Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Education Minister Roji M John on Saturday announced the results of the KEAM 2026 entrance examination, with 79,717 qualifying for engineering admissions and 26,943 making it to the pharmacy rank list.
Addressing a press conference here, the minister said more than 96,000 candidates appeared for the Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical Engineering stream examination.
Of them, 79,717 qualified. Of these, 64,759 candidates who uploaded their mark lists were included in the final engineering rank list.
He said that in the pharmacy stream, 31,141 candidates appeared for the examination and 26,943 candidates were included in the final rank list.
Roshan Raju of Ayampuzha in Ernakulam district secured the first rank in engineering with 586.1408 marks out of 600.
He had also secured the top rank among Kerala candidates in the JEE examination, the minister said.
Dhyan Tej Manapatti of Kannur secured the second rank with the same score as the topper.
However, under the KEAM tie-break rule based on Mathematics marks, Roshan Raju was placed first, the minister said.
Vismaya K R of Thrissur secured the third rank and emerged as the highest-ranked girl candidate, while Rohith Krishna H of Chottanikkara in Ernakulam secured the fourth rank.
In the B Pharm stream, Vinayak Narayan of Pota in Thrissur secured the first rank with 286.257 marks out of 300.
Jessy Justin of Ollur in Thrissur secured the second rank, while Diya Fathima of Malappuram was placed third.
John said option registration for the first phase of allotment would begin on June 30 and conclude on July 4.
The first phase of allotment will be published on July 8.
John said the admission calendar had been prepared in a time-bound manner to ensure that admissions are completed well before the deadline prescribed by regulatory authorities.
As per the schedule of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), B Tech admissions have to be completed by August 14.
"The government expects to complete the allotment and admission process by the end of July or in the first week of August," he said.
Replying to a question on whether the government was considering any changes to the KEAM examination system, the minister said the present government had only recently assumed office and that the examination process, including the conduct of the tests, had been completed before it took charge.
John said that if any changes were found necessary in future, the government would hold discussions with all stakeholders before making a decision, as the examination system was meant for the benefit of students.
"At present, no such issues have come to our notice," he said.
The minister said it was significant that KEAM had been conducted smoothly with very few complaints at a time when several national-level entrance examinations had been mired in controversy.
"The National Testing Agency conducts examinations at the national level. Yet there have been widespread complaints regarding NEET," he said.
"There have even been instances where students have taken their own lives. Statistics indicate that around 14 students have died by suicide this year in connection with issues related to the NEET examination," he added.
John said the central government and the NTA were facing difficulties in conducting examinations smoothly, whether NEET, CSIR, UGC-NET, SSC or RRB examinations.
"There have been repeated instances of paper leaks, and numerous criminal cases have been registered in connection with such incidents," he said.
"When such situations arise at the national level, the fact that we have been able to conduct our entrance examinations smoothly and without major complaints is, in itself, a significant achievement," he added.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
