JEE Main Cutoff — Category-wise Qualifying Percentile (2022–2026)
The official JEE Main qualifying percentile each category needs (for JEE Advanced eligibility), for General, EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST and PwD — every year from 2022–2026. Your percentile itself is the same across categories; only the bar you must clear differs.
Qualifying percentile by category — 2022–2026
The minimum percentile each category needs to qualify for JEE Advanced. Note the steady rise in the General bar as competition grows. (PwD ≈ 0 percentile, shown in the table below.)
Do you clear the 2026 cutoff?
JEE Main qualifying percentile — category × year
| Category | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | 88.41 | 90.78 | 93.24 | 93.10 | 93.41 |
| EWS | 63.11 | 75.62 | 81.33 | 80.38 | 75.72 |
| OBC-NCL | 67.01 | 73.61 | 79.68 | 79.43 | 73.01 |
| SC | 43.08 | 51.98 | 60.09 | 61.15 | 52.37 |
| ST | 26.78 | 37.23 | 46.70 | 47.90 | 43.08 |
| General-PwD | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Qualifying percentile for JEE Advanced eligibility. NTA official, via eSaral (2022–2025, full precision). 2026 from result-notification summaries — VERIFY 2026 against jeemain.nta.nic.in before deploy.
How the JEE Main cutoff works
NTA normalises every candidate's marks into a percentile across all shifts, then sets a minimum qualifying percentile per category for JEE Advanced eligibility and the merit list. General has the highest bar; EWS, OBC-NCL, SC and ST have progressively lower bars under reservation. This qualifying cutoff is not the same as a college cutoff — NIT/IIIT/GFTI seats are allotted later by JoSAA on closing ranks, which sit far above the qualifying percentile.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the JEE Main cutoff for the General category in 2026?
The JEE Main 2026 qualifying percentile for the General (UR) category is 93.41. This is the minimum percentile needed to be eligible for JEE Advanced — it has risen steadily from 88.41 in 2022.
What are the OBC, SC and ST cutoffs for JEE Main?
For 2026, the qualifying percentiles are approximately OBC-NCL 73.01, SC 52.37 and ST 43.08. Reserved categories have lower qualifying bars than General, so a lower percentile still qualifies.
Is the percentile different for each category?
No. Your JEE Main percentile is normalised across all candidates, so it is the same regardless of category. What differs by category is the qualifying cutoff (the bar you must clear) and your category rank.
Does clearing the JEE Main cutoff guarantee a college seat?
No. The qualifying cutoff only makes you eligible for JEE Advanced / the merit list. Actual NIT, IIIT and GFTI seats are decided later by JoSAA counselling based on closing ranks, which are much higher than the qualifying percentile.
Also useful: marks vs percentile vs rank · marks calculator · JEE Main PYQs · all free JEE tools.