Frequently Asked Questions
JEE & Counselling Hub

Candidates can appear for JEE Main for a maximum of 3 consecutive years starting from the year they pass their Class 12 board examination.

Since JEE Main is conducted in two sessions every year (January Session 1 and April Session 2), a candidate can attempt up to 6 sessions in total across those 3 consecutive years. Candidates can appear in either Session 1, Session 2, or both sessions in any given year. Check our JEE Main Exam Guide for comprehensive scheduling details.

NTA considers the best NTA Percentile Score between Session 1 and Session 2 for the final All India Rank (AIR) and merit list preparation.

For example, if you score 96.50 percentile in Session 1 and 98.75 percentile in Session 2, your final AIR will be calculated based on 98.75 percentile. If your score drops in Session 2, your higher score from Session 1 remains safe and protected. Explore how Session 2 works in our dedicated JEE Main Session 2 Guide and check past cutoff trends on the JEE Main Cutoff page.

The NTA Score is a normalized percentile score (ranging from 100 to 0) rather than a simple percentage or raw score. Because JEE Main is held across multiple shifts with varying question paper difficulty, normalization ensures fair comparison.

The mathematical formula used by NTA is:

You can predict your rank and percentile using our free interactive JEE Main Percentile Predictor and JEE Main Rank Predictor.

Yes. In the latest exam pattern, Section B (Numerical Value type questions) also carries negative marking:

• Correct Answer: +4 Marks
• Incorrect Answer: -1 Mark
• Unattempted Question: 0 Marks

Always solve Section B questions carefully and avoid random guessing. For section-wise marks distribution and paper format analysis, review the JEE Main Exam Pattern Guide.

Yes. NTA provides an official Application Correction Window for a limited duration (usually 2 to 3 days) after the regular registration portal closes.

During the correction window, candidates can modify permitted fields such as exam city preferences, category (with supporting certificate upload if applicable), academic details, and medium of paper. Follow the step-by-step instructions in our JEE Main Application Form Guide and Registration Process.

During online form submission on jeemain.nta.nic.in, you need the following scanned digital files:

• Recent Passport-size Photograph: 10 KB to 200 KB (JPEG/JPG format), with 80% face coverage against a white background.
• Candidate Signature: 4 KB to 30 KB (JPEG/JPG format) in clear black or blue ink.
• Category Certificate (SC/ST/OBC-NCL/Gen-EWS): 50 KB to 300 KB (PDF format), if applicable.
• PwD / UDID Certificate: 50 KB to 300 KB (PDF format), if applicable.

For more details on caste validity rules, review our JEE Main Reservation Policy.

If two or more candidates obtain equal overall NTA Scores in Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech), inter-se merit is determined sequentially by:

1. Higher NTA Score in Mathematics
2. Higher NTA Score in Physics
3. Higher NTA Score in Chemistry
4. Candidate with less proportion of negative responses across all subjects
5. Candidate with less proportion of negative responses in Mathematics, followed by Physics, then Chemistry
6. Candidate older in age
7. Application Number in ascending order

Check the latest score trends on our JEE Main Result & Scorecard Page.

Only the top 2,50,000 candidates (including all reserved categories) who qualify JEE Main Paper 1 are eligible to register for JEE Advanced.

The category-wise distribution of these 2.5 lakh candidates is approximately:

• Open (Unreserved): ~96,187 candidates (Top 40.5%)
• Gen-EWS: ~25,000 candidates (10%)
• OBC-NCL: ~67,500 candidates (27%)
• SC: ~37,500 candidates (15%)
• ST: ~18,750 candidates (7.5%)
• PwD: 5% horizontal reservation across all categories

Read our full breakdown on JEE Advanced Eligibility Criteria.

A candidate can attempt JEE Advanced a maximum of 2 times in 2 consecutive years. The first attempt must be in the year of passing Class 12 (or appearing for it), and the second attempt can only be in the immediately following year.

Yes, absolutely. Both Paper 1 (Morning Shift: 09:00 to 12:00) and Paper 2 (Afternoon Shift: 14:30 to 17:30) are compulsory.

If a candidate appears only in Paper 1 and absents themselves from Paper 2 (or vice versa), their examination will be treated as incomplete, and they will not be evaluated or assigned any rank in JEE Advanced. Review the format and timing in our JEE Advanced Exam Pattern Guide.

Unlike JEE Main which has no subject-wise cutoff, JEE Advanced requires candidates to secure both:

1. A minimum percentage of marks in each individual subject (Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics combined across Paper 1 and Paper 2).
2. A minimum percentage of total aggregate marks.

These cutoffs vary slightly each year based on paper difficulty. Check past opening and closing ranks on our JEE Advanced Cutoff Page and calculate your rank using the JEE Advanced Rank Predictor.

The Architecture Aptitude Test (AAT) is conducted for admission to the 5-year B.Arch programs offered at IIT BHU, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Roorkee.

