Will CBSE students get relief in IIT admission from 75% marks criteria? — All about JoSAA counselling via JEE Advanced | Mint
The Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee recently dropped an update on JoSAA 2026 counselling, declaring that CBSE students who do not currently meet the minimum Class 12 marks requirement for admission can still participate in the admission process. This implies that even those CBSE students who did not score minimum 75% marks in their Senior School Certificate Examination can also appear for the JEE Advanced admission process based on their rank.
According to IIT-Roorkee, allotment of seats will based on candidates’ JEE rank. In the latest notice released on Friday, 6 June, IIT-Roorkee, which conducted the national engineering entrance exam this year, said, “For those students whose Class 12 (or equivalent) marks are less than 75 per cent (for general/OBC-NCL/GEN-EWS categories) or less than 65 per cent (for SC/ST/PwD categories), please note the following: You are eligible to fill in your choices at present and seats will be allocated to you based on your rank.”
The post on X added, “You need to send the revised score card with at least 75% or 65% as per your category by July 15th 2026 through the email orgjee@iitr.ac.in. On receipt of the same, admission will be given to whichever seat is allocated to you at the end of 4th round.”
Notably, JEE (Advanced) is the gateway for admission to undergraduate programmes offered at top 138 government funded institutes. The list of premier engineering institutions across the country includes 23 IITs, IISc Bengaluru, 31 NITs, IIEST Shibpur, 26 IIITs and 56 Other-Government Funded Technical Institutes (Other-GFTIs).
The students of 36 boards across the country appear for this national level competitive exam. The eligibility criteria clearly states that candidates seeking admission to IITs through JEE (Advanced) must either secure at least 75 per cent marks in Class 12 or equivalent examinations. However, CBSE board results this year were embroiled in controversy over discrepancies in on-screen marking (OSM) system.
Student bodies appealed for relaxation in admission criteria for CBSE students citing concerns over OSM evaluation. Students received scanned copies of mismatched answer scripts, complained of discrepancies in evaluated answer books and technical failures in its post-result services portal.
They alleged that OSM evaluation discrepancies may have affected their marks and as a consequence their academic prospects and college admissions. Hence, after the latest announcement on counselling process, candidates can submit a revised scorecard meeting the required criteria by 15 July.
A look back at past events
The latest announcement on JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority) 2026 counselling came a day after IIT Roorkee director Kamal Kishore Pant said the eligibility criteria cannot be lowered because candidates from 36 different school boards participate in the admission process.
On 4 June, the Joint Admission Board (JAB) in a statement had said, “No relaxation in marks as candidates from 36 different boards are participating. We published this criterion almost in December and last year there were candidates who lost IIT/NIT seats mainly due to percentages. Hence, lowering is not possible; however, we are in close touch with CBSE and will try to resolve this for all those affected candidates on priority.”
This year, JoSAA 2026 counselling registration and choice-filling process officially opened on 2 June 2026, a day after the declaration of JEE (Advanced) 2026 result. A total of 56,880 candidates qualified the engineering entrance exam, recording a 4.6% increase as compared with last year. Among them, 46,773 are men and 10,107 are women — the highest number of women ever to qualify for the examination.
JoSAA registration and choice filling window is slated to remain open till 11 June. This year’s counselling will be conducted across 5 rounds of seat allocation till 21 July.