JKBOPEE Reservation for MBBS 2026: Category-wise Seat Share Explained (OM, ST, RBA, EWS)

How JKBOPEE reservation for MBBS works in one paragraph

Government MBBS and BDS seats in Jammu and Kashmir are split twice. First, 15% of the seats in each government college go to the All India Quota (AIQ), which the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) fills on mcc.nic.in. The remaining seats form the UT pool, which the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (JKBOPEE) fills from the NEET UG merit list of eligible J&K (and Ladakh) candidates. Inside that UT pool, every seat carries a vertical category (Open Merit, SC, ST-I, ST-II, OBC, RBA, ALC/IB or EWS) and some seats also carry a horizontal tag (Children of Defence Personnel, PwD, sports, JKPM). Knowing which box your seat falls in tells you which merit list you actually compete in.

Category-wise seat share in the 2026 JKBOPEE seat matrix

JKBOPEE's operative seat matrices for NEET-UG (MBBS/BDS) Medical Courses-2026 (first round, second round, third/mop-up and special stray round) all print the same vertical percentages:

The 2024 seat matrix printed the same OM (40%), EWS (10%) and RBA (10%) shares; the ST split into ST-I and ST-II and the OBC rise to 8% came with the March 2024 amendment of the J&K Reservation Rules, 2005 (S.O. 176 of 2024). The seat matrix also carries separate columns for Ladakh (Kargil and Leh), because Ladakh candidates are counselled by JKBOPEE for their own allotted seats.

Will these percentages change for 2027? In December 2025 the J&K cabinet cleared a proposal to revise the reservation shares and sent it to the Lieutenant Governor. As of November 2026 we could not find a notified amendment, and every 2026 JKBOPEE matrix still used the shares above. Until a new rule is officially notified, plan on the 2026 figures and check the first seat matrix JKBOPEE publishes for 2027.

Horizontal reservation: CDP, PwD, Sports and JKPM

Horizontal reservation does not create extra seats. JKBOPEE's own notes describe it as reservation "which would cut across the vertical reservation (what is called interlocking reservation)". A CDP seat, for example, sits inside OM or inside a reserved column; a CDP candidate who is also SC is placed in the SC-CDP slot if one exists.

• CDP (Children of Defence Personnel): the 2026 NEET-UG matrix reserves 3% of the total government seats.
• PwD (Persons with Disabilities): listed in the matrix footnote as a share of total seats. PwD candidates must also clear the disability certification required by NMC/MCC for medical courses.
• Sports and JKPM: also horizontal categories in JKBOPEE counselling. The exact share for MBBS/BDS is printed on each year's matrix; we could not open the 2026 MBBS footnote in full, so check it on jkbopee.gov.in rather than rely on a number from a coaching site.

JKBOPEE fills horizontal shortfalls in later rounds; in 2026 it issued separate selection lists for "horizontal reservations (CDP, JKPM, Sports category and PwD) only". If you hold one of these certificates, do not miss those notices.

Open Merit first: why a reserved-category student is not limited to the reserved column

The most common mistake we see in Srinagar is a student from RBA, ST or OBC who assumes they can only get a reserved seat. Allotment works merit-first: OM seats go to the highest-ranked candidates regardless of category, and only then are reserved seats filled from the remaining candidates of that category. A high-scoring ST-I student who wins an OM seat does not use up an ST-I seat, which leaves that seat for the next ST-I candidate. In practice this means:

• Always fill your category correctly at registration, even if you expect an OM seat.
• Your category certificate must be valid and in the format the Board asks for on the date it asks. A candidate whose certificate is rejected is counted as OM.
• Rank inside your category matters as much as your All India rank. Two students with the same NEET score can have very different chances at GMC Srinagar depending on category.

How many seats are we talking about?

Seat numbers change every year as new seats are approved. A few official reference points from JKBOPEE notices:

• In the 2025 first round, the UT pool of government MBBS seats was 967.
• JKBOPEE later added 161 government MBBS seats across five GMCs (notice dated 01-10-2025), including 42 new seats at GMC Anantnag.
• The 2026 matrices were revised round by round (first, second, third/mop-up, special mop-up and special stray), so always use the matrix for the round you are in.

The government colleges counselled in the UT pool include Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, GMC Anantnag, GMC Baramulla, GMC Handwara and GMC Jammu, plus BDS at Government Dental College Srinagar and Indira Gandhi Government Dental College, Jammu. Our list of government medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir covers each college. AIIMS Jammu is not in the UT pool; it is filled entirely through MCC.

Using both quotas: UT pool and All India Quota

A J&K domicile student can register in both MCC counselling (15% AIQ in government colleges across India, deemed universities, central institutions and AIIMS/JIPMER) and JKBOPEE counselling (the UT pool). The AIQ uses central reservation categories (OBC-NCL, SC, ST, EWS) under MCC rules, which are different from the J&K categories above, so your J&K RBA or ALC certificate gives no benefit in AIQ. Check our JKBOPEE NEET UG counselling guide for how the two rounds run side by side and when to accept or upgrade a seat.

What to do if your category rank is not enough

If your rank inside your category is short of the last government seat, your realistic options are management-quota seats in private and deemed colleges (see management quota MBBS fees), BDS in a government dental college, or an NMC-compliant medical university abroad (see MBBS abroad under 30 lakh). Each of these has a very different six-year cost, so compare them before the mop-up round, not after.

Next step

XEAL Education Works has guided J&K students through JKBOPEE and MCC counselling since 2011. Book a free counselling call and we will check your category, your certificates and your realistic colleges in both quotas. If NEET 2027 is still ahead of you, take the NEET mock test for J&K students or the full NEET CBT mock test to see where you stand.

XEAL is an independent admission consultancy, not part of JKBOPEE or MCC. Register, check results and download official notices only on jkbopee.gov.in and mcc.nic.in.