NTA (National Testing Agency) released a fresh notification for JEE Main eligibility criteria in the later half of the year 2019. The eligibility criteria for JEE Main prominently includes the fulfillment of parameters like educational qualification and the age limit. There is also a limit to the number of exam attempts that the candidates are allowed to give. Candidates are advised to follow the instructions for the eligibility criteria before filling the registration/application form.
The JEE Main exam is conducted for the B.Tech, B.Arch and B.Planning aspirants seeking admissions in elite colleges like NITs, IIITs, CFTIs and others. Further, JEE Main is an eligibility test for the coveted ‘JEE Advanced’ test, which is the gateway for admission in IITs.
Important Jee Main Update – JEE Main 2020 would be conducted from September 1 to September 6, 2020.
The JEE Main 2020 exam for the April session was previously scheduled to begin from 18th July 2020 but for the safety of the candidates during the Covid 19 Pandemic , the exam had to be postponed to the 1st week of September 2020.
JEE Main Eligibility – Educational Qualification
The basic qualification for the admission in NITs, IIITs, IITs and CFTIs is passing the 12th boards or an equivalent exam with a minimum of 75% marks for general candidates and minimum of 65% marks for SC and ST candidates. The minimum marks required for admission in any other engineering college is 50%.
Also, aspiring candidates must have passed the 12th or equivalent exam with 5 main subjects. B.Tech/B.E, B. Planning and B.Arch aspirants must have Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry as a part of their mandatory subjects in class 12 (or equivalent).
Following is the list of 10+ 2 qualifying exams which are accepted by the governing body of JEE Main:
- Final board exams for 10 + 2, validated by any recognized Central/State board such as the CBSE, ICSE, and ISC.
- 2 year pre-university examination conducted by any recognized board/university.
- Final examination of 2-year courses from the Joint Services Wing (National Defense Academy)
- Senior Secondary School Examination validated by the National Institute of Open Schooling. Candidates must pass the exam with 5 main subjects.
- Higher Secondary Certificate Vocational Examination.
- Any Indian or foreign school/board/university examination which is recognized as equivalent to the 10 + 2 system by the AIU (Association of Indian Universities).
- A 3-year diploma recognized by AICTE or a State Board of Technical Institution.
JEE Main Eligibility – Age Limit Criteria
- NTA has announced that there will be no age limit for the candidates to appear for the JEE Main 2020.
- However, to stay eligible for appearing at the JEE Main, the candidate must have passed the 10 + 2 or equivalent exam in either 2018 or 2019.
- Those candidates who are appearing for the 10 + 2 or equivalent entrance exam in 2020 (2019-2020) are also eligible to apply for the JEE Main 2020. However, if the candidates clear the JEE Main, then they must showcase their 10+2 or equivalent exam result at the time of admissions (at the college centre). Inability to do so may lead to the rejection of the candidature.
- Aspirants who have passed the 10 +2 or equivalent exam before 2018 (2017, 2016, 2015) will not be considered eligible to apply for the JEE Main 2020.
JEE Main Eligibility – Number of Attempts
In 2019, the Department of Higher Education, MHRD, handed over the responsibility of conducting the JEE Main to the National Testing Agency. NTA announced that the JEE Main will be held in 2 sessions (January and April) from 2019 onwards.
Candidates may attempt both the sessions in one year. The marks scored in the session in which they get a better result will be considered by the exam committee. Moreover, a candidate may appear for both the JEE Main exams for 3 consecutive years. (2 sessions in one academic year will be considered as 1 attempt, thus candidates may give as many as 3 attempts at the JEE Main).
JEE Main Eligibility- Documents required
There are essential documents which candidates must possess to successfully satisfy the eligibility criterion for the JEE Main 2020. These are:
- Identity Card– You must possess any of the following valid identity card such as PAN Card, Voter ID Card, Drivers licence or Aadhaar Card.
- Photograph/Signature– Aspirants must successfully submit the scanned copies of both photograph and signature within the prescribed size limits. These documents must not exceed 100 KB of size and should also not be below the 10 KB of size. Candidates must submit the scanned copies in either JPEG or JPG format.
