Safe Score for JEE Main 2026
Many students get confused between the safe score vs cutoff JEE Main 2026. It is important to understand the difference. Cutoff is the minimum score required to qualify the exam or to get admission in a particular category of colleges. Safe score is a score that is slightly higher than the cutoff. It gives a margin of safety to the students so that they don’t fall short of the requirement due to small fluctuations in exam performance or normalization.
| Safe Score for JEE Main 2026 |
| Category |
Cutoff Marks (2026) |
Safe Score (2026) |
Admission Possibility |
| General |
90–115 |
180–200+ |
Top NITs/IIITs, JEE Advanced |
| OBC-NCL |
76–90 |
160–170+ |
Good NITs/IIITs, JEE Advanced |
| EWS |
75–85 |
160–170+ |
Good NITs/IIITs |
| SC |
50–75 |
120–130+ |
Decent NITs, IIITs |
| ST |
46–60 |
100–110+ |
NITs, IIITs |
Safe Score vs Cutoff JEE Main 2026
Many students get confused with the safe score vs cutoff JEE Main 2026. Let’s first make a distinction between the two. Cutoff is the minimum score which is required to either qualify for the exam or to get admission in a particular category of colleges. Safe score on the other hand, is a score which is just a bit higher than the cutoff. This means, if you score a safe score, you are safe from not qualifying for the exam or from missing out on a college just because of minor fluctuations in your exam performance or due to normalization variations.
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Safe Percentile for JEE Main 2026
The safe percentile for JEE Main 2026 will depend on the category and the admission goal. However, as a general guide, a higher percentile, especially above 50th percentile, is considered safe for admission to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs, and qualification for JEE Advanced.
| Safe Percentile for JEE Main 2026 |
| Category |
Qualifying Cutoff Percentile |
Safe Percentile for Admission |
| General (UR) |
92–95 |
95–99+ |
| OBC-NCL |
83–86 |
95–98 |
| EWS |
85–88 |
95–96 |
| SC |
60–65 |
80–90 |
| ST |
45–55 |
70–85 |
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Safe Marks for NIT Admission JEE 2026
A related and equally significant question for students is, what are safe marks for NIT admission JEE 2026? The actual number of marks one should achieve to get admission in NITs are called safe marks. The cutoff for general category students as per previous trends was generally around 105–110 marks. This makes it safe to take this as the number. For reserved categories, the safe marks are lower but above the cutoff.
| Safe Marks for NIT Admission JEE 2026 |
| College Type |
General Category |
OBC Category |
SC Category |
ST Category |
| NITs (Top Branch) |
120+ |
110–115 |
75–85 |
65–75 |
| NITs (Other Branch) |
105–110 |
95–100 |
60–70 |
50–60 |