KEAM Cut Off: Qualifying Marks, Rank List and Last Rank
KEAM does not work like exams with one fixed cut-off mark. For engineering, the number that decides your seat is your rank, and the number that tells you whether a college was within reach is the last rank admitted in each allotment phase. This page explains the three kinds of cut-off you will come across and how to use them as a target, without relying on unverified figures.
Three cut-offs that matter in KEAM
Type | What it means | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|
Qualifying score | The minimum entrance score needed to be included in the rank list. It can differ by category and is set in the prospectus. | KEAM prospectus |
Rank list position | Your rank from the index mark out of 600, which combines the normalised entrance score and normalised Plus Two marks. | Rank list on the candidate portal |
Last rank (closing rank) | The rank of the last candidate allotted a seat in a course and college, by category, in each phase. | Last Rank section of the official portal |
For KEAM 2026, the official last rank page listed lists for engineering in the trial allotment, Phase 1 and Phase 2, and similar phase-wise lists for B.Pharm and architecture. You can find them at https://cee.kerala.gov.in/keam2026/last_rank, and the allotment lists at https://cee.kerala.gov.in/keam2026/allotlist.
How to read last rank lists
Compare by phase: the closing rank usually moves between phases as candidates upgrade, withdraw or join elsewhere. A Phase 2 closing rank is often a better guide to the final reach of a seat than Phase 1.
Read your own category: State Merit, EWS, SEBC subgroups, SC and ST each have their own closing ranks. Use the category you are actually allotted under.
Match branch and college: the closing rank for Computer Science in a college is very different from Civil Engineering in the same college.
Use more than one year: a single year can mislead if that paper was unusually easy or hard.
We have not quoted individual closing ranks here because published figures on third-party pages differ and the official lists are PDFs for each phase. Download the official lists and note the rank for your target branch.
What affects KEAM ranks and closing ranks
Paper difficulty: a tougher paper lowers raw scores, though normalisation across sessions evens out part of this.
Plus Two marks: half the index mark comes from board results, so a board with high scoring can push ranks upward.
Number of candidates: about 79,700 candidates were reported as qualified for engineering admission in 2026, which gives a sense of the competition.
Seat matrix and choices: available seats, option order and branch popularity shape closing ranks.
How to set your target
List five to ten college and branch combinations you would accept.
Find their closing ranks for your category in the last two or three cycles.
Aim for a rank clearly better than the closing rank, not exactly equal to it.
Work backwards: estimate the index mark you need, then split it between Plus Two and the entrance test.
Check your progress in mocks every few weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
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