Board-Wise Top 20 Percentile Cutoff Marks Of Class 12 For JEE

Board-Wise Top 20 Percentile Cutoff Marks of Class 12:  category-wise top 20 percentile cutoff marks for 2025 board examinations have been officially released by JoSAA. These cutoff marks play a crucial role in determining a candidate’s eligibility for B.Tech admissions at prestigious institutes like IITs and NITs. To be eligible for admission, candidates must either secure at least 75% marks in their Class 12 board exams or rank among the top 20 percentile scorers in their respective education boards. This rule is applicable for admission through JoSAA and has affected many aspirants whose 12th board scores fall below the 75% threshold, impacting their chances of getting into IITs and NITs.

JoSAA conducts centralized counselling for admissions to top engineering institutions including IITs, NITs, IIITs, IIEST, and other GFTIs.  To take part in the counselling process, candidates need to clear both JEE Main and JEE Advanced with the prescribed cutoff scores. JoSAA counselling for 2025 is scheduled to take place in five rounds, followed by a special round for NIT+ institutes. Seat allotment will be done based on candidates’ JEE ranks and their selected preferences.

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Top 20 Percentile Criteria for JEE Main 2025

To be eligible for admission to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs through JEE Main , candidates must either:

• Score at least 75% marks in Class 12 (or 65% for SC/ST/PwD candidates), OR

• Secure marks that place them among the top 20% of students in their respective education board.

What Does Top 20 Percentile Mean?

The top 20 percentile refers to the minimum marks scored by the top 20% students in a particular board, based on the aggregate of five main subjects. This is calculated separately for each category (General, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, etc.).

Even if a student has less than 75% overall, they are still eligible for JEE Main admissions if their marks are equal to or higher than the top 20 percentile cutoff for their board and category.

Board-wise Top 20 Percentile List 2025

To determine JEE eligibility, JoSAA releases the class 12 percentile cutoff marks board wise every year. These cutoffs represent the top 20 percentile for JEE Mains by board and vary across education boards and categories. Candidates who don’t meet the 75% aggregate requirement can still qualify if their marks are equal to or above the top 20 percentile of their respective board. The following table provides the top 20 percentile cutoff marks for 2025, categorized by board and student category.

Note: NR indicates that the data has not been received from the respective education board.

CBSE Top 20 Percentile Marks 2025

CBSE top 20 percentile marks for JEE play a crucial role in determining eligibility for admission to IITs, NITs, and other top engineering institutes. To be eligible under JoSAA rules, candidates must have either scored a minimum of 75% in Class 12 (65% for SC/ST/PwD) or secured marks that place them in the top 20 percentile of their respective board. The table below provides the category-wise CBSE top 20 percentile marks for JEE 2025.

Top 20 Percentile Marks for ISC 2025

To determine eligibility for JEE Advanced and admissions to IITs/NITs/IIITs, candidates from the ISC (CISCE) board must either score 75% marks or meet the top 20 percentile cutoff. The table below shows the category-wise top 20 percentile marks for ISC Class 12 students in 2025, as officially released by JoSAA.

How to Calculate Top 20 Percentile in Class 12

To calculate the top 20 percentile in Class 12 board exams, all students who appeared in that particular board (in a given academic year) are arranged in order of their total marks from highest to lowest. Then, the top 20% of students from this list are identified. The lowest score among these top 20% students becomes the cutoff mark for top 20 percentile.

Example: If 1,00,000 students appeared for a board exam, the top 20 percentile includes the top 20,000 scorers. If the 20,000th student scored 420 out of 500, then 420 becomes the top 20 percentile cutoff. This process is done separately for each board and category, and the final cutoffs are officially released by JoSAA every year.

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Top 20 Percentile Eligibility for JEE

As per JoSAA rules, to be eligible for JEE Advanced, candidates must either be in the top 20 percentile of their respective Class 12 board exams or have scored at least 75% marks (for General, OBC, EWS categories) or 65% marks (for SC, ST, PwD categories). The top 20 percentile means your marks must be equal to or higher than the marks scored by the top 20% students of your board. This cutoff varies by board and category and is released every year by JoSAA on its official website. Only those who meet this criterion are considered eligible for admission to IITs.

Board-Wise Eligibility Cutoff for JEE Mains

JoSAA releases board-wise top 20 percentile cutoffs every year to determine JEE eligibility. To be eligible for JEE Advanced or admission through JEE Main to IITs/NITs/IIITs, candidates must either score at least 75% marks (65% for SC/ST/PwD) or be in the top 20 percentile of their Class 12 board. These percentile cutoffs vary by board and category—for example, in 2025, the General category cutoff was 419/500 for CBSE and 449/500 for ISC.

Top 20 Percentile Criteria Explained

The Top 20 Percentile Criteria is used to determine eligibility for JEE Advanced and admissions to IITs/NITs/IIITs. It means a candidate must be among the top 20% scorers of their respective Class 12 board in a particular category (General, OBC, SC, etc.). The cutoff marks for this percentile are calculated and released by JoSAA each year.

If a candidate's total marks are equal to or higher than the top 20 percentile cutoff for their board and category, they are considered eligible. Alternatively, students can also qualify by scoring at least 75% marks (65% for SC/ST/PwD) in their board exams.

Class 12 Board Cutoff Marks for JEE Eligibility

For admission to IITs through JEE Advanced or to NITs/IIITs via JEE Main, candidates need to either obtain a minimum of 75% marks in Class 12 (65% for SC/ST/PwD) or be counted among the top 20% scorers of their respective board and category. The cutoff marks defining the top 20 percentile vary each year depending on the education board and category. For instance, in 2025, general-category students needed around 419/500 for CBSE, 449/500 for ISC, and similarly board-specific marks for others. These cutoffs, released annually by JoSAA, set the minimum marks required to qualify under the percentile criterion.