JAIPUR: Students from Kota - known as the coaching hub for India's top engineering and medical institutes - have triumphed yet again in this year's JEE Advanced 2026 examination.
By securing the top three positions—with Shubham Kumar (AIR-1), Kabir Chhillar (AIR-2), and Jatin Chahar (AIR-3) - they have successfully retained Kota's title as the nation's "Coaching Capital."
While Shubham Kumar secured the first position with 330 marks; Kabir Chhillar took the second spot by scoring 329 out of 360 marks, and Jatin Chahar finished in third place with 319 marks.
Delivering a spectacular performance, a total of six classroom students from Kota coaching institutes featured in the Top 10, thereby proving Kota's academic excellence once again.
For the third consecutive year, the All India Topper has emerged from Kota's coaching ecosystem, which remains a special feature of the educational landscape in Rajasthan.
In the girls' category, Aarohi Deshpande brought glory to Kota by becoming the All India Girls' Topper. Additionally, Yashvardhan, a student enrolled in the online course, achieved an All India Rank (AIR) of 52.
AIR-1 holder Shubham Kumar was a regular classroom student at the Allen Career Institute in Kota for the past two years. Originally from Gaya in Bihar, Shubham began his studies in Kota after completing the 11th grade and achieved this success through rigorous hard work. Although Shubham had secured the 6th rank in JEE Main, he surpassed all competitors in the Advanced examination - driven by his sheer hard work - to clinch the coveted All India First Rank.
After triumphing in one of the country's most rigorous exams, Shubham stated that he had been preparing for JEE Advanced for two years. While he was hopeful of securing a good rank, he had no idea that he would achieve the All India Rank 1.
Shubham attributed his success in reaching this milestone to discipline, focus, and 8 to 10 hours of self-study. "I feel absolutely wonderful. I came to Kota after completing my 11th-grade studies, and I stayed here to prepare with complete focus. I never attempted to rote-memorize topics. Instead, I always concentrated on strengthening my basics and concepts."
Shubham aspires to pursue a B.Tech degree in Computer Science (CS) at IIT Bombay, one of the country's most prestigious institutions. His father is a businessman, and his mother is a homemaker.
Meanwhile, the father of AIR-2 holder Kabir Chhillar is an IIT graduate, and his mother is a teacher. A resident of Gurugram, Kabir Chhillar continued his winning streak following JEE Main by excelling in the JEE Advanced 2026 examination, securing the position of the second-highest scorer.
Notably, Kabir had achieved a perfect 100 percentile in both sessions of JEE Main. In JEE Advanced 2026, Shubham Kumar from Bihar secured the first position with 330 marks, while Jatin Chahar secured the third position with 319 marks.
Interestingly, the father of AIR-2 holder Kabir Chhillar- Mohit - is also an IITian. Twenty-six years ago, in the year 2000, he had secured an All India Rank of 554; since then, his dream of becoming a topper had remained unfulfilled. Now, 26 years later, his son has fulfilled that very dream. Kabir's goal is to pursue engineering in Computer Science at IIT Bombay and subsequently conduct research at institutions such as MIT.
Kota MP and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla met the toppers and congratulations for their success.
"India is doing well in the field of technical skills and innovations. Indian students are finding solutions for the challenges of their country and world as well. 25 to 39 percent of IAS clearing candidates are from an engineering background. I congratulate all the toppers of JEE Advance 2026," said Birla.
This year, a total of 179,684 students appeared for the examination, out of whom 56,880 qualified - meaning the pass percentage stood at approximately 31.65%. Consequently, the number of qualifying students this year has set a new record.
