General Cutoff for JEE Mains 2026: Expected Trends and Previous Year Analysis

For every engineering aspirant, understanding the General Cutoff for JEE Mains 2026 is the first step toward securing a seat in premier institutes like IITs, NITs, and IIITs. The cutoff is the minimum percentile required to qualify for the JEE Advanced exam and participate in JoSAA counselling. As competition intensifies with over 15 lakh expected candidates, the JEE Mains cut off for the General category is projected to witness a slight upward shift.

General Cutoff for JEE Mains 2026 Expected

Based on the increasing number of applicants and difficulty trends from 2024 and 2025, experts predict the qualifying percentile for the General (Unreserved) category to be between 93.5 and 95 percentile.

Note: These are tentative figures based on current trends. The official cutoff will be released by the National Testing Agency (NTA) after the Session 2 results.

Previous Year General Cutoff for JEE Mains (Trend Analysis)

Analysing the Previous Year General Cutoff for JEE Mains reveals a steady increase in competition. While the cutoff was as low as 87.89 in 2021, it crossed the 93 percentile mark in 2024.

Key Insight: The sudden jump between 2022 and 2024 highlights the need for students to aim for a "safe score" significantly higher than the previous year's minimum to ensure qualification.

JEE Main 2026 Percentile Calculation Process

The NTA does not use raw marks directly to determine rank because the exam is conducted in multiple shifts with varying difficulty levels. Instead, they use a normalization process to calculate the JEE Main 2026 Percentile Calculation Process.

The Normalization Formula

The percentile score indicates how many candidates scored equal to or less than you in that specific shift.

Percentile Score = 100 × (No. of candidates in the session with raw score ≤ your score) / Total candidates in that session

This ensures that a student appearing in a "tough" shift is not at a disadvantage compared to someone in an "easy" shift. The final result is calculated up to 7 decimal places to avoid ties.

How to Calculate JEE Main Cut off 2026?

Many students ask How to Calculate JEE Main Cut off 2026? while trying to estimate their rank before the official results. While only the NTA can provide the final All India Rank (AIR), you can estimate your probable rank using your percentile.

Probable Rank Formula

If you know your percentile (P) and the total number of unique candidates (N) appearing in the exam, use this formula:

Estimated Rank = ((100 – P) / 100) × N + 1

Example:

• Your Percentile (P): 99.0

• Estimated Candidates (N): 15,50,000

• Calculation: ((100 - 99) / 100) × 15,50,000 = 15,500 Rank

Factors Determining the JEE Main 2026 Cutoff

The official cutoff is dynamic and depends on several key variables:

1. Number of Aspirants: A higher number of candidates generally increases the qualifying percentile.

2. Difficulty Level: If the papers are overall easier, the cutoff marks (not necessarily percentile) tend to rise.

3. Seat Matrix: Any changes in the number of seats available in NITs/IIITs can influence admission cutoffs.

4. Performance Trends: The collective performance of the top 2.5 lakh candidates determines the qualifying line for JEE Advanced.