Know this. The two-attempt rule counts from your Class 12 year, so a drop year after Class 12 is your last chance at the IITs; a student who first sat Class 12 two years earlier is not eligible at all.
- Run by
- One of the IITs, by rotation, under the Joint Admission Board (IIT Roorkee organised the 2026 exam)
- Admits you to
- Undergraduate admission to the IITs (B.Tech, BS, dual degree and integrated programmes) through JoSAA counselling. B.Arch at IITs also needs the separate Architecture Aptitude Test (AAT) after the result.
- Who can sit
- You must be among the top 2,50,000 successful candidates (all categories together) in JEE Main Paper 1 of the same year, have Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in Class 12, and have appeared for Class 12 for the first time in the current year or the year before. For the 2026 exam the age rule was born on or after 1 October 2001, with five years relaxation for SC, ST and PwD candidates. For an IIT seat you also need 75% aggregate in Class 12 (65% for SC, ST and PwD) or a place in the top 20 percentile of your board.
- Pattern
- Two compulsory papers, Paper 1 and Paper 2, each 3 hours, taken on the same day in computer-based test mode. Both cover Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics; the question types and marking scheme change from year to year and are announced in the information brochure.
- When
- Usually in May, about a month after the JEE Main April session. Results usually in early June, followed by JoSAA counselling in June–July.
- Limits
- A maximum of two attempts, in two consecutive years. Age limit is set each year by date of birth (for 2026: born on or after 1 October 2001; SC, ST, PwD on or after 1 October 1996).
Courses it leads to
- B.Tech / B.E.The four-year engineering degree, taught at IITs, NITs, IIITs, state government colleges and a very large number of private colleges.4 years
- B.ArchA five-year professional degree that trains you to design buildings and spaces, from a house to a campus or a city block.5 years
- Integrated BS-MS / Integrated M.ScA five-year programme that takes you from Class 12 straight to a master's degree in basic science: physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, earth…5 years
- B.Sc (Physical and Mathematical Sciences)A science degree focused on one or two subjects from physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, statistics, electronics or data science.3–4 years
Sources, checked 2026-09-28: jeeadv.ac.in · jeeadv.ac.in