According to reports, due to the absence of admissions to foreign colleges because of the worsening COVID situation, more Indian students will be applying to home-based Universities and Colleges this year and maybe even the next year too. This will definitely increase the competition among the students. Thus, it may also increase the JEE Main cut off and other competitive exam’s cutoffs in India. The cut off for JEE Main 2020 April exam will only be released after the Exam and announcement of result by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The result for the January 2020 session has been announced where 9,21,261 candidates registered for the B.E/B. Tech paper, out of which 8,69,010 appeared.

Types of JEE Main Cut Off

There are two types of cut off, such as - qualifying cut off marks and admission cut off. The qualifying cut off of the exam will be the minimum score that the students need to be eligible for JEE Advanced. NTA will release the cut-off through online mode. Candidates, who get qualifying cut off marks, are eligible for JEE Advanced.

The JEE Main admission cut off, is qualifying marks for admitting in particular institutions. It will be announced by JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority) in the form of opening and closing ranks for each IITs and NITs on the priority basis of the aspirants appearing in counseling.

Candidates must secure the minimum marks (closing marks) as per the requirement of institutions, which will be announced by JoSAA after each round of counseling. Top 2,50,000 JEE Main 2020 qualifiers will be eligible to appear for JEE advanced 2020.

Expected JEE Main Cut Off for the January session exam, 2020

The actual JEE Main cut off is not announced by the exam conducting authority NTA until the release of the result of both the sessions of the exam. So the expected cut off for Paper 1 is:

• Common Rank List (CRL) - 89
• GEN-EWS - 78
• Other Backward Classes (OBC-NCL) - 74
• Scheduled Caste (SC) - 54
• Scheduled Tribe (ST) - 44
• PwD - 0

This cutoff may increase as more and more students will be applying for admission to top colleges in India.

JEE Main Cut Off Trend Over The Last Few Years

Previous year trends analysis gives a fair idea about the score. Fluctuations can be observed on the basis of difficulty level. Candidates can check the last year's cut off trend.

• The qualifying marks for General Category increased from 74 to 89.
• The major jump in the JEE Main cut off 2019 qualifying marks was seen in the OBC category, which increased from 45 to 74.
• There was also a surge in the qualifying marks for SC Category in 2019, It increased from 29 to 54.
• For the ST category, the qualifying marks increased to 44 from 24 previous years.

Factors affecting the Cut Offs

• Total number of the candidate
• The difficulty level of the paper
• Performance of the candidates
• Number of available seats

Calculation of JEE Main 2020 rank based on NTA Percentile score

In the January session, 8,69,010 numbers of students appeared. So, the formula of the rank calculation is-

• JEE Main 2020 probable rank = (100 - NTA percentile score) X 869010 /100

You have to calculate the difference between your score and the highest score obtained. Here 100 is the highest percentile obtained in the exam. You have to calculate the difference between your score and the highest score obtained. Here 100 is the highest percentile obtained in the exam.

If expected qualifying cut off is 89.7548849, then rank of the candidate will be-

• (100-89.7548849) X 869010 /100 = 89031

Admission in IITs on the basis of the JEE Main Score

Admission in IITs does not give any priority to the score. You have to clear JEE Advanced for admission to the IITs. JEE Main rank is important for appearing in JEE Advanced.

Admission of NITs on the basis of JEE Main score

Admission of B.Tech into NITs is made only through JEE Main conducted by NTA. There are a few steps in the admission process. Those are-

• Candidates should pass class 12 or equivalent within the previous two years from the admission year by obtaining 75% marks or top 20 percentile. For SC/ST category eligibility marks will be 65% in higher secondary exams.
• Candidates need to qualify the exam by obtaining at least the cut-off marks in three subjects ( physics, chemistry, and mathematics)
• For qualified candidates, a common counseling process is conducted by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) where they can choose NITs on the basis of their qualified marks.
• If the candidates want admission into top B.Tech courses such as CSE, EEE, ME in top NITs, then they need to score above 250 marks (General category) for a higher chance of admission in top NITs.

So, as long as the exams are not complete the actual JEE Main cut off will not be available. The above representations are based on previous years' trends. The facts and figures mentioned here must be able to give you some idea about the minimum cut off required for admission to various colleges. But with the exams being postponed there is any uncertainty in the minds of aspirants. The only thing to be done now is to balance your study along with some relaxation which will help you to get some breather and keep you fresh before the exam in September.