JEE Main Cutoff 2025, Check Past 5 Years’ Qualifying Percentile

JEE Main Cutoff is one of the important factors that determines the eligibility of the aspirants for the JEE Advanced exam. It is the main source to get admission to top engineering colleges like NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. The National Testing Agency (NTA) releases this cutoff in the form of an NTA Percentile Score.

Here we provide the latest, and accurate data on the Past 5 Years’ JEE Main Qualifying Cutoff trends (2020-2024) to help candidates understand the competitive landscape. Analyzing these trends is essential to estimate a Safe Score JEE Main 2026. It also helps you make a strategy for the preparation of future exams.

The JEE Main Cutoff is the minimum NTA percentile score required for eligibility in JEE Advanced. For 2024, the qualifying cutoff for the General category was 93.2362181 NTA Percentile. To secure a top branch in an NIT, a safe score for JEE Main 2026 is generally considered to be in the 97-99+ Percentile range. The final cutoff percentile changes annually based on competition and exam difficulty.

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Also Read - JEE Mains Past 5 Years Trends Analysis 

JEE Main Cutoff 2025 Overview

The Joint Entrance Examination (Main) cutoff marks are the minimum NTA scores that candidates need to get in order to qualify for the next stages of the admission process. The top 2,50,000 successful candidates, including all categories, become eligible to appear for the JEE Advanced exam for admission to IITs. Candidates who meet the cutoff criteria are eligible to participate in the JoSAA counselling for admission into these colleges. The NTA announces the JEE Main qualifying cutoff only after the results for both sessions are declared.

JEE Main 2025 Expected Cutoff Percentile

The final JEE Main Cutoff for 2025 will be announced by the NTA after the declaration of the session results. Here is the estimated minimum qualifying percentile for JEE Advanced eligibility in 2025 based on the previous five-year trends. These trends show a marginal increase in the cutoff percentile for the General category.  Candidates can use this expected data to project their chances of qualifying depending on their NTA score.

Past 5 Years’ JEE Main Qualifying Cutoff Percentile Trends

Analysing the Past 5 Years’ JEE Main Qualifying Cutoff is important for candidates to understand the year-on-year increase in competition.  The table below describes the official NTA Percentile for the eligibility criteria for JEE Advanced from 2024 to 2020.

Note: The General category cutoff has consistently increased from 87.89 in 2021 to 93.23 in 2024. This trend observation shows an increase in competition among unreserved candidates.

JEE Main 2026 Safe Score

The Safe Score JEE Main 2026 does not refer to the minimum qualifying cutoff for JEE Advanced eligibility. It refers to the NTA Percentile, which is required to guarantee admission into a reputed NIT, IIIT, or GFTI. The major requirement for candidates is to get admission in core branches like Computer Science Engineering (CSE), Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), or Mechanical Engineering. The safe score must be higher than the qualifying cutoff as the difficulty level of the exam. This is because every year a higher number of candidates appear for the exam than previous year.

Note: For a safe admission in a good branch, the target NTA score should be a higher percentile than the minimum qualifying mark. Students aiming for the NITs, like NIT Trichy or NIT Warangal, should target a percentile above 99.5.

Factors Affecting JEE Main Cutoff

JEE Main cutoff is not fixed. It can change every year depending on multiple influencing factors. Understanding these aspects helps students identify their chances to qualify for JEE Advanced and get admission in top NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. These factors are carefully analyzed by NTA and admission authorities while preparing the final cutoff list. These include:

• Difficulty Level of the Exam: If the paper is tougher across shifts, the raw marks related to a certain percentile will be lower, and vice versa.

• Total Number of Candidates: A higher number of candidates appearing for the exam automatically increases the competition.

• Availability of Seats: The total number of seats available in all participating institutions, including NITs, IIITs, GFTIs for different courses directly impacts the counseling cutoff.

• Reservation Norms: Reservation policy determines the percentage of seats reserved for EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, and PwD categories. This leads to different percentile cutoffs for each.

• Normalisation Process: As JEE Main is conducted in multiple shifts, the NTA employs a normalisation procedure to ensure fairness. This ultimately contributes to the final official cutoff percentile.

JEE Main Qualifying Marks vs. Cutoff Percentile

It is important for aspirants to clearly understand the difference between JEE Main Minimum Qualifying Marks and the final Cutoff Percentile. Qualifying marks determine whether a candidate is eligible to appear for JEE Advanced. The cutoff percentile indicates the relative performance among all candidates who appeared in the exam. Knowing both helps students set realistic targets for admission to top NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs.

Qualifying Marks: These are predefined minimum percentages candidates need to score in each subject (Physics, Chemistry, Maths) and overall score to be considered for the merit list. 

Cutoff Percentile: This is the minimum NTA Score achieved by the last candidate who qualifies for JEE Advanced eligibility or admission to a specific college/branch.

The table below shows the minimum qualifying percentages used by NTA for the minimum eligibility criteria:

Steps to Check JEE Main Cutoff 2025

Candidates should have an idea of how to identify how to check the official JEE Main Cutoff 2025. The cutoff PDF includes both category-wise qualifying percentiles and admission cutoffs for participating institutes. Following the correct steps ensures that candidates access the authentic document and avoid misinformation from unofficial sources.

Follow these steps to download the official cutoff PDF once NTA publishes it:

• Visit the Official Website: Go to the official NTA JEE Main portal @jeemain.nta.ac.in.

• Find the Cut-Off Link: Look for the "Latest News," "Archives," or "Information Bulletin" section on the homepage.

• Click the Link: Open the relevant link titled "JEE Main Cutoff Percentile" or "JEE Advanced Eligibility Cutoff."

• Download the PDF: The official PDF will display the category-wise cutoff NTA scores for the session.

• Save the PDF for future reference.

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