IIT Roorkee announced the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2026 exam schedule and eligibility criteria. The exam will take place on May 17, 2026 . Candidates can find full details on the official website, jeeadv.ac.in.
Key Exam Details
JEE Advanced 2026 is an online, computer-based test (CBT) for engineering admissions. It consists of two papers, Paper 1 and Paper 2, held on the same day.
| Event | Details |
|---|---|
| Exam Name | Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2026 |
| Conducting Body | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee |
| Academic Year | 2026-27 |
| Official Website | jeeadv.ac.in |
| Exam Date | May 17, 2026 |
| Exam Duration | 6 hours (3 hours per paper) |
| Exam Mode | Online, Computer-Based Test (CBT) |
| Exam Shifts | Paper 1: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Paper 2: 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM |
Eligibility Criteria
Candidates must meet all five following criteria to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2026:
Performance in JEE (Main) 2026
- Candidates must be among the top 2,50,000 successful candidates (across all categories) in the B.E./B.Tech. paper of JEE (Main) 2026.
- Category percentages for shortlisting are: 10% for GEN-EWS, 27% for OBC-NCL, 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST, and 40.5% for OPEN.
- A 5% horizontal reservation for PwD candidates applies within each category.
The table below details the distribution of the top 2,50,000 candidates by category:
| Sl No. | Category | Number of ‘Top’ candidates |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | OPEN | 96187 |
| 2 | OPEN-PwD | 5063 |
| 3 | GEN-EWS | 23750 |
| 4 | GEN-EWS-PwD | 1250 |
| 5 | OBC-NCL | 64125 |
| 6 | OBC-NCL-PwD | 3375 |
| 7 | SC | 35625 |
| 8 | SC-PwD | 1875 |
| 9 | ST | 17812 |
| 10 | ST-PwD | 938 |
The total number of candidates may exceed 2,50,000 if tied ranks occur. OCI/PIO (I) candidates are not eligible for category reservations except OPEN-PwD.
Age Limit
- Candidates must be born on or after October 1, 2001 .
- SC, ST, and PwD candidates receive a five-year age relaxation; they must be born on or after October 1, 1996 .
Number of Attempts
- A candidate can attempt JEE (Advanced) a maximum of two times. These attempts must occur in two consecutive years.
Appearance in Class XII (or equivalent) Examination
- Candidates must have appeared for their Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in either 2025 or 2026 .
- Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics must be compulsory subjects.
- Candidates who first appeared in Class XII (or equivalent) examination in 2024 or earlier are not eligible for JEE (Advanced) 2026.
- An exception applies if the Class XII Board declared results for the 2023-24 academic year on or after June 18, 2024 . These 2024 candidates are eligible if they meet all other criteria.
Earlier Admission at IITs
- Candidates admitted to an IIT under any academic program listed in JoSAA Business Rules of 2025 are not eligible. This applies even if they did not continue or accepted a seat previously.
- Candidates whose IIT admission was cancelled after joining are also ineligible.
- However, candidates admitted to an IIT preparatory course for the first time in 2025 can appear in JEE (Advanced) 2026.
- Candidates allocated an IIT seat via JoSAA 2025 who did not report, withdrew before the last round, or had their seat cancelled before the last round, are eligible. They must still fulfill Criteria A1 to A4.
For complete details and further clarification, candidates should visit jeeadv.ac.in/eligibility.html.