 63.9172792. ST: 52.0174712. A total of 2,50,182 candidates qualified. These cutoffs are higher than 2025 across all major categories, indicating intensifying competition.
Category certificates must be valid at the time of counselling. OBC-NCL and EWS certificates typically need to be issued on or after 1 April of the admission year. An older certificate will be rejected during JoSAA verification. SC and ST certificates follow the central government format. PwD certificates must indicate a benchmark disability of 40% or more; certificates showing less than 40% may allow exam accommodations (scribe, extra time) but will not grant PwD reservation benefits.
Check the official JEE Main cutoffs page for the latest qualifying and admission cutoff data.
What Droppers and Repeaters Must Know
Droppers are fully eligible. There is no separate rule, no penalty, and no stigma in the eligibility framework. The same year-of-passing window, attempt limit, and subject requirements apply. If you passed class 12 in 2024 or 2025, you can appear in 2026 provided you are within your three-year window.
What changes for droppers is the admission criterion. Your class 12 marks are frozen. If you scored 72% in 2024 and did not fall in the top 20 percentile of your board, you cannot change that retroactively. Improvement exams can help you meet the threshold, but the state code of eligibility will trace back to your original passing state. Plan your JEE Main preparation around this reality.
For JEE Advanced, droppers face an additional restriction: you must have appeared for class 12 for the first time in 2025 or 2026. If you first appeared in 2024, you are not eligible for Advanced 2026, even if you qualify through JEE Main.
Registration Fees and Application Essentials
The JEE Main 2026 application fee varies by category, gender, paper combination, and exam centre location. The official fee structure from the information bulletin:
Processing charges and GST are additional. Only one application per candidate is accepted. Multiple applications lead to cancellation of candidature. The confirmation page generates only after successful fee payment. If it does not generate, the transaction is cancelled, and you must pay again. Duplicate or multiple payments are reconciled by NTA after the final result and refunded.