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You took an improvement exam, or plan to, and will soon have two marksheets. Which one does a college read? Your board decides what your result says. Each admission body decides which marks it uses. Here is how CBSE and JoSAA handled it in 2026, plus a worked example and a checklist.
What does your board do with improvement marks?
CBSE's circular of 30 June 2026 on the Class 12 supplementary exam allowed students who passed the 2026 main exams to improve their performance in one subject. It also says a consolidated marksheet goes only to students placed in compartment who then pass. If you took improvement, keep both your main marksheet and your supplementary result ready.
For Class 10, CBSE held two board exams for the first time in 2026. For regular students, "the better of the two performances is considered for preparing the final result", according to CBSE's press release of 18 July 2026. The same release says 3,08,095 of the 5,13,955 students who sat the second exam for improvement (59.95%) scored higher than in their main exam.
Other boards set their own rules, so read your own board's circular.
Which marks does JoSAA count after an improvement exam?
For IITs, NITs, IIITs and other GFTIs, you need a Class 12 condition as well as a JEE rank. Under the JoSAA Business Rules 2026 (Annexures 2(a) and 2(b)), you need either 75% aggregate (65% for SC, ST and PwD) or a place in the top 20 percentile of your board's successful candidates.
For IITs, the aggregate is taken over five subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, one language (the higher one if you took two) and your highest-scoring other subject, each scaled to 100. For B.Tech seats at NITs, IIITs and other GFTIs, Chemistry can be replaced by Biology, Biotechnology or a technical vocational subject.
The two routes treat improvement marks differently:
The 75% route: if you first appeared in 2025, you can reappear in as many subjects as you like. JoSAA uses the 2025 or 2026 mark, whichever is higher, in each subject.
The top 20 percentile route: the percentile is calculated for all the required subjects in a single academic year only. To qualify this way, you have to reappear in all subjects.
Both routes: your marksheets must come from the same board, and you cannot mix boards.
That is Clause 72 of the same rules, and such students are considered only in later rounds. These are the 2026 rules, so check the next edition when JoSAA publishes it.
Worked example: does one retake get you to 75%?
Take an imaginary student whose 2025 marks in the five subjects counted by the JoSAA 2026 rules were Physics 68, Chemistry 70, Mathematics 72, English 80 and Computer Science 75. That adds up to 365 out of 500, or 73%, which is short of 75%.
She retakes Physics in 2026 and scores 79.
Take the higher mark in each subject: Physics 79 (2026), the rest from 2025.
New total: 79 + 70 + 72 + 80 + 75 = 376.
376 out of 500 is 75.2%, so she now meets the 75% condition.
Had she scored 65 instead, JoSAA would still use her 68 and she would stay at 73%. A one-subject retake cannot help her on the percentile route, which needs every subject from a single year.
Still deciding whether to retake? Read our guide on whether the Class 12 improvement exam is worth taking. If the subject is physics or maths, the Fermi Problem Library has worked problems with a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning, and Fermi's AI tutor can work out what you already know and build a plan for each session.
What should you check in every admission bulletin?
University, state and private counselling bodies write their own rules. Search each bulletin for "improvement", "reappear" and "best of", then answer these questions:
Which result counts: your first attempt, your latest attempt, or the higher of the two?
Is the higher mark chosen subject by subject, or for the whole result?
Which subjects make up the aggregate, and is a language compulsory?
Do all your marksheets have to come from the same board?
What is the last date to submit revised marks, and do you have to register before then?
Which document should you upload: the original marksheet, the supplementary result or a consolidated marksheet?
Do Class 12 marks decide your rank, or only whether you are eligible?
If the bulletin doesn't answer a question, ask the helpline in writing: "I appeared in Class 12 in [year], roll number [number], and reappeared in [subject] in [year] with [board]. For [criterion], will you use the higher mark in each subject or my latest result, and which marksheet should I upload?" Our guide on raising a query or complaint in counselling explains where to send it. Keep the reply with your attested marksheets.
Waiting on a revised result during counselling is stressful. Talk to someone you trust, or call Tele MANAS on the toll-free number 14416.
