JEE Advanced 2025 eligibility criteria announced, 5 things students must know

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has announced eligibility criteria for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2025. Candidates preparing for the next year’s IIT entrance test can check it on jeeadv.ac.in. For Indian nationals, there are five eligibility criteria for JEE Advanced – performance in JEE Main 2025, age limit, number of attempts, appearance in Class 12 examination and earlier admission at IITs.
Performance in JEE (Main) 2025: The candidates should be among the top 2,50,000 successful candidates (including all categories) in BE/BTech paper (paper 1) of JEE Main 2025. This include 10 per cent general-EWS, 27 per cent OBC-NCL, 15 per cent SC, 7.5 per cent ST and 40.5 per cent open category candidates. In each category, there will be five per cent horizontal reservation for PwD candidates.
Here’s the category-wise distribution of candidates (including horizontal reservation for PwD candidates)-
Open: 1,01,250
General-EWS: 25,000
OBC-NCL: 67,500
SC: 37,500
ST: 18,750
The total number of candidates may be slightly greater than 2,50,000 in the presence of tied ranks/scores in any category, IIT Kanpur said.
Age limit: Candidates should have been born on or after October 1, 2000. A five years age relaxation will be given to SC, ST, and PwD candidates, which means candidates from these categories born on or after October 1, 1995 will be allowed to write the test.
Number of attempts: As per the official website, a candidate can attempt JEE Advanced a maximum of three times in three consecutive years.
Appearance in Class 12 (or equivalent) examination: The candidate should have appeared for the Class 12 (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2023 or 2024 or 2025 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as compulsory subjects.
Candidates who had appeared in the Class 12 examination for the first time in 2022 or earlier, are not eligible to appear in JEE Advanced 2025.
Earlier admission at IITs: A candidate should NOT have been admitted to an IIT under any academic program that is listed in JoSAA business rules of 2024 or earlier. Candidates whose admission to IITs was cancelled after joining any IIT are also not eligible to appear for JEE Advanced 2025. Candidates who have been admitted to a preparatory course in the IITs for the first time in 2024 can appear in JEE Advanced 2025.
The candidates who were allocated a seat in an IIT through JoSAA but did not report online or withdrew before the last round of seat allotment or had their seat cancelled before the last round are eligible to appear for JEE Advanced 2025.
To check more about the JEE Advanced eligibility criteria, including that for foreign nationals, click here.