To be eligible for JEE Advanced 2026, you first must qualify JEE Main and be among the top 2.5 lakh candidates based on your percentile score, not just raw marks.

There is no fixed “pass mark” — the qualifying level changes each year depending on the difficulty of the exam and the performance of all candidates.

Here are approximate expected marks and percentiles needed in JEE Main 2026 to be eligible for JEE Advanced:

Expected Minimum Marks (Out of 300)
Category
Expected Percentile
General (UR)
105–115
93.5–94.2
EWS
85–95
80.5–81.8
OBC-NCL

85–95
79.5–80.8
SC
60–75
61.5–63.0
ST
50–65
48.0–50.5
PwD (all categories)
1–5
0.001–0.01

These numbers are estimates (not official cutoffs). Final qualifying percentiles and marks are announced by the National Testing Agency (NTA) after the results.

 How It Works
JEE Main has multiple sessions and the difficulty varies; so NTA uses percentile scores (not just raw marks) to decide cutoffs.

You must be in the top 2.5 lakh candidates overall (category-wise) to qualify for JEE Advanced.

Higher marks → higher percentile → better chance to qualify.

Summary in Simple English
To qualify for JEE Advanced 2026, you generally need to reach a high percentile in JEE Main 2026. For General category students, scoring roughly 100–115 marks (about 93–95 percentile) is usually required, and lower marks are needed for reserved categories like OBC, SC, or ST. These are estimates based on trends; final cutoffs come after the Main results.