The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has released revised eligibility criteria for candidates appearing in JEE Advanced 2026. A total of five rules must be met by every applicant to qualify for the exam.
Top Rank Requirement in JEE Main 2026
Candidates must rank within the top 2,50,000 qualifiers of JEE Main 2026 (B.E./B.Tech).
Category-wise seat distribution:
GEN-EWS: 10%
OBC-NCL: 27%
SC: 15%
ST: 7.5%
Open Category: 40.5%
Additionally, 5% reservation is given to PwD candidates across all categories.
Revised Age Criteria
Candidates must be born on or after October 1, 2001.
SC/ST and PwD candidates receive a 5-year relaxation, making them eligible if born on or after October 1, 1996.
Attempt Limit
Students can attempt JEE Advanced only twice, and in two consecutive years.
12th Board Eligibility
Candidates should be appearing in the Class 12 exam for the first time in 2025 or 2026 with PCM (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics).
Students who first appeared for Class 12 in 2024 or earlier are not eligible.
Exception:
If a board released 2023–24 results on or after June 18, 2024, then students who appeared in 2024 are still eligible.
If results were released earlier but a candidate's result was withheld, they remain ineligible.
Prior IIT Admission Rule
Candidates who have previously:
accepted an IIT seat,
reported online/offline, and
later cancelled their admission cannot apply for JEE Advanced.
However:
Students admitted to IIT preparatory courses in 2025 can still appear.
Candidates allotted seats in JoSAA 2025 who did not report or withdrew before the final round remain eligible.
Exam Dates
JEE Main 2026
Session 1: January 21–30, 2026
Session 2: April 1–10, 2026
JEE Advanced 2026 (conducted by IIT Roorkee): May 17, 2026, in computer-based mode.
