Students preparing for engineering admissions should know the likely scores needed for National Institute of Technology (NIT) seats. The JEE Main 2026 exam will decide who gets into these top colleges. Knowing the expected safe scores can help students plan their studies.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will hold the JEE Main 2026 exam in two sessions. The first session is from January 21 to January 30, 2026 . The second session will take place from April 2 to April 9, 2026 . Admission to the 32 NITs in India depends on a student's score in the JEE Main 2026 exam.
How NIT Admission Works
After taking the JEE Main 2026 exam, students who pass must take part in the JoSAA counselling process. JoSAA stands for Joint Seat Allocation Authority. This process matches students with available seats in NITs and other colleges. The minimum scores needed for admission are different for each NIT and for different engineering branches.
NIT Seats Overview
All the NITs together offer a total of 24,525 seats. Out of these, 9,389 seats are available for students in the open category (also known as general neutral category). For the popular Computer Science Engineering (CSE) branch, there are 3,694 seats across all NITs. It is also important to know that 50% of the seats in each NIT are reserved for students from the state where that NIT is located.
JEE Main 2026 Expected Safe Scores for NITs
To understand what scores might be considered 'safe' for admission, we can look at the cutoff ranks from the previous year's JoSAA counselling. The table below shows the cutoff ranks for outside state candidates from JEE Main 2025 and the expected scores needed for 2026. These scores are for getting into the institutes. For competitive branches like Computer Science Engineering (CSE), students will need to score even higher.
Expected Scores for Top NITs (Tier 1 & 2)
| NIT | Outside State (OS) Rank 2025 | Expected Marks in 2026 |
| NIT Trichy | 21243 | 172+ |
| NIT Surathkal | 28750 | 162+ |
| NIT Warangal | 37985 | 152+ |
| NIT Rourkela | 51669 | 142+ |
| MNIT Allahabad | 38442 | 152+ |
| NIT Calicut | 36080 | 154+ |
| MNIT Jaipur | 38003 | 152+ |
| NIT Kurukshetra | 39510 | 151+ |
| NIT Delhi | 27647 | 163+ |
| SVNIT Surat | 53932 | 140+ |
| NIT Durgapur | 55165 | 140+ |
| NIT Jamshedpur | 45058 | 146+ |
| NIT Bhopal | 45803 | 146+ |
| NIT Jalandhar | 53700 | 141+ |
| NIT Hamirpur | 47577 | 145+ |
| NIT Silchar | 48062 | 144+ |
| NIT Raipur | 56483 | 139+ |
| NIT Patna | 48513 | 144+ |
| IIEST Shibpur | 58114 | 138+ |
| NIT Goa | 45845 | 146+ |
Expected Scores for Other NITs (Tier 3)
| NIT | Outside State (OS) Rank 2025 | Expected Marks in 2026 |
| NIT Andhra Pradesh | 52976 | 141+ |
| NIT Uttarakhand | 49391 | 144+ |
| NIT Puducherry | 49922 | 143+ |
| NIT Agartala | 62338 | 135+ |
| NIT Meghalaya | 52450 | 141+ |
| NIT Sikkim | 54268 | 140+ |
| NIT Arunachal Pradesh | 61897 | 135+ |
| NIT Manipur | 60323 | 136+ |
| NIT Mizoram | 61620 | 135+ |
| NIT Srinagar | 57881 | 138+ |
| NIT Nagaland | 60689 | 136+ |
Summary of NIT Safe Scores for 2026
Based on past admission trends, here is a general idea of the scores students should aim for to get into NITs:
| Institute Type | NIT Safe Score 2026 |
| Tier 1 NITs | 150-180 |
| Tier 2 NITs | 140-150 |
| Tier 3 NITs | 130-145 |
Students must remember that these are expected scores. The actual scores needed can change based on the number of students taking the exam, how difficult the exam is, and how many seats are available. Aiming for scores higher than these ranges will increase a student's chances of getting into their desired NIT and engineering branch, especially for popular choices like CSE.
