IIT Eligibility: What You Need to Qualify for JEE and Get Into IIT
Getting into an IIT, India's top engineering institutes that admit students through the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Also known as Indian Institutes of Technology, these schools are where some of the world’s top engineers and tech leaders started. It’s not about being the smartest—it’s about meeting the rules and playing the game right. If you’re aiming for an IIT, you need to clear JEE Main first, then JEE Advanced. But before you even sit for the exam, you have to check if you qualify at all. Many students waste months preparing, only to find out they missed a basic requirement. Don’t be one of them.
The core JEE eligibility, the official set of rules set by the National Testing Agency (NTA) that determine who can take the JEE exams is simple but strict. You must have passed Class 12 or an equivalent exam with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as core subjects. No exceptions. If you took Biology instead of Math, you’re out. You can’t use a diploma or a vocational certificate to qualify either. Only standard academic streams count. And yes, even if you’re a repeater, you still need those three subjects on your 12th-grade marksheet.
Age? No upper limit anymore. You can be 25 or 35—doesn’t matter. But you can only attempt JEE Main six times over three consecutive years, and JEE Advanced just twice, in two consecutive years. That means if you fail in 2024, you get one more shot in 2025. No more. No do-overs after that. Your Class 12 results matter too: you need at least 75% overall (or 65% for SC/ST/PwD), or be in the top 20 percentile of your board. CBSE, ICSE, state boards—all accepted, as long as they’re recognized by the NTA. If you’re studying abroad, your diploma must be equivalent to Indian 12th grade, and you’ll need a certificate from the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
There’s one thing most guides leave out: the real bottleneck isn’t the exam. It’s the paperwork. If your school didn’t issue your Class 12 certificate properly, or your board didn’t upload your marks on time, you won’t be allowed to register—even if you scored 300/300 in JEE Main. So start checking your documents early. Get your Aadhaar, your 12th marksheet, your category certificate (if applicable), and your photo ID ready. No last-minute rushes.
And don’t fall for the myth that you need coaching. The 2025 JEE Advanced topper, Shreyansh Jain, didn’t take a single coaching class. He studied from NCERT, practiced past papers, and stayed consistent. Eligibility doesn’t care where you studied. It only cares if you met the rules. If you did, you’re in the game. If not, no amount of cramming will get you past the gate.
Below, you’ll find real stories from people who cleared the eligibility hurdles—some with perfect scores, others barely scraping through—and how they turned their qualifications into a seat at an IIT. No fluff. Just what works.
- By Nolan Blackburn
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- 1 Aug 2025
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