- Educational Documents– Candidates must submit class 10th or class 12th documents such as marksheet and provisional certificate at the time of filling the application form.
- Category Certificate- Candidates must also submit the ‘Category Certificate’ which they belong to (if applicable). These certificates must be validated by any of the recognized governing authority.
JEE Main- Eligibility for Droppers
Droppers is a term which which used to indicate those candidates who either prefer to “drop” an academic year, which means dedicating a whole year to prepare for the JEE Main after class 12th or the aspirants who want to appear for the JEE Main again (inability to qualify for admission in IIT’s in previous attempt).
- To stay eligible for appearing at the JEE Main 2020, the “Dropper”candidate must have passed the 10 + 2 or equivalent exam in either 2018 or 2019. Similarly for JEE Main 2021, Candidate must have have passed 10 + 2 or equivalent in 2019 or 2020 and so on.
- “Dropper” candidates must have passed 12th boards or an equivalent exam with a minimum of 75% marks for general category and minimum of 65% marks for SC and ST categories, to stay eligible for admission in any of the Indian Institute of Technology.
- There is no age limit to appear for the JEE Main.
- “Dropper” candidates must have passed class 12th or equivalent from any recognized board/university mentioned in the list of qualifying examinations.
- “Dropper” candidates can also give as many as 3 attempts at the JEE Main. It is crucial to know that 2 JEE Main sessions in a year are considered as a single attempt.
JEE Main- Improvement Exam Criterion
Aspiring JEE Main 2020 candidates who are appearing for the improvement exam in 2020 must be aware of the rules and regulations implemented by the governing body of the exam. Candidates may appear for improvement exam for 1, 2 or even all the 5 subjects, thus the following conditions will be applied for the same.
- Improvement in One/Two subjects– In this case, the 2019’s top 20 percentile will come into consideration. The aggregate will be evaluated on the basis of scores obtained in the mandatory qualifying subjects.
- Improvement exam for all subjects- In this case, the better of the 2 results ( for 2019 or 2020 session) will be considered for eligibility criterion.
JEE Main Eligibility – Reservation of Seats
The Government of India has reserved seats for JEE Main candidates of various categories. The allocation of seats to various categories of JEE Main candidates is mentioned below –
| Category | Reservation (%) |
| Scheduled Caste | 15 |
| Scheduled Tribe | 7.5 |
| Other Backward Classes ( Non- creamy Layer) | 27 |
| Specially abled candidates | 3 |
JEE Main Eligibility – FAQs
Q. Is there any age limit to appear for the JEE Main 2020?
No, there is no age limit for the candidates to appear for the JEE Main 2020. However, only those candidates who have passed the 10 + 2 or equivalent qualifying exam in either 2018 or 2019 are eligible to appear. Candidates who are appearing for the 10 + 2 exam in 2020 (2019-20) are also eligible to appear for the JEE Main 2020 only if they can show their passing result of 10 + 2 at the time of the admissions. Inability to do so would lead to disqualification.
Q. Can I give JEE Main without Mathematics as a main subject?
No. Mathematics is a mandatory subject to appear for any of the 3 JEE Main exams- B.E/B.Tech, B.Arch and B.Planning.
Q. If I clear both the sessions of JEE Main, which of the two results will be considered?
If you clear both the sessions of JEE Main (January and April), then the session in which you have scored more marks will be considered by the exam authority.
Q. How many JEE Main attempts can I give?
You may attempt JEE Main for as many as 3 consecutive years. Since JEE Main is conducted twice each year ( 2 sessions in a year are counted as 1 attempt), the candidates are allowed to give 3 attempts in total.
Q. How many percent of seats are reserved for the SC/ST categories in JEE Main?
As per the JEE Main eligibility criteria, 15 percent of seats are reserved for the SC (Scheduled Caste) candidates and 7.5 percent of seats for the ST (Scheduled Tribe) candidates.
