JEE Counselling 2026
Complete Guide
JoSAA registration, choice filling, 6 rounds of seat allotment, CSAB special rounds, and DASA - everything for IIT, NIT, IIIT & GFTI admissions in one place.
What is JEE Counselling 2026?
JEE Counselling 2026 is the centralized admission process for engineering seats across India's top government-funded technical institutes - IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs - based on your JEE Main 2026 or JEE Advanced 2026 rank.
The counselling is conducted by JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority). All 130+ participating institutes release their seat matrix on josaa.nic.in, and candidates fill their college and branch preferences in a single unified process. Seats are allotted through a computerized merit-based algorithm over 6 rounds.
After JoSAA, CSAB conducts special rounds to fill remaining vacant seats in NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. Foreign nationals and NRIs use the separate DASA counselling process.
JoSAA
Main counselling for all 130+ institutes - 6 rounds
CSAB
Special rounds after JoSAA for NITs, IIITs, GFTIs only
DASA
Foreign nationals / NRIs - NITs & IIITs via SAT/JEE rank
JoSAA 2026 Expected Schedule
Tentative dates based on JoSAA 2025 schedule. Official dates published on josaa.nic.in after JEE Advanced result.
| Event | Expected Date |
|---|---|
| JEE Advanced 2026 Result | June 1, 2026 |
| JoSAA / CSAB Registration & Choice Filling Opens | June 3, 2026 (est.) |
| Choice Filling Window Closes | June 13, 2026 (est.) |
| Mock Allotment - Round 1 | June 14, 2026 (est.) |
| Seat Allotment - Round 1 | June 17, 2026 (est.) |
| Seat Acceptance / Reporting - Round 1 | June 18–20, 2026 (est.) |
| Seat Allotment - Round 2 | June 22, 2026 (est.) |
| Seat Allotment - Round 3 | June 27, 2026 (est.) |
| Seat Allotment - Round 4 | July 2, 2026 (est.) |
| Seat Allotment - Round 5 | July 7, 2026 (est.) |
| Seat Allotment - Round 6 (Final JoSAA) | July 12, 2026 (est.) |
| CSAB Special Round 1 | Late July 2026 (est.) |
| CSAB Special Round 2 | Early Aug 2026 (est.) |
Verify all dates on josaa.nic.in before taking any action. Dates are indicative and subject to change.
Participating Institutes & Seats
Eligibility rules at a glance
Know Your College
Before Counselling
Predict your college using JoSAA 2025 cutoff data across IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs.
JoSAA Counselling Process - Step by Step
Register on JoSAA Portal
Visit josaa.nic.in. Log in with JEE Main / JEE Advanced credentials. Complete registration and upload photograph & signature.
Fill & Lock Choices
Browse 118+ institutes and ~3,000 programmes. Arrange in preference order. Research previous year cutoffs. Lock before the deadline - you cannot edit after locking.
Mock Allotment
JoSAA releases a mock allotment based on your locked choices. Use this to re-evaluate your preference order before the actual Round 1 allotment.
Round 1 Seat Allotment
Allotment based on rank, preferences, and seat availability. Result published on josaa.nic.in. Check your allotment carefully.
Pay Seat Acceptance Fee
Pay ₹35,000 (GEN/OBC-NCL/EWS) or ₹15,000 (SC/ST/PwD) online within the deadline. This confirms participation in subsequent rounds.
Float / Freeze / Surrender
Float: keep current seat, remain for a better option. Freeze: lock this seat permanently. Surrender: exit counselling (fee partially refunded).
Rounds 2–6 - Upgrades
New allotments each round. Float candidates may receive better seats. Review each allotment and choose your action before the deadline.
Online / Physical Reporting
After Round 6, report to your allotted institute (online or physical). Submit documents, pay remaining fees and complete admission formalities.
Seat Acceptance Fee
Paid online on josaa.nic.in after Round 1 allotment. Confirms your participation in subsequent rounds. Adjusted against final admission fee on joining.
| Category | Fee | Refund on Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| GEN / GEN-EWS / OBC-NCL | ₹35,000 | ₹32,000 (₹3,000 deducted as processing fee) |
| SC / ST / PwD | ₹15,000 | ₹12,000 (₹3,000 deducted as processing fee) |
₹3,000 is non-refundable as processing charges if you surrender before the last round.
Choice Filling Tips for JoSAA 2026
Fill maximum choices
No penalty for adding more options. Include every institute/branch you'd consider to maximise allotment chances.
Research previous cutoffs
Use JoSAA 2024/2025 opening & closing ranks for your category. Our cutoff tool has 3 years of data.
College > Branch for top IITs
At IIT Bombay, Delhi, Madras - even a non-core branch gives better placement outcomes than top branches at newer IITs.
Branch > College for new IITs
At IITs founded post-2010, core branches like CS, EE, ME outperform in placements compared to newer branches.