Only candidates who qualify in JEE Advanced can register and sit for AAT. There is no separate ranking for AAT; it is evaluated on a Pass/Fail cutoff. Candidates who pass AAT are eligible for B.Arch seats based on their original JEE Advanced rank during JEE Advanced Counselling.

No. Any candidate who had previously accepted an IIT seat and reported to an IIT (or whose admission at an IIT was cancelled after joining) is strictly not eligible to appear in JEE Advanced again.

However, if a candidate was allocated a seat in an NIT, IIIT, or GFTI, they are fully eligible to appear in JEE Advanced within their eligible 2 consecutive years.

When you are allocated a seat in any round of JoSAA Counselling, you must submit one of three willingness options:

Read more on the step-by-step reporting guide at JoSAA Seat Allotment.

In JoSAA, candidates can fill an unlimited number of choices from eligible IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. The seat allocation algorithm checks your filled choices from Preference #1 downwards in exact numerical order.

Golden Rule of Choice Filling: Always arrange your choices in strictly descending order of true preference (Dream choices on top, followed by Realistic/Target choices, followed by Safe backups at the bottom). Never put a lower-tier college above a top institute simply because your rank matches it. Check the available seat intake on our JoSAA Seat Matrix Guide.

Before choices are locked, JoSAA conducts Mock Seat Allotment 1 and Mock Seat Allotment 2 based on the tentative choices submitted by candidates up to specific dates.

Mock allotments indicate what seat you might get based on current trend data. Candidates can add, delete, reorder, or interchange choices after seeing mock results. Check round schedules on our JoSAA Counselling Schedule Page.

Don't panic! If a candidate has saved their choices but forgets to click "Lock Choices" before the specified deadline, the JoSAA system will automatically lock your last saved choices when the timer expires.

However, it is always recommended to review, print, and lock choices yourself to ensure no unintended modifications remain.

If you are allocated a seat for the first time in any JoSAA round, you must complete Online Reporting before the round deadline, which includes:

1. Submit Willingness: Select Freeze, Float, or Slide.
2. Upload Required Documents (Class 10 mark sheet, Class 12 mark sheet, Category/PwD certificate, Medical certificate, State eligibility proof).
3. Pay the Seat Acceptance Fee (SAF) online.
4. Respond to any document verification queries raised by the reporting officer online.

The standard Seat Acceptance Fee (SAF) in JoSAA is:

• General / Gen-EWS / OBC-NCL Candidates: ₹35,000
• SC / ST / PwD Candidates: ₹17,500

This fee is adjusted towards your first-semester institute tuition fees upon final physical reporting at the admitted college.

No. All JoSAA rounds (Round 1 through Round 5) are conducted 100% online. You do not need to travel to any Reporting Center (RC) or college campus during the counselling rounds.

Physical reporting, original document verification, and hostel allotment only take place at your final admitted institute after all JoSAA (and CSAB) rounds conclude.

Yes. A candidate who has accepted a seat can initiate online seat withdrawal up to the penultimate round (specified in the official JoSAA schedule, usually up to Round 4 or prior to the final round).

Upon withdrawal, the Seat Acceptance Fee is refunded after deducting a nominal JoSAA processing fee of ₹7,000. No withdrawal option is available after the final JoSAA round commences.

Dual Reporting was previously required if a candidate's seat allotment shifted from the NIT+ system to an IIT (or vice versa). Under the unified online system, document verification happens digitally across institutes.

However, if your allotment shifts across systems (e.g. from an NIT to an IIT), you must verify that any additional IIT-specific eligibility or documents are accepted online, though your Seat Acceptance Fee is seamlessly transferred automatically.

The Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) conducts two Special Rounds after all JoSAA rounds are finished to fill up residual vacant seats in the NIT+ system (32 NITs, 26 IIITs, IIEST Shibpur, and 38+ GFTIs).

Read our full guide on CSAB Counselling Procedures and test seat possibilities with the CSAB College Predictor.

Yes! This is one of the biggest advantages of CSAB.

If you were allocated a seat in an NIT, IIIT, or GFTI in JoSAA Round 5 and completed partial admission fee payment (PAF), your JoSAA seat is preserved as your baseline safety net:

• If you are allocated a new higher-preference seat in CSAB Special Round 1 or 2, your old JoSAA seat is automatically vacated for other students.
• If you are not allocated any new seat in CSAB, your original JoSAA seat remains completely safe and retained!

Virtually all candidates with a valid JEE Main rank who satisfy the 75% Class 12 eligibility criteria can participate, including:

• Candidates who did not register in JoSAA.
• Candidates who registered in JoSAA but were not allotted any seat.
• Candidates who were allotted a seat in JoSAA, paid SAF & PAF, and want an upgrade.
• Candidates who withdrew or surrendered their JoSAA seat within the allowed window.
• Candidates whose seats were cancelled in JoSAA due to document change (e.g. OBC to General) but remain eligible under CRL.

