3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 20, 2026 03:15 PM ISTJEE Main Results 2026 Past Year Toppers (Images via special arrangement/Upscaled with AI)JEE Main Results 2026: Over a million appeared for the January (Session 1) and April (Session 2) of JEE Main 2026. With results scheduled for announcement today, April 20, one key attraction each year is the announcement of toppers — who not only crack JEE, but also establish benchmarks for aspirants seeking entry into India’s prestigious government engineering institutes.While candidate numbers have risen steadily over the past seven years, female participation has grown too — yet women have consistently lagged in the top ranks, rarely achieving NTA scores of 100 percentile, candidate performance data has shown. In Session 1 of 2026, Ashi Grewal from Haryana came closest as the highest-scoring female candidate, with a 99.9969766 percentile.Despite this massive pool, the standout numbers remain few: since 2019, only about 10 girls have scored a perfect 100 percentile in JEE Main. Female applicants have increased steadily, and more girls are qualifying overall. But progress at the very top has been slow.Here’s a closer year-wise look. Chukka Tanuja stood alone as the sole female 100 percentile scorer in 2020, while in 2021, it was Kavya Chopra who scored a perfect 100 percentile. She later told Indianexpress.com that she wants to pursue Computer Science engineering at IIT Bombay. Her score was a milestone moment, but it did not trigger a consistent rise in numbers. A year later, in 2022, Sneha Pareek and Palli Jalajakshi joined the list of perfect scorers. Like many toppers, their focus was also on securing Computer Science seats in top IITs.The pattern repeated — high scores, similar ambitions, same choice for top institutes. But the count remained limited, only a handful. That changed in 2023 with Ridhi K K Maheshwari, followed by Sanvi Jain and Shayna Sinha in 2024.Last year, Sai Manogna Guthikonda and Devdutta Majhi joined the list, with Sai Manogna securing perfect scores across both sessions.YearToppersSessions2020Chukka TanujaSession 12021Kavya ChopraSession 2 (March)2022Sneha Pareek, Palli JalajakshiSession 1 (Sneha); Both sessions combined2023Ridhi K K MaheshwariBoth sessions2024Sanvi Jain, Shayna SinhaSession 22025Sai Manogna Guthikonda, Devdutta MajhiBoth (Sai across sessions)Across these years, the pattern does not show a steady rise. Some years have none. Some have one. A few have two. The numbers move, but they do not grow consistently. There is another pattern too. Most of these toppers have spoken about aiming for Computer Science at IITs, especially IIT Bombay or IIT Delhi. Some have mentioned research interests. But the dominant goal remains the same — top IIT, top branch.Story continues below this adWhile the share of female candidates has held steady around 30-31 per cent, their absolute numbers have surged from around 2.5 lakh unique participants in 2019, out of 11.47 lakh total test-takers, to 3 to 4 lakh in the previous session. © IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...