Add a safe option at the bottom
Include at least one NIT/IIIT branch where your rank comfortably falls inside the closing rank.
Lock before deadline
Choices cannot be edited after locking. Don't wait till last moment - server load can cause timeouts.
Check Mock Allotment
JoSAA releases a mock allotment before Round 1. Use it to re-order preferences if the expected result isn't satisfactory.
Refine choices daily
During the choice filling window, you can edit and re-order as many times as you want until the lock deadline.
Freeze, Float & Surrender - Explained
🔒 Freeze
Lock your current seat permanently. You will NOT be considered in any further round. No risk of losing this seat.
When: Use when you're satisfied with your allotment and don't want any risk.
🔄 Float
Accept the current seat but remain in the pool. If a higher-preference seat is allotted next round, you automatically move. Otherwise, current seat is retained.
When: Use when you want to try for a better seat while keeping your current one as backup.
🚪 Surrender
Exit JoSAA completely. ₹3,000 is deducted and the rest of your seat acceptance fee is refunded. You can still apply to CSAB.
When: Use only if you've committed to a different college (private / state).
Category-wise Seat Reservation
| Category | Reservation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Open (GEN) | 40.5% | No income restriction |
| EWS | 10% | Family income < ₹8 lakh/year |
| OBC-NCL | 27% | Non-creamy layer OBC |
| SC | 15% | Scheduled Caste |
| ST | 7.5% | Scheduled Tribe |
| PwD | 5% | Horizontal - within each category |
| Female (IITs) | 20% | Supernumerary seats in IITs only |
PwD (5%) is a horizontal reservation - applied within each vertical category. Female supernumerary seats (20%) are additional to the regular seat matrix in IITs only.
JEE Main 2026 Cutoff for JEE Advanced Eligibility
Top 2,50,182 candidates qualified for JEE Advanced 2026 based on these percentile cutoffs:
| Category | Qualifying Percentile (2026) |
|---|---|
| CRL (General) | 93.41 |
| EWS | 75.72 |
| OBC-NCL | 73.01 |
| SC | 52.37 |
| ST | 43.08 |
| PwD | 0.0096 |
Documents Required for JEE Counselling 2026
- 1Class 10th mark sheet & certificate (date of birth proof)
- 2Class 12th mark sheet and passing certificate
- 3JEE Main 2026 Rank Card / Score Card
- 4JEE Advanced 2026 Rank Card (for IIT aspirants)
- 5Category certificate - SC / ST / OBC-NCL / EWS (issued by competent authority)
- 6PwD certificate from designated medical board (if applicable)
- 7Passport-size photographs (recent, white background)
- 8Scanned signature
- 9Proof of seat acceptance fee payment
- 10Aadhar card / any government-issued photo ID
Scan all documents (PDF/JPEG, under 100 KB for photos) before registration opens. Category certificates must be issued by a competent government authority.
CSAB Special Rounds 2026
After JoSAA Round 6, CSAB conducts 2 special rounds to fill vacant seats in NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. These rounds are held in July–August 2026. IITs do not participate.
Who can participate?
- Candidates who did not get a seat in JoSAA
- Candidates who surrendered in JoSAA
- Fresh JEE Main qualifiers who didn't register for JoSAA
Key differences from JoSAA
- Only NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs - no IITs
- Conducted after JoSAA ends (July–August)
- Separate registration on csab.nic.in
- Seat acceptance fee same structure as JoSAA
DASA Counselling 2026
DASA (Direct Admission of Students Abroad) is for foreign nationals, NRIs, PIOs, and OCIs. Admission to NITs, IIITs, and select GFTIs - IITs are NOT included. Fees are paid in USD.
Foreign nationals, NRIs, PIOs, OCIs
NITs, IIITs, and select GFTIs (no IITs)
SAT ≥ 1440 in PCM or JEE Main 2026 rank
DASA-CIWG for children of Indian workers in Gulf
USD (varies per institute)
April–May 2026 on dasanit.in
State-level Counselling 2026
JEE Main scores are accepted by several state bodies and private universities. You can participate in these simultaneously with JoSAA.
| Counselling Body | Institutes / States | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| JAC Delhi | DTU, NSUT, IGDTUW, IIIT Delhi | JEE Main rank |
| MHT CET CAP | Maharashtra (NITs + state) | JEE Main / MHT CET |
| KCET | Karnataka government colleges | KCET / JEE Main |
| WBJEE | West Bengal state & central | WBJEE / JEE Main |
| AP EAMCET | Andhra Pradesh | AP EAMCET / JEE Main |
| TS EAMCET | Telangana | TS EAMCET / JEE Main |
| BITSAT | BITS Pilani / Goa / Hyderabad | BITSAT score |
| VITEEE | VIT Vellore, Chennai, AP, Bhopal | VITEEE score |
Know which college you can get
Predict IITs, NITs, IIITs & GFTIs · 135+ institutes · JoSAA 2025 data