Yes, absolutely. Your choices filled during JoSAA counselling become null and void for CSAB Special Rounds.

Every candidate participating in CSAB must register afresh and submit a new choice list based on the CSAB Vacant Seat Matrix published before registration opens.

Candidates must pay a CSAB Special Round Participation Fee during registration:

• Candidates with no allotted seat from JoSAA: ~₹45,000 (General/OBC-NCL/Gen-EWS) or ~₹25,000 (SC/ST/PwD), which includes a non-refundable processing fee of ₹5,000.
• Candidates retaining an allotted seat from JoSAA: Only the non-refundable registration processing fee (typically ₹5,000) since their SAF/PAF is carried over.

If you are not allotted any seat in either CSAB Special Round 1 or Round 2, your participation fee is refunded back to your registered bank account after deducting the non-refundable processing charge (₹5,000).

Ensure that the bank account details entered during registration are active and in the name of the candidate or their parent.

For both JoSAA and CSAB counselling, OBC-NCL and Gen-EWS certificates must be issued on or after April 1 of the admission year (for instance, April 1, 2026 or April 1, 2027).

Read the comprehensive breakdown on caste and quota rules in our JEE Main Reservation Guide and JEE Advanced Reservation Guide.

The State Code of Eligibility is the state from where the candidate passed (or is appearing for) their Class 12 board examination.

• It does NOT depend on where you were born, your permanent residential address, or your parents' domicile.
• For example, if you reside in Bihar but studied and passed Class 12 from a school in Kota (Rajasthan), your State Code of Eligibility is Rajasthan.
• In NITs, 50% of seats are reserved under the Home State (HS) quota matching your State Code of Eligibility.

To improve gender diversity in technical education, government institutions ensure at least 20% female enrollment in IITs and NITs through supernumerary seats.

These seats are created over and above the sanctioned capacity without reducing seats for male candidates. Female aspirants can compete for both gender-neutral seats and female-only supernumerary seats, substantially improving their closing rank prospects. Check quota allotment dynamics on the JoSAA Seat Matrix.

All candidates allocated a seat in JoSAA must submit a Medical Certificate in the prescribed JoSAA format (Annexure 7 of the official information brochure).

The certificate must be signed and stamped by a Registered Medical Practitioner (MBBS or higher). It verifies general physical fitness, vision, color blindness, and hearing capacity.

Candidates seeking PwD reservation must have a benchmark disability of 40% or more and possess a valid UDID card or government disability certificate.

During counselling, PwD candidates must undergo physical or in-person verification before an official Medical Board setup at designated verification centers (IITs / NITs) before their allotted seat can be confirmed.

Caste certificates issued in regional languages must be accompanied by an attested English or Hindi translation.

Furthermore, OBC-NCL candidates must verify that their caste is included in the Central List of OBCs available on the National Commission for Backward Classes portal (ncbc.nic.in). State-only OBC castes are not recognized for Central institute admissions.

Understanding this distinction is vital to reading JoSAA Opening and Closing Ranks (OR-CR) correctly:

• In JoSAA official cutoff tables, the closing rank shown under the OPEN category represents the Common Rank List (CRL) rank.
• The closing rank shown under any reserved category (EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST) represents that candidate's Category Rank, NOT their CRL rank!

Our college predictor uses official multi-year opening and closing rank datasets across all JoSAA rounds (Round 1 to Round 6) and CSAB Special Rounds.

It factors in your category, home state quota, gender pool, and target engineering branches to categorize results into High Probability, Medium (Target), and Ambitious (Reach) opportunities. Check the JEE Main College Predictor and JEE Advanced College Predictor.

Every National Institute of Technology (NIT) reserves 50% of its seats for candidates belonging to the Home State where the institute is located, and the remaining 50% seats for Other State (OS) candidates.

Depending on local competition, Home State cutoffs can be significantly relaxed compared to Other State cutoffs, giving regional candidates a major advantage for prestigious programs. Compare trends on our JEE Main Cutoff Page.

A 90 percentile corresponds approximately to an All India Rank of 1,20,000 to 1,40,000 depending on the total candidate pool.

For General category candidates under Other State quota, getting top core branches at premier NITs is difficult at this rank. However, candidates in reserved categories (SC/ST/PwD), Home State quota in newer/northeastern NITs, or participating in CSAB Special Rounds have strong chances for respectable engineering programs. Calculate exact ranks with our Rank Predictor.

In every seat allotment round for each course and college:

• Opening Rank (OR): The rank of the highest-ranked student who accepted admission to that particular branch in that round.
• Closing Rank (CR): The rank of the last student admitted to that branch in that round. Anyone with a rank numerically higher than the closing rank was not allotted a seat in that round.

You can analyze past OR-CR tables across all participating institutes on the JoSAA Seat Allotment Page.