IIT Kharagpur & IIT Kanpur Expected Cutoff 2026: Round 5 Safe Ranks Analysis

IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur both offer competitive engineering education. Choosing between the two for admission to top branches depends on your JEE Advanced scores and JoSAA 2026 opening and closing ranks. To get into IIT Kharagpur in branches like artificial intelligence, candidates require a score above 852 to secure a seat here. The safest rank for expected Round 5 seat allocation may range from 5004 for B.Tech. admission. While for IIT Kanpur the safe rank can range between 1300 and 3892 to secure a seat in various engineering branches offered at the institute.

Both institutes have opened their admission process for the 2026 cycle. Candidates who have appeared for the JEE Advanced exam can appear for the admission process through the JoSAA counselling process. Candidates can find the previous year's closing rank for Round 5 allocation to estimate the expected range for 2026 admission. A comparative list of branches is shared below for IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur to help candidates get clarity. 

IIT Kharagpur Round 5 Previous Year and Expected Closing Ranks

Check for IIT Kharagpur previous year closing rank, along with the expected range shared below. The table details IIT Kharagpur closing ranks for open-category candidates (All India quota, gender-neutral seat). Estimate the seat options based on safe ranks for top engineering branches offered at IIT Kharagpur such as Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence etc. These branches are difficult to get into after CSE (Computer Science Engineering) branch and offer seats at rigorous opening and closing ranks. 

IIT Kanpur Round 5 Previous Year and Expected Closing Ranks

The table here shares previous year Round 5 closing rank for admission to IIT Kanpur. Candidates can also find the expected 2026, Round 5 range for seat allocation. 

Through the closing ranks shared here, aspiring candidates can predict the cutoff movement for seat allocation. This will help estimate if they should freeze the seat as per their rank or move for upgradation. 

Based on the previous year's trends, admission to both of the IITs requires high ranks. IIT Kanpur offers competitive seats as compared to IIT Kharagpur. During 2025 Round 5 seat allocation for Chemical Engineering closed was 3990 rank. While admission to IIT Kharagpur's seat in Chemical Engineering ended at the 4820 rank, showing a major gap between the course selections in both institutes. 

However, candidates can expect similar gaps in admission to top branches. IIT Kanpur can be chosen for core engineering programs, and IIT Kharagpur can be taken as an alternative to strictest engineering branch.