New Delhi | Twelve candidates have bagged the perfect 100 score in engineering entrance exam JEE-Main 2026, with the maximum number of such candidates hailing from Rajasthan, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced on Monday.

More than 13.04 lakh candidates had appeared for the first edition of the crucial exam.

According to sources, at least nine questions were dropped from the final answer key after discrepancies were highlighted by students and other stakeholders.

"For the nine questions dropped across multiple shifts, full marks will be awarded to all candidates who appeared for that particular shift," a source said.

Last year, the number of questions dropped was six.

Among the candidates who have secured an NTA score of 100, three are from Rajasthan, two from Andhra Pradesh and one each is from Delhi, Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana.

All the 12 candidates are male and 11 of them are from the general category.

The top scoring candidates are -- Kabeer Chhillar, Chiranjib Kar and Arnav Gautam from Rajasthan, Narendrababu Gari Mahith and Pasala Mohith from Andhra Pradesh, Shreyas Mishra (Delhi), Shubham Kumar (Bihar), Bhavesh Patra (Odisha), Anay Jain (Haryana), Madhav Viradiya (Maharashtra), Puroht Nimay (Gujarat) and Vivan Sharad Mahiswari (Telangana).

According to officials, the NTA score is not the same as the percentage of marks obtained but normalised scores.

"NTA scores are normalised scores across multi-shift papers and are based on the relative performance of all those who appeared for the examination in one shift. The marks obtained are transformed into a scale ranging from 100 to 0 for each shift of examinees. The NTA score is not the same as the percentage of marks obtained," a senior official explained.

According to the NTA officials, a Central Control Room was opened to monitor and facilitate the smooth conduct of the examination on the ground.

"The NTA had made elaborate arrangements at various levels and taken help from state and district authorities for the smooth conduct of the examination. The OTP-based Aadhaar E-KYC was introduced for the first time as a key method for authenticating candidates during the registration process. The initiative aims to prevent impersonation and address potential criticisms in the future," the official said.

"Live CCTV surveillance with analytics was performed for all examination centres

to curb malpractices. The NTA had also made arrangements for live-viewing of remote locations of all examination centres from the control room located on the NTA premises in New Delhi. Recording of CCEDU-JEE-RESULTSTV was used for post-examination analysis to identify acts of malpractices," he added.

The examination centres were also monitored using Al-based video analytics and

virtual observers.

"Jammers were installed at all the centres to prevent unfair practices by the

candidates during the examination through mobile phones or any other electronic device. The latest 5G jammers were installed at all examination centres," the official said.