JEE Main 2026: Check expected cutoff percentile, analysis
The first day of JEE Main 2026 (January 21) had two shifts. Students said the paper was moderate overall, with some differences between subjects and shifts. Check the expected cutoff percentile.
The JEE Main cutoff is the minimum score a student must get to qualify for the next stage, JEE Advanced. It is also called the qualifying percentile and is different from the admission cutoff for colleges. Only candidates scoring above the cutoff can apply for IITs and other top institutes. The National Testing Agency (NTA) will release the official cutoff after the results in April, but based on today’s exam difficulty and student reactions, here’s an expected cutoff for JEE Main 2026. The cutoff is different for each category and depends on the number of applicants, available seats, and the difficulty level of the exam.
How was today’s paper?
The first day of JEE Main 2026 (January 21) had two shifts. Students said the paper was moderate overall, with some differences between subjects and shifts:
Shift 1: Physics was moderate to tough, Chemistry was lengthy but easy, and Maths was difficult. High-weightage topics in Maths included Sets & Relations, Vectors & 3D, Matrices, Limits, Differentiability, and Probability.
Shift 2: Physics was formula-based and moderate, covering Capacitors, Modern Physics, and Ray Optics. Chemistry was doable with more Organic Chemistry questions. Maths was lengthy and hard, focusing on Calculus and Vectors.
Expected cutoff and percentile trends
Based on past trends and the difficulty of today’s paper, experts predict that the JEE Main 2026 cutoff is likely to increase for all categories due to the high number of applicants.
Factors that affect the cutoff:
- Number of aspirants
- Difficulty level of the exam
- Total number of seats
Here’s an expected percentile
| Category | Expected Percentile |
| General (UR) | 92-95 |
| OBC-NCL | 79-82 |
| EWS | 80-82 |
| SC | 64-66 |
| ST | 45-48 |
Why cutoff may rise this year
- Past trends show that higher number of applicants usually leads to a higher cutoff.
- Certain categories, like Gen-EWS and ST, have seen a rise in applicants in recent years, which impacts their cutoff.