JEE Advanced 2026 IIT Cutoff: Year-Wise Trends and Branch Ranks

JEE Advanced 2026 qualifying cutoff for the General (CRL) category is 92 marks out of 360, released by IIT Roorkee on June 1, 2026, with JoSAA 2026 Round 1 data showing IIT Bombay CSE closing at CRL rank 65 and IIT Delhi CSE at rank 123 in the Open Gender-Neutral pool.

The qualifying cutoff is the minimum score needed to earn a JEE Advanced rank; the IIT closing rank — published after each JoSAA counselling round — is the actual threshold that determines which branch and institute you secure. As JoSAA 2026 counselling progresses, this article covers the 2026 qualifying cutoff, year-wise trends from 2023 to 2026, and branch-wise closing rank data across the top IITs to help you gauge your admission chances.

• JEE Advanced 2026 qualifying cutoff (General/CRL): 92 marks out of 360, with a minimum of 7 marks per subject in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
• OBC-NCL and EWS qualifying cutoff: 82 marks; SC, ST and PwD: 46 marks.
• 56,880 students qualified in JEE Advanced 2026, including 10,107 female students.
• JoSAA 2026 Round 1 closing rank — IIT Bombay CSE (Open, Gender-Neutral): 65; IIT Delhi CSE: 123.
• The 2026 cutoff is 18 marks higher than 2025 (74 marks) and 17 marks lower than 2024 (109 marks), reflecting a moderately difficult 2026 paper.

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JEE Advanced 2026 Qualifying Cutoff (Official Data)

IIT Roorkee released the JEE Advanced 2026 qualifying cutoff on June 1, 2026 along with the results. The exam is out of 360 marks (120 per subject). Students must clear both the aggregate minimum and the per-subject minimum — failing either criterion removes you from the rank list regardless of the other score. Category-wise cutoffs for 2026 are:

56,880 students qualified for JoSAA 2026 counselling, which covers all 23 IITs. Clearing the qualifying cutoff only means you have a rank — your rank versus JoSAA closing ranks determines which IIT branch you actually get.

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Year-Wise Qualifying Cutoff Trends (2023–2026)

JEE Advanced qualifying cutoffs vary sharply year to year based on paper difficulty. A manageable paper raises scores and pushes the cutoff up; a harder paper compresses scores and drops it. The table below shows how the General category aggregate cutoff and key reserved category cutoffs have moved over four years:

Key trend: There is no stable upward or downward trend — the qualifying cutoff oscillates based on paper difficulty, ranging from 65 to 109 for General category over just four years. Clearing the qualifying cutoff only gives you a rank; IIT branch admission depends on JoSAA closing ranks, which are far more stable year on year. The OBC-NCL and EWS cutoffs track approximately 10 marks below the General cutoff, and SC/ST/PwD cutoffs stay near half the General value.

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JoSAA 2026 IIT CSE Closing Ranks — Current Round Data

JoSAA 2026 is underway. Round 1 and Round 2 closing ranks are already out. For the most competitive IIT-CSE seats, closing ranks almost never move between rounds — students holding these allotments never surrender them. The table below shows confirmed Round 1 data and 2024–2025 final-round benchmarks for comparison:

All ranks above are JEE Advanced Common Rank List (CRL), Open category, Gender-Neutral pool, final/current round. IIT Bombay CSE has held the most competitive closing rank among all IIT-branch combinations for three consecutive years, closing below rank 70 each time. In JoSAA 2025, 72 of the top 100 JEE Advanced rankers chose IIT Bombay. Final 2026 closing ranks across all IITs will be published once JoSAA 2026 concludes, expected in August 2026.

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What Your JEE Advanced 2026 Rank Gets You: IIT Branch Access Guide

Based on 2024 and 2025 JoSAA final-round closing rank data for Open category Gender-Neutral seats, here is an approximate guide to IIT CSE access by rank band. All ranges below are based on 2024–2025 trends and are indicative for JoSAA 2026 planning:

This table reflects indicative ranges based on 2024 and 2025 JoSAA trends. Actual 2026 closing ranks may vary by 5–15% from the ranges shown. EE and ME branches at older IITs have closing ranks that are 3–10 times higher (numerically) than CSE at the same IIT, making them accessible to a much wider rank band. Category-specific closing ranks (OBC-NCL, SC, ST, EWS) are calculated within each category’s own rank pool and are not directly comparable to CRL figures.

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Factors That Influence IIT Closing Ranks Each Year

JoSAA closing ranks shift each year even when seat counts remain constant. Understanding the drivers helps you interpret year-on-year changes more accurately:

• Paper difficulty and score distribution: A harder paper (like 2025, IIT Kanpur) compresses scores at the top, but does not significantly alter IIT closing ranks — students at rank 65 still get IIT Bombay CSE regardless of their absolute score.
• Total qualified students: In 2026, 56,880 students qualified — more than in some previous years. A larger qualified pool intensifies competition for seats at mid-tier IITs and less popular branches.
• New seats and new specialisations: Several IITs have added B.Tech programmes in AI and Data Science. Students opting for these tracks reduce demand for traditional CSE, slightly easing those closing ranks.
• Choice-filling preferences: In 2025, 72 of the top 100 rankers chose IIT Bombay, keeping its CSE closing rank consistently low. Any shift in preference — for example, if more top rankers opt for IIT Delhi for location — can affect closing ranks without any structural change in seats.
• JoSAA round dynamics: Closing ranks at top IIT-CSE seats are frozen after Round 1. At newer IITs and less competitive branches, later rounds see more movement as rejected allotments re-enter the pool.