JEE Main 2026 Detailed Cut-Off Analysis (Session 1)

Home Academy | Complete Category-Wise & Trend Analysis

The JEE Main 2026 Session 1 Result has been declared by the National Testing Agency (NTA), and now students are eagerly analysing the cut-off percentile for eligibility to JEE Advanced and admission to top institutes like National Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Information Technology.

This article provides a detailed cut-off breakdown, trend comparison, and what students should expect in 2026.

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📌 What is JEE Main Cut-Off?

There are two types of cut-offs:

1️⃣ Qualifying Cut-Off (For JEE Advanced Eligibility)
2️⃣ Admission Cut-Off (For NITs/IIITs/GFTIs through JoSAA)

⚠️ Important: The qualifying cut-off is only for appearing in JEE Advanced. Admission cut-offs are much higher and depend on branch, institute, and category.

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📊 Expected JEE Main 2026 Qualifying Cut-Off (Session 1 Trend)

Based on difficulty level, competition, and previous year data:

Category	Expected 2026 Cut-Off (Percentile)	2025 Cut-Off (Approx)
General (UR)	89 – 92	~90
EWS	78 – 82	~80
OBC-NCL	72 – 76	~75
SC	45 – 52	~50
ST	38 – 45	~40
PwD	0.001 – 2	~1

👉 Final cut-off will be officially released after Session 2.

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📈 Cut-Off Trend Analysis (Last 5 Years)

🔹 General Category Trend

2021: ~87 percentile

2022: ~88 percentile
2023: ~90 percentile
2024: ~90.7 percentile
2025: ~90 percentile
2026 (Expected): Slight variation between 89–92

📌 Observation: General category cut-off is stabilizing around 90 percentile.

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📉 Why Cut-Off Changes Every Year?

Cut-off depends on:

1. 📊 Number of Candidates Appeared

2. 📈 Difficulty Level of Paper

3. 🎯 Overall Performance of Students

4. 🧮 Normalisation Process by NTA

If paper difficulty is high → cut-off may slightly decrease.
If paper is easy → cut-off increases.

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🎯 Safe Percentile for Top NITs (General Category)

To secure admission in top NITs like:

National Institute of Technology Trichy

National Institute of Technology Surathkal
National Institute of Technology Warangal

You generally need:

✅ 97–99.5+ percentile (depending on branch)

For CSE branch:
🔥 Usually 99+ percentile required.

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🏆 Percentile vs Rank Approximation (2026 Estimate)

Percentile	Expected Rank Range
99.9	Top 1,000
99.5	~5,000
99	~10,000
98	~20,000
95	~60,000
90	~1,00,000

(Approximation may vary based on total candidates.)

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📌 Cut-Off for JEE Advanced 2026 Eligibility

Only top 2.5 lakh candidates across categories qualify for JEE Advanced.

If your percentile is:

92+ (General) → High chance

80+ (OBC/EWS) → Likely
50+ (SC) → Strong chance
40+ (ST) → Strong chance

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🔎 Important Points for Students

✔️ Session 2 can improve your percentile.
✔️ Higher of two session scores is considered for final rank.
✔️ Focus on improving Mathematics accuracy (usually rank deciding subject).
✔️ Analyse mistakes shift-wise.

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📊 Final Prediction for 2026

Competition remains very high.

General cut-off expected near 90 percentile.
Top NIT CSE may close at 99.5+ percentile.
Category students have relatively relaxed cut-off but competition remains tough.

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🏁 Conclusion

The JEE Main 2026 cut-off analysis shows that while qualifying cut-off remains around 90 percentile for General category, securing admission in top NITs demands significantly higher scores.

Students should not panic after Session 1. Focus on Session 2 preparation, error analysis, and strategic revision.

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