Half of SC candidates qualify for JEE Advanced 2026; women participation reaches 6-year peak
JEE Advanced 2026 results reveal a significant shift in candidate qualification patterns, with SC (Scheduled Caste) candidates achieving a breakthrough 50.16% qualification rate—marking the first time this benchmark has been exceeded. The SC qualification rate rose 9.8 percentage points from 40.41% in the previous year, while ST (Scheduled Tribe) candidates also saw substantial gains, with their qualification rate climbing 8.1 points to 42.14% from 33.99%. SC qualifiers increased from 12,499 to 15,856, while ST qualifiers rose from 5,008 to 6,379, representing approximately 27% growth in both categories.
Women's participation in JEE Advanced reached 23.4%, the highest level recorded in six years according to the Joint Implementation Committee report released by IIT Roorkee. Together, SC and ST qualifiers now comprise 22,235 of the 56,880 total qualifiers—nearly 39% of the total pool, up from approximately 32% a year earlier. The overall qualification pool grew modestly from 54,378 to 56,880, with the qualifying percentage rising from 30.1% to 31.7% among those who appeared for both papers.
Conversely, qualification rates for other categories declined. General category candidates saw their qualification rate fall 3.2 points to 39.8%, while OBC-NCL candidates experienced a decline of 0.7 points to 17.5%. A total of 1,87,389 candidates registered for JEE Advanced 2026, with 1,79,694 appearing for both examination papers.
