In a decision that has dashed the hopes of thousands of engineering aspirants, IIT Roorkee — the institute organising JEE Advanced 2026 this year — has confirmed that there will be no relaxation in the rule requiring candidates to score at least 75% in their Class 12 board exams to be eligible for admission to the IITs.
Update: 5 June 2026, 4 pm IST
IIT Roorkee has dismissed reports suggesting a data breach affecting JEE (Advanced) candidates. The institute clarified that a temporary cloud storage configuration issue was detected but did not result in any compromise of sensitive candidate information or large-scale data extraction. The vulnerability was identified by an ethical hacker and was promptly addressed by the institute's technical team. IIT Roorkee further reassured students and stakeholders that the integrity of the examination process and results remains intact, reaffirming its commitment to maintaining the highest standards of data security, transparency, and accountability.
The announcement lands at a tense moment. Across the country, students have been campaigning on social media for the criterion to be eased, citing problems with the Central Board of Secondary Education’s new evaluation system and alleged irregularities in marking. For many who cleared JEE Advanced with strong ranks but fell just short of the 75% mark in their boards, this was the relief they had been waiting for. That relief is now off the table.
Why IIT Roorkee won’t ease the rule
In a statement to a news agency, IIT Roorkee laid out its reasoning. The institute pointed out that the admission process draws candidates from 36 different education boards across the country, and the rules cannot be rewritten because of difficulties faced by students of a single board. Doing so, it argued, would be unfair to students from all the other boards.
The institute also stressed timing. The eligibility criterion was published back in December last year, so changing the “goalposts” at the last minute is not feasible. IIT Roorkee noted that in previous years too, several students with good ranks lost their seats because their Class 12 percentage fell short — and the rule was applied to them all the same.
There was, however, a small note of reassurance. The institute said it is aware of the situation created by the CBSE marking controversy and is in continuous contact with CBSE officials, so that the problems of affected students can be addressed on a priority basis.
What the rule actually says
For admission to the IITs and NITs, a candidate must satisfy one of two conditions. Either they must have secured at least 75% marks in their Class 12 board examination (65% for SC/ST candidates), or they must be among the top 20 percentile of successful candidates in their respective board.
In other words, students who miss the 75% threshold still have a second route in through the top-20-percentile clause — but for many who scored lower than expected this year, neither condition has been easy to meet.
The controversy behind the demand
At the heart of the students’ appeal is this year’s switch by CBSE to an “On-Screen Marking” (OSM) system for evaluating answer sheets. Students — and reportedly several examiners themselves — have alleged that glitches in the new digital system left candidates with marks far below what they expected. Some students who earned excellent JEE ranks found themselves falling short of the 75% board figure by just a few marks. Many have since applied for re-evaluation and re-checking of their answer scripts, and reports indicate tens of thousands of such applications have already been filed.
Why students expected relief
The demand for a waiver wasn’t without precedent. During the pandemic years — 2020, 2021 and 2022 — the 75% requirement was temporarily scrapped because academic sessions had been badly disrupted. Students and parents argued that the CBSE marking issues this year have created similarly exceptional circumstances, and that a one-time relaxation was therefore justified. IIT Roorkee’s decision has firmly closed that door.
What aspirants should take away
For students caught in this situation, the path forward now runs through the options that remain rather than the one that’s been ruled out. That means pursuing the re-evaluation and re-checking process if your marks seem off, checking carefully whether you qualify under the top-20-percentile route, and keeping an eye on any official communication that emerges from the ongoing conversations between IIT Roorkee and CBSE.
It’s a frustrating outcome for those who feel penalised by a system issue outside their control. But the institute’s position is clear, and the most useful response right now is a practical one: understand exactly where you stand against both eligibility conditions, act quickly on re-evaluation deadlines, and base your next decisions on confirmed official updates rather than social-media speculation.
We’ll continue tracking this story and bring you updates as the situation develops.
Stay with Campus Freshers for the latest on JEE, CBSE, and admissions news that affects your future.
