NEW DELHI: A total of 56,880 candidates qualified in JEE Advanced 2026 out of 1,79,694 candidates who appeared for the examination conducted by IIT Roorkee. The exam was held on May 17.
Shubham Kumar from Bihar secured All India Rank (AIR) 1 with a score of 330 out of 360 marks. AIR 2 Kabeer Chhillar from Gurugram in the Delhi-NCR region scored 329 marks, while AIR 3 Jatin Chahar is from Rajasthan.
The female topper is Arohi Deshpande from Pune, who secured AIR 77 with a score of 280 marks. A total of 10,107 female candidates qualified.
All four top performers underwent coaching in Kota and represented the Delhi Zone.
The results underline the highly competitive nature of the examination. This year's qualifying percentage stood at 31.65 per cent, the highest in the past four years. In 2025, 54,378 candidates qualified, accounting for 30.01 per cent of those who appeared. The figures were 26.77% (48,248 candidates) in 2024 and 24.26 % (43,769 candidates) in 2023.
Formerly known as IIT-JEE, JEE Advanced is the sole qualifying examination for admission to undergraduate engineering, science and architecture programmes offered by the IITs.
According to an official release, the cut-off for inclusion in the Common Rank List was an aggregate score of 92 marks. The cut-off was 82 marks for OBC and GEN-EWS (Economically Weaker Section) candidates, while it was 46 marks for SC, ST and GEN-PwD (Persons with Disability) candidates.
Category-wise, 15,530 candidates qualified in the general category, 12,030 in OBC, 6,251 in GEN-EWS, 15,817 in SC and 6,365 in ST.
Among the zones, the Madras Zone recorded the highest number of qualified candidates at 14,294, followed by the Bombay Zone with 12,389 and the Delhi Zone with 10,697.
Of the top 10 rank holders, five belong to the Delhi Zone, three to the Madras Zone and two to the Bombay Zone. Among the top 500 candidates, 174 are from the Madras Zone, 120 from the Bombay Zone and 114 from the Delhi Zone.
The list of successful candidates includes 10 foreign nationals and 245 Overseas Citizens of India (OCI)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIO). Only one third-gender candidate appeared for the examination and did not qualify.
Candidates were required to appear for both papers of the examination, conducted in morning and afternoon sessions. Each paper carried 180 marks and covered Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
CANDIDATE SPEAK: Female topper Arohi Deshpande
A resident of Pune who moved to Kota for her JEE Advanced preparation, Arohi Deshpande received strong support from her parents throughout her journey.
Her father, Prasad Deshpande, an IT professional, worked from home to support her preparation, while her mother, Amita Deshpande, an environmental engineer, ensured a positive and encouraging atmosphere for her studies.
With a strong rank in JEE Advanced 2026, Deshpande is now aiming to secure a B.Tech seat at an IIT.
Deshpande said, “My whole family shifted from Pune to Kota for my studies. My parents never put any extra pressure on me. Instead, they always motivated me, which helped me focus completely on my studies,” the female topper said.
“The support of my parents, teachers and consistent hard work from my side are the reasons I could achieve this ranking ,” Deshpande said.
A regular classroom student at ALLEN Kota for four years, she said that the key to her success was a deep understanding of concepts and consistent practice. “I regularly appeared for tests and analysed my mistakes after every test,” she said.
