Five Essential Eligibility Rules for JEE Advanced 2026 Revealed by IIT Roorkee

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has released the official five-point eligibility rules for candidates who want to appear for the Joint Entrance Examination Advanced (JEE Advanced 2026).

IIT Roorkee has stated that all candidates wishing to appear for JEE Advanced 2026 must meet the five prescribed eligibility criteria.

Criterion A1: JEE Main 2026 Performance

• Candidates must rank among the top 250,000 successful candidates in the JEE Main 2026 B.E./B.Tech paper.
• Percentage distribution by category: 10% GEN-EWS, 27 per cent OBC-NCL, 15 per cent SC, 7.5 per cent ST and 40.5 per cent for the open Category
• 5 per cent horizontal reservation is provided to PwD candidates within each category.

For OCI/PIO candidates:

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has stated that OCI/PIO (I) category candidates will not receive any reservation other than PwD. Only the first two rows of the category table will apply to them.

Criterion A2: Age Limit

• Eligible candidates must be born on or after October 1, 2001.
• SC, ST, and PwD candidates are eligible for a five-year age relaxation, meaning they must be born on or after October 1, 1996.

Criterion A3: Number of Attempts

Candidates can appear for JEE Advanced a maximum of two times, and two consecutive years.

Criterion A4: Class 12 (or equivalent) Examination

• Candidates must have appeared for the Class 12 (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2025 or 2026 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.
• Candidates who appeared for the first time in 2024 or before will not be eligible.

Clarification regarding result declaration:

• If a board has released the results for the 2023-24 session on or after June 18, 2024, candidates who appeared for the examination in 2024 will also be considered eligible.
• If results were declared before June 18, 2024, but a candidate’s result was withheld, that candidate will not be eligible.

Criterion A5: Prior Admission to IIT

• Candidates will not be eligible if:
• They have previously taken admission to any IIT program listed in the JoSAA Business Rules 2025,
• They have previously reported online or offline and accepted the seat,
• Their admission was cancelled after joining the IIT.

Exception:

• Candidates enrolled in a preparatory course in 2025 can appear for JEE Advanced 2026.
  • Candidates who were allotted an IIT seat during JoSAA 2025 but did not report, withdrew before the final round, or had their seat cancelled before the final round-they are also eligible if they meet criteria A1 to A4.

JEE Main 2026: Important Dates

NTA has released the JEE Main 2026 dates:

• Session 1: January 21-30, 2026
• Session 2: April 1-10, 2026

The institute has also confirmed that the national-level JEE Advanced 2026 computer-based exam for B.Tech admissions to the IITs will be held on 17 May 2026 at centres across India.