4 Above 99.9 · 13 Above 99.5 · 25 Above 99 · 52 Above 97 · 10× the National Average
These scores place Mangaluru students in direct contention for IITs, NITs, IIITs, and other top engineering institutions in India and abroad - all from a single homegrown institution that chose to stay rooted in the district.
JEE Main 2026 · CFAL Institute, Mangaluru · From a batch of approximately 165 JEE students
Twenty-five students from Mangaluru have scored above the 99th percentile in JEE Main 2026, placing them among the top 13,000 of over 13 lakh candidates nationally. Four of them crossed 99.9 — the top 1,300 in the country. All twenty-five are students of CFAL Institute, a centre for advanced learning founded in the city in 2004.
The significance of this result extends beyond the institution. For families in Dakshina Kannada, it challenges a long-held assumption: that competitive exam preparation at the highest level requires sending children to Kota, Hyderabad, or Bangalore. That excellence demands a large city, a large institution, and a large disruption to family life.
These twenty-five students stayed home. They prepared in Mangaluru, lived with their families, and competed against the country from here.
The Students
Abhhi Sannayya, the batch topper, scored 99.9678 percentile. A Aditya Rao followed at 99.9554. Rishon Fernandes (99.93), Mrinal D Bhat (99.90), and Lauren Marian Patrao (99.89) complete a remarkable cluster above 99.9 Percentile.
Bhuvan Shetty (99.82), Rishith P (99.65), Meenakshi Unnithan (99.61), Rishabh Naik (99.61), Mohak S Raj (99.56), Akshith Ram K (99.50), Sanath Sanjay Shet (99.46), Ira Jain (99.29), Nireeksha N (99.36), Swagath Shetty (99.35), and several others bring the 99+ cohort to twenty-five.
Beyond the 99+ tier, the depth is equally notable: 40 students crossed the 98th percentile, and 52 crossed the 97th. At the 99th percentile, CFAL's success rate is approximately ten times the national average — the top 1% nationally, produced at 10% of the batch.
What This Means for Families
Parents in Mangaluru understand these numbers in a very specific way. A score above the 99th percentile means a realistic seat at a National Institute of Technology. Above 99.5, it means the top NITs — Surathkal, Trichy, Warangal. For the four students above 99.9, it means a strong chance at an IIT through JEE Advanced, which JEE Main qualifies them for.
These are not abstract statistics. They translate directly into college seats, career trajectories, and the knowledge that a child did not have to leave home to compete.
'Every year, families come to us saying they are considering sending their child to Kota. We tell them: stay. The preparation your child needs is here. The results your child can achieve are here. This year, twenty-five families have that proof.'
— VJ, Founder & Director, The Learning Centre Trust
Where a JEE Main Score Takes You
A strong JEE Main score opens more doors than most families realise. It is not just the gateway to NITs — it is a nationally and internationally recognised standard that unlocks admissions across more than 200 institutions.
National Institutions. JEE Main provides direct entry into 31 NITs (including NIT Karnataka, Surathkal, ranked 12th by NIRF), 26 IIITs (including IIIT Hyderabad and IIIT Bangalore), and 28 Government-Funded Technical Institutions. It is also the qualifying examination for JEE Advanced, which opens all 23 IITs and IISc Bangalore. Delhi's top colleges — DTU, NSUT, IGDTUW, and IIIT Delhi — also admit through JEE Main scores.
Within Karnataka. NIT Surathkal & IIIT Bangalore accept JEE Main scores. For students who wish to stay close to home, the options are excellent.
Across India. States including Haryana, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra use JEE Main scores for government engineering college admissions. Leading private universities — Thapar, Shiv Nadar, BIT Mesra and others — consider JEE Main scores as part of their admission process, often alongside their own entrance tests.
International. Top global universities like National University of Singapore and Singapore University of Technology and Design consider JEE Advanced scores — for which students qualify by clearing JEE Main - as part of a broader application, alongside board results and extra-curriculars. In countries like Germany, the UK, and others, a strong JEE performance serve as an indicator of academic rigor.
In short, CFAL's 25 students above the 99th percentile are not just competing nationally. Their scores position them at institutions from Surathkal to Singapore, from Delhi to Munich.
The Institution Behind the Numbers
CFAL was founded in 2004 by Severine Rosarion, Henry Rosario, Vijay Moras and Sonia Moras as the Centre for Advanced Learning. From a small coaching setup for JEE and competitive examinations, it has grown over twenty-two years into an institutional ecosystem that includes CFAL Institute, the Early Learning Centre (Montessori kindergarten), TLC School (Cambridge IGCSE, Grades 1-10), CFAL Research Centre, and TLC Trust.
The academic team, many of whom have been with CFAL for over a decade, are subject-matter specialists who work with students individually — diagnosing weaknesses, building conceptual depth, and developing the exam judgment that separates a good student from an exceptional one. The institutional knowledge they carry — which questions trip students up, which concepts need revisiting in November, which students need a conversation rather than a correction — is what makes a system compound over time.
This year's results reflect that compounding clearly. Compared to 2025, the 99.5+ cohort grew from 5 to 13. The 99+ cohort grew by 70%, from 17 to 25. The 97+ cohort expanded from 38 to 52. Growth was registered at every single threshold — a pattern that suggests not a fortunate year, but a system that is working.
A Family's Choice
Every year in Dakshina Kannada, families face a difficult decision: keep their child at home and trust a local institution, or send them away to a coaching hub hundreds of kilometres from home. The financial cost is significant. The emotional cost is often greater — a teenager living alone, a family separated for two critical years.
CFAL's results offer a different data point. These twenty-five students scored among the top 1% in the country while continuing to live at home, eat meals with their families, and grow up in the community they belong to. The result is the same. The cost — financial, emotional, and human — is vastly different.
'We are proud of 25 at 99+. But we know, from our own data, that the number should have been higher. Students who had the ability did not always convert it into performance on exam day. Closing that gap — between what a student knows and what they deliver under pressure — is the work that defines the next chapter for us.'
— Academic Team, CFAL
A Mangaluru Story
This is, ultimately, a story about what is possible from here. Not from Kota. Not from Hyderabad. From Mangaluru.
Twenty-five students above the 99th percentile. Four in the top thousand nationally. A ten-times-the-national-average success rate. And every one of them prepared in a city that has long underestimated what its own institutions can deliver.
For CFAL, the pursuit has never been a number on a billboard. It is the belief that every student who walks through its doors deserves the best preparation that can be offered — and that when that preparation is given with integrity, over years, with a team that refuses to cut corners, the results will follow.
They have followed. And Mangaluru has reason to take notice.
About CFAL
CFAL (Centre for Advanced Learning) was founded in 2004 in Mangaluru, Karnataka, as a preparation centre for JEE, NEET, and competitive examinations. It is part of The Learning Centre Trust, an institutional ecosystem that includes the Early Learning Centre, TLC School (Cambridge IGCSE), CFAL Institute (Grades 7-12 and 13th Year), CFAL Research Centre, and TLC Café. Over 22 years, CFAL has established itself as one of coastal Karnataka's leading academic institutions, with a philosophy that values understanding over memorisation and depth over speed.