CBSE Evaluation Row Leaves JEE Aspirants at Risk; IIT Roorkee Rejects Calls for 75% Eligibility Relaxation

Concerns over CBSE’s new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system are now affecting JEE aspirants, as allegations of Class 12 evaluation errors link directly to engineering admissions. Many candidates who cleared JEE claim they are missing the 75 per cent eligibility criterion for IITs, NITs and other centrally funded institutions by a small margin.

The dispute has triggered a wave of appeals on social media, where candidates and parents argue that technical issues in the Class 12 evaluation process are undermining admission prospects. They say inconsistencies in marks are denying seats at leading engineering institutes, even to students with strong JEE ranks.

JEE eligibility and CBSE On-Screen Marking dispute

Current JEE eligibility rules require candidates seeking IIT admission through JEE Advanced to score at least 75 per cent in Class 12 or feature in the top 20 percentile of successful students in their respective boards. The same benchmark applies to NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded technical institutions via JEE Main, after a temporary relaxation during the COVID-19 period.

IIT Roorkee, which is organising JEE Advanced 2026, has ruled out lowering this bar despite the ongoing complaints. The institute oversees the examination, result declaration and coordinates counselling through the Joint Admission Board (JAB). In a statement to ANI, IIT Roorkee said, "No relaxing in marks as candidates from 36 different boards are participating. We published this criterion almost in December, and last year, there were candidates who lost IIT/NIT seats mainly due to percentages. Hence, lowering is not possible." The statement added, "However, we are in close touch with CBSE and will try to resolve this for all those affected candidates on priority."

The OSM system, introduced by CBSE this year, places answer sheets on a digital interface for examiners. Teachers involved in evaluation allege that the platform has technical glitches, clunky navigation and limitations that make reviewing long or complex answers difficult, which they fear might have led to inaccurate scoring in some cases.

Parents and students argue that such evaluation concerns extend beyond simple score disputes, as they directly affect chances at India’s most competitive engineering programmes. They say any mistake in aggregation or question-wise marking in Class 12 results could erase years of preparation for high-stakes entrance examinations.

Social media pressure on JEE eligibility and CBSE On-Screen Marking dispute

On platform X, many posts urge regulators to grant affected candidates a one-time relaxation in the 75 per cent eligibility requirement. Education commentator Anurag Tyagi wrote, "Thousands of students are missing the 75% eligibility criterion by just a few marks and are now facing the possibility of losing an entire academic year," tagging the National Testing Agency (NTA). Tyagi added, "A student who has cleared one of the toughest entrance exams in the country should not see their dream end because of a small gap in board marks."

Another user argued that the overall Class 12 percentage rule for JEE and BITS admissions should be eased for this batch alone, stating that several students satisfied subject-wise criteria but fell short in aggregate scores. The post described these candidates as having cleared difficult entrance hurdles while being restricted by disputed board percentages.

Some users shared specific examples to highlight the scale of the problem. One widely discussed case involved a student with an All India Rank of 749 in JEE Advanced, who may struggle to secure a preferred IIT programme because the candidate did not cross the 75 per cent threshold in the CBSE Class 12 examination.

All this comes as CBSE already deals with a surge in result-related challenges. Many students have applied for verification of marks, requested photocopies of evaluated answer books and sought re-evaluation, hoping that corrections in their Class 12 scores might restore eligibility for engineering admissions this academic cycle.

With IIT Roorkee firm on retaining the 75 per cent rule and CBSE facing questions on the OSM system, affected JEE aspirants remain dependent on swift resolution efforts. Any coordination between CBSE and IIT Roorkee, as indicated in the institute’s statement, will be crucial for students looking to safeguard their admission opportunities in 2026.