Typically, the National Testing Agency declares the JEE eligibility criteria, and it remains the same for the January and April sessions of the exam. This year, in order to ensure the students do not miss out on any opportunity due to the pandemic, the exam will take place in February, March, April, and May. It means that it will take place four times a year. For any of these attempts, candidates must always take care of the eligibility details before applying.
The reason behind it is simple – if you fail to meet even a single point in the eligibility requirements, your JEE application may stand null and void. To make this work a bit easier for the aspirants, we are here with some of the critical details that everyone must know about the JEE main eligibility criteria. Have a look:
IIT JEE Eligibility at A Glance
IIT JEE’s full form is – Indian Institutes of Technology – Joint Entrance Examination, and it is the most challenging exam of the country. You can readily check JEE eligibility details on the exam’s official website under the Government of India. Based on it, here is everything that a JEE aspirant must know:
Age of The Candidate
While the exam has no set age limit for the candidates, he/she should be old enough to pass their class 12 board exam.
Nationality of The Candidate
Those with an Indian nationality can appear for this exam. Along with the citizens of India, foreign national candidates can also apply for the IIT JEE main exam.
Number of Attempts for IIT JEE Main
As per the JEE main eligibility, a candidate can appear for this exam for three consecutive years. Since this year, the exam will take place four times; these attempts are 12. Typically, the students take the first attempt soon after 10+2 boards. Please note that the said attempts are only for the JEE main exam. For the advanced paper, there are two consecutive attempts.
Qualifying Exam for IIT JEE Main
Usually, anyone who completes their final class 12 boards can give the IIT JEE exam. Let us talk about it in a bit more detail:
- If the candidate is appearing or has appeared for the 10+2 PCM boards, they can appear for this exam. These exams must be under a recognized Central/State Board. Some examples are – Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations and the Central Board of Secondary Education.
- Candidates appearing for the final exam of the National Defence Academy can give this exam. It is a two-year course of the Joint Services Wing.
- Anyone who gives a two-year or intermediate Pre-University exam can also give the IIT JEE main exam. It again must be by a recognized Board/ University.
- If you give Senior Secondary School Examination under the National Institute of Open Schooling, you can apply for IIT JEE mains. Make sure you study a minimum of five subjects during this, including the significant subjects – Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.
- Those who have a Higher Secondary Certificate in the vocational exam can fill in the IIT JEE main exam form.
- Anyone with an education similar to the 10+2 system can give the JEE main exam. It can be from any Public School/ Board/ University. All of this must be under the Association of Indian Universities.
- If a candidate has a diploma of at least three years duration, they can give IIT JEE. This diploma must be under the State board of technical education or AICTE.
- Anyone with a High School Certificate Examination of Cambridge University can give this exam. Also, someone who has an International Baccalaureate Diploma can appear for the JEE main exam.
Year of Passing the Qualifying Exam
Any aspirant who wishes to appear for the IIT JEE exam should pass the 12th class examination or any equivalent exam before it. Also, someone who is appearing for the final exam can give the exam that year. For instance, if you give your exam in 2021, you can appear for all the JEE main sessions in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Correspondingly, their result should come before 15 June 2021.
Mandatory Subjects for The IIT JEE Main Exam
For B. E/ B. Tech/B. Plan/B. Arch, the mandatory IIT JEE subjects are – Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry/ Biotechnology/Languages/ Biology/Vocational subjects/Other subjects. Physics and Chemistry are compulsory for all of these.
JEE Eligibility for Diploma Holders
Anyone with a diploma can apply for the JEE main exam. However, as per JEE eligibility, such a candidate cannot get admission into NITs or CFTIs on the basis of their JEE rank.
Qualifying Score for IIT JEE Main
- General Category: Every aspirant from this category must have 75% of aggregate marks in their class 12 board exams. Alternatively, they must rank in the top 20 percentile for the qualifying examination. If they meet this criterion, only then can they get admission into IITs, NITs, and CFTIs.
- Reserved (SC/SC/PWD) Category: For all the candidates belonging to this category, a lower aggregate is needed. It is 65%. Without it, getting admission into IITs, NITs, and CFTIs is not possible.
IIT JEE Eligibility for Repeaters/Droppers
While earlier, only someone under 24 could appear for the IIT JEE main exam, it has no lower or upper age limit now. For such candidates, JEE eligibility details are as follows:
- The JEE aspirant should have passed his/her class 12 boards or any other similar qualifying examination.
- There is no JEE age limit for the aspirants. However, to appear in the 2021 exam, the year of passing the qualifying exam should be 2019 or 2020.
- A general category repeater or dropper must have 75% of marks in class 12 board exams. For the other categories, this percentage is 65%.
- Further, the aspirant must have five subjects for his/her qualifying examination. These subjects must include the mandatory subjects – Physics and Mathematics.
IIT JEE Advanced – Who Can Appear for It?
The IIT JEE exam that goes by the full form – Indian Institutes of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination, takes place in two parts. Once a candidate appears for JEE mains and clears it, only then can they sit for the JEE Advanced exam. The JEE main cut-off is a determining factor behind it. In simple words, the candidates who are able to meet the cut-off score can give the advanced exam.
Thus, along with the above JEE eligibility criteria, JEE main score is also an eligibility requirement for the IIT JEE advanced exam. Usually, only the top 2,50,000 candidates of the main exam can sit for this second installment of the JEE exam.
Our Final Thoughts for The JEE Aspirants
So, this is everything that the candidates must know about JEE eligibility before filling in the exam forms. While this remains constant, at least for all the sessions in a year, the students must check the eligibility criteria once on the official website of the test before filing it. Doing so is vital because if you fail to meet even a single requirement, it will be a waste of all your effort. After all, appearing for IIT JEE main requires a lot of dedication and hard work. We hope you remember this whenever you fill up your JEE exam forms. Good luck!
