Success Mantras Of IIT JEE Advanced Toppers 2026

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur declared results for the 2026 Joint Entrance Examinations- Advanced or JEE Advanced. A total of 1,79,694 candidates appeared for the two papers comprising JEE Advanced with 56,880 candidates qualifying, including 10,107 female candidates.

Notably, all the top three rank-holders belonged to the IIT Delhi zone and even the topper among female candidates was from this zone.

Let’s look at their success mantras.

Sister inspired Shubham Kumar

For the All India Rank 1, preparations meant discipline and consistency with the nuance of dealing with pressure. Shubham Kumar hails from Gaya, Bihar and scored 330 out of 360 in his JEE Advanced attempt. Interestingly, this score builds up on the 100 percentile that Kumar secured in his JEE Mains attempt.

Kumar's father is a businessman while his mother is a homemaker. "The biggest reason for my success was the trust of my teachers and the sacrifices of my family," he told mediapersons.

About his biggest motivation, he said in an interview with Allen, "I got motivated for JEE by watching my sister. I learned how to study, maintain notes and solve modules from her." Kumar’s sister is enrolled in IIT Patna.

Kumar reveals that he did six to eight hours of self-study every day and commented that "Nobody can study for 18 hours a day." The key was revising classroom topics the same day and practising questions regularly.  He is now expecting to pursue Computer Science at IIT Bombay.

Clarity on concepts key for Kabeer Chhillar

Kabeer Chhillar, All India Rank 2, believes attention span and quality learning are essential in self-study. Like Kumar, Chhillar had a perfect 100 percentile in his JEE mains scorecard.

In an online interaction, he says "A stereotypical topper mindset has developed in which people think you must study 15 hours a day and do nothing else. That is not true. I never did that."

Chhillar, son of an IITian and a teacher, goes on to add that "Clear concepts are crucial. Understanding and applying each topic, rather than memorising, has been my biggest strength.”

"Along with taking regular mock tests, I analysed each paper in depth. It improved both my accuracy and time management,” he adds.

Even as revisions and note-making were a daily to-do for Chhillar, he spent time with friends, which helped him stay mentally refreshed.

Beyond marks, in-depth understanding helped Jatin Chahar

The third rank went to Jatin Chahar from Goth village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district. His journey was built on gradual accomplishments underlined by a six-year classroom coaching experience. He says, “Success isn't achieved by a single day of hard work. It is the daily small efforts that lead to great results. From the very beginning I focused entirely on clearing concepts. It's crucial to understand the subject in depth," adds Chahar.

In an online interaction before the results, Chahar described his routine with classes going on from morning until afternoon followed by revision of the day's lessons, and then solving practice sheets.

Importantly, Jatin would set aside time every evening to refresh his mind. He added "I never focused on marks. My goal was to identify weaknesses and improve them. Wherever I made mistakes in tests, I worked harder."

 Keeping her mind relaxed worked for Arohi Deshpande

In female candidates, Arohi Deshpande emerged as the highest scorer with 280 marks. Speaking in an interview published by Allen, she said “I went with a very relaxed mind and scored much better. The less you keep thinking that this is a very important exam, the better the results can be.”

In the interview, Arohi revealed that she would organise her notes by colour-coding them, especially for chemistry.

All the candidates will now have to participate in counselling with Joint Seat Allocation Authority to initiate admission into IITs, NITs, IIITs and other participating institutes.