JEE Main Eligibility Criteria 2026: Check Nationality, Age Limit, Aggregate Score & Qualifications

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the revised JEE Main Reservation Criteria 2026 on the exam’s official website.

Aspirants desirous of appearing in the JEE Main 2026 exam must qualify its eligibility criteria which is released by the NTA on “jeemain.nta.ac.in:”. Candidates should meet the minimum eligibility of JEE Main exam i.e., Class 12^th / PUC or any other equivalent examination to get admission in the top institutes like IITs, NITs, and others.

Students should dive into the article below to know more about the JEE Main 2026 eligibility criteria such as age limit, academic qualification, state of eligibility, and more.

It is mandatory for the candidates to pass the JEE Main eligibility criteria to appear in the exam. Before starting the process of filling up the JEE Main Registration Form, candidates need to ensure that they have met the JEE main eligibility criteria 2026 prescribed by the exam conducting body. Following are the detailed criteria for JEE Mains:

Age Limit

• No minimum or maximum age limit.
• Aspirants who have qualified 10 +2 or any other equivalent examination in the year 2024, 2025, and appearing in 2026 regardless of their age can apply for the JEE Main 2026 exam.

* Furthermore, it is important for the candidates to meet the age criteria of their preferred institute in which they want to secure admission.

Qualifying Examination

Students must have qualified in any one of the following:

• Class 12^th / Intermediate / PUC from any recognised board.
• 10 + 2 with at least 5 subjects conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling.
• 2 year course of Joint Services Wing of the National Defense Academy.
• Higher Secondary Certificate Vocational Examination.
• 3 years Diploma recognised by AICTE or any state board of technical education.
• Any Board / Public School / University exam in the nation or outside the nation is recognised as equivalent to Class 12^th by AIU.
• General Certificate Education (GCE) examination (London/Cambridge/Sri Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level.
• High School Certificate Examination at Cambridge University / International Baccalaureate Diploma of the International Baccalaureate Office, Geneva.
• Class 12th or its equivalent exam from outside the nation or from any other board which is not mentioned above is required to have a certificate from AIU.
• In any case, if the 10 + 2 exam is not considered as a public examination, students should have qualified at least one public examination prior (Board or Pre-University).

Passing year of Qualifying Examination

• Students who qualified Class 12^th or its equivalent exam in the year 2023 and 2024 are eligible for JEE Main 2026 exam. However, candidates who are still pursuing the qualifying examination are also considered eligible.

*Note: Students who have completed their Class 12^th exam in the year 2022 or before along with those who will appear in the year 2026 are not eligible to appear in the JEE Main 2026 exam.

According to JEE Main Exam Pattern 2026, the exam is conducted for admission in B.Tech / B.E., B.Arch, and B.Plan. Candidates must have following combination in the 10 + 2 or its equivalent according to the respective paper:

* Candidates after verifying and confirming that they meet the JEE Main 2026 Eligibility Criteria should check the JEE Main Syllabus 2026 for starting the preparation of the exam. Students should practice previous year JEE Main question papers to score excellent in the exam.

The NTA, the exam conducting body, has specified the revised category-wise JEE Main 2026 reservation criteria for admission in at different institutes like IIT, NIT, IIIT and other GFTIs (Government Funded Technical Institutions).

Refer to the below-stated table to understand the category-wise reservation policy of the JEE Main 2026 exam:

Note: To claim the JEE Main reservation on PwD seats, it is mandatory for the candidates to have at least 40% of a specified disability. Moreover, during the admission process, each candidate availing reservation has to submit the requisite documents.

Admission in prestigious institutes such as IITs, NITs, and other-CFTIs are based on the eligibility criteria prescribed by the respective institutes. Along with JEE Main 2026 score, candidates should have minimum 75% marks or in top 20 percentile in 10 + 2 examination with (65% marks for SC / ST category candidates).

State Code of Eligibility simply refers to the state code of the place from where the candidates have completed their Class 12^th or any other equivalent exam. It is necessary to remember that the state code of eligibility does not rely on the native place of the students.

The following are conditions that should be remembered by the candidates:

• Students passed the Class 12^th or equivalent exam from a state but again appeared from another state to improve. Then, the candidate’s state code of eligibility will be the one from where he / she has first qualified their 12^th examination.
• Candidates who have qualified or appearing for 10 + 2 from NIOS must have to choose the state of eligibility on the basis of the state in which the study center is situated.
• Candidates who have Indian Nationality but have passed the qualifying examination from Nepal / Bhutan. In such case, the state code of eligibility will be the permanent address mentioned in the candidates’ passport.
• OCI candidates qualifying the Class 12^th in India, state code of eligibility for them is equal to Indian candidates. On the other hand,  OCI passing the qualifying examination from outside India are only eligible for Other State quota seats or All India quota seats (not for Home State Quota seats) in NITs, IITs, and other CFTIs.