The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main continues to see more students participating each year. This has led to tougher competition for students aiming to get into top engineering colleges like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The number of students qualifying for JEE Advanced has also gone up.
In 2023 , about 11,13,325 students took the JEE Main exam. This number grew to 14,15,110 in 2024 , which is a jump of about 27.1% . In 2025 , there were 14,75,103 students, a smaller increase of 4.2% from the previous year. This shows that more and more students are trying for JEE Main.
More Students, Higher Cutoffs
As more students take the exam, the minimum marks needed to qualify for JEE Advanced (the cutoff) have also been increasing. These cutoffs are different for different categories of students (like general, EWS, OBC, SC, ST).
JEE Main Performance and Cutoffs (2023-2025)
| Year | Total Candidates Appeared | UR cutoff | EWS cutoff | OBC cutoff | SC cutoff | ST cutoff |
| 2023 | 11,13,325 | 90.77 | 75.62 | 73.61 | 51.97 | 37.23 |
| 2024 | 14,15,110 | 93.23 | 81.32 | 79.67 | 60.09 | 46.69 |
| 2025 | 14,75,103 | 93.10 | 80.38 | 79.43 | 61.15 | 47.90 |
In 2024 , the big rise in students led to higher cutoffs. The general category (UR) cutoff went up from 90.77 in 2023 to 93.23 in 2024. For reserved categories, the increase was even more noticeable. EWS and OBC cutoffs rose by about 7.5% and 8.2% , respectively. SC and ST categories saw the biggest jump, with cutoffs increasing by around 15.6% and 25.4% compared to 2023.
In 2025 , the cutoffs changed a bit. For the general category (UR), the cutoff slightly dropped to 93.10 . EWS and OBC cutoffs also saw small decreases. However, cutoffs for SC and ST students continued to rise, reaching 61.15 and 47.90 , respectively.
These trends mean that competition for JEE Main is getting tougher each year. With over 3,61,000 more students appearing since 2023, students need to perform better to have a chance at qualifying for JEE Advanced and getting into IITs.
