No Relaxation in 75% Class 12 Marks Rule for IIT Admissions in 2026

The Joint Admission Board (JAB) has clarified that there will be no change in the minimum 75% Class 12 marks rule for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) through JEE (Advanced) 2026. The clarification came amid demands from students and parents for a one-time relaxation in the Class 12 eligibility requirement. These demands followed worries about delays in the re-evaluation of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) results after the board introduced an On-Screen Marking system this year.

The board, chaired by the IIT Roorkee director, said the eligibility rule cannot be lowered because candidates from 36 different school boards take part in the admission process. It noted that the criterion had been published around December and that last year some candidates lost IIT and NIT seats mainly because of the percentage rule. At the same time, the board said it was in close touch with CBSE and would try to resolve the matter for affected candidates on priority.

Under the rules, candidates must score at least 75% aggregate marks in Class 12 (65% for SC, ST and Persons with Disabilities candidates), or be among the top 20 percentile of successful candidates in their respective school boards. Earlier, on June 1, officials had said all JEE (Advanced) qualified candidates should take part in the counselling process regardless of their Class 12 marks, but added that final admission would still depend on meeting the percentage and other eligibility conditions in the information brochure.

A total of 56,880 candidates qualified JEE (Advanced) 2026, which is a 4.6% increase over the previous year. Of these, 46,773 are men and 10,107 are women, the highest number of women ever to qualify for the examination. These candidates will compete for 18,951 B.Tech seats across 23 IITs through counselling run by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority, meaning only about one in three qualified candidates will finally secure an IIT seat.

The counselling registration and choice-filling process opened on June 2, 2026. The window for registration and choice filling is open until June 11, and the counselling will be held across five rounds of seat allocation till July 21.