JEE Advanced 2026 women qualifiers have crossed the 10,000 mark for the first time, with 10,107 female candidates qualifying for the prestigious engineering entrance examination. Women also recorded their highest qualification rate in six years, while the qualification rate among Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates crossed 50% for the first time.
Of the 43,112 female candidates who registered for JEE Advanced 2026, 40,562 appeared in both papers and 10,107 qualified. Women accounted for 17.76% of all 56,880 candidates who qualified this year.
The qualification rate among registered female candidates stood at 23.4%, while 24.9% of women who appeared in both papers qualified. This is the highest qualification rate recorded among women in six years.
Female Qualifiers Rise More Than 121% in a Decade
The number of women qualifying has increased substantially over the past decade. In 2016, 4,570 women qualified for JEE Advanced. That figure has risen to 10,107 in 2026, representing growth of more than 121%.
The top-performing female candidate scored 280 marks and secured an All India Rank of 77. Her subject-wise scores included 101 marks in Mathematics, 86 in Physics and 93 in Chemistry.
The rise in female representation has also been reflected in IIT admissions.
In 2026, 3,814 female-only supernumerary seats were allotted, while another 37 female candidates secured seats through the gender-neutral open pool. Overall, women received 3,851 of the 18,861 IIT seats allotted, accounting for 20.22%, compared with 20.15% in 2025.
SC Qualification Rate Crosses 50%
SC candidates also recorded a notable increase in their qualification rate. The figure rose from 40.41% in 2025 to 50.16% in 2026, an increase of 9.8 percentage points. The number of SC qualifiers also increased by 3,357.
Among ST candidates, the qualification rate increased from 33.99% to 42.14%.
Together, SC and ST candidates accounted for 22,235 qualifiers, representing nearly 39% of the total qualifying pool.
By comparison, the General category qualification rate declined from 43% in 2025 to 39.8% in 2026.
Relevant Link: JEE Advanced Official Website
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