JEE Advanced 2026: Over 10,000 Girls Qualify for IITs, Pass Rate Climbs to Highest on Record

For the first time ever, more than 10,000 women have qualified for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Nearly one in four female candidates cleared JEE Advanced 2026, marking their highest pass rate on record, according to data analysed by The Media Report.

The numbers show a big jump. Since 2019, the number of women qualifying for IITs has risen by almost 89 per cent, going from 5,356 to 10,107. This growth followed a supernumerary seats scheme that was introduced to improve female representation in IITs. Over the same period, the number of women taking the exam grew by about 22 per cent, from 33,249 to 40,562.

When the JEE Advanced 2026 results were declared on Monday, 24.9 per cent of the 40,562 women who appeared had passed. In total, around 56,000 candidates qualified and made it to the common rank list.

But making it to the rank list doesn't guarantee a seat. The 23 IITs together offer only about 20,000 seats. Still, candidates who don't get into an IIT remain eligible for other top institutions. Many of them are likely to secure a place at a National Institute of Technology (NIT) or an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT).

Here is a brief analysis of the numbers involved in the process:

In an interaction with The Media Report, several experts opined that reaching the 10,000 number would be a landmark achievement in terms of gender representation in STEM education. This would signify the increasing number of women opting to study at top engineering colleges since the launch of the seats scheme in 2018. Under the scheme, additional seats are created exclusively for female candidates aiming at attaining 20 per cent female enrolment within five years.

Over the course of time, there has been an increasing success rate among girls appearing in JEE Advanced. In 2018, just 13.47 per cent of girls had managed to qualify for the prestigious engineering institutes. This number has grown significantly and has now reached around 25 per cent.

"By crossing the 20 per cent benchmark, it proves that girls have proved themselves capable of succeeding in the education offered by IIT," commented Prof Shalabh of IIT Kanpur, who was the Organising Chairman for JEE Advanced 2018. "It is true that the exact number of students getting into the IITs is unknown but an increasing number of girls qualifying shows increasing participation of women in science."

He further pointed out that "even those failing in securing IITs are going to join NITs and other good engineering institutes on the basis of their score in JEE."

According to Prof Deepankar Choudhury, IIT Bombay who was the organising vice-chair of JEE Advanced in 2015, the programme had certainly succeeded in enhancing the presence of women in IITs. Choudhury who was one of the founder members of Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) said that there were also some reasons which were related to developments within the domain of engineering education.

According to him, IITs have broadened their scope considerably over time and have started offering newer branches of studies like Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Biotechnology, Energy and Environment. They have also introduced new Bachelor of Science programmes in different branches of basic sciences such as Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

"As traditionally, engineering was seen by the society in two broad categories: conventional branches of engineering such as Mechanical and Civil Engineering and branches which did not involve physical rigour, such as Computer Science and Electronics. The latter group of branches has always attracted relatively more number of female students than the former. But due to broadening of scope of engineering curriculum, students have more choices today," he explained.

Prof V Ramgopal Rao, Director of BITS Pilani, and erstwhile Director of IIT Delhi, said that another important benefit of the scheme had been to develop peer effect among the girls making them aspire to join IITs. "With increasing number of girls joining IITs due to awareness and visibility of success stories of girls getting admission into IITs, the confidence level and willingness to join IITs through JEE Advanced has greatly improved," he stated.

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