State syllabus students make strong comeback in KEAM top ranks | Kochi News
Kochi: The results of the Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical (KEAM) 2026 entrance examination were announced by higher education minister Roji M John here on Saturday, with students from the state syllabus making a strong comeback in the top ranks. Last year’s revised rank list was dominated by CBSE students.Roshan Raju, hailing from Amalapuram near Angamaly in Ernakulam, emerged as the topper with a score of 586.1408 out of 600. Roshan secured the state top rank in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced, the results of which were announced earlier this month. A student of KE School, Mannanam, in Kottayam, Roshan attended an entrance coaching centre in Pala. He has already secured admission to the Computer Science programme at IIT Madras and intends to pursue his studies there.Dhyan Tej Manappattil, from Poovathur in Cheruvanchery, Kannur, secured the second rank with the same overall score as Roshan. The mathematics score was used as the tie-breaker to determine the topper. Vismaya K R, of Kochukadavu in Eravathur, Thrissur, secured the third rank.A total of 96,747 candidates appeared for the engineering entrance examination. Of them, 79,788 qualified, while 65,438 were included in the engineering rank list. The rank list was prepared based on the marks submitted by 64,759 candidates within the stipulated time.Boys dominated the top ranks this year, with only one girl featuring in the top 10. The remaining nine positions were secured by boys.Of the top 100 engineering ranks, 48 were secured by students from the Kerala Higher Secondary Education (HSE) stream, while 47 went to students from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Four students from the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) featured in the top 100, while one candidate from another stream also made the list. A total of 44,921 HSE students and 18,482 from the CBSE stream appeared for the examination.Last year, state govt released the revised KEAM rank list in July following a directive from Kerala high court. The revised list, prepared using the original formula, saw a major reshuffle, including a sharp decline in the ranks of students from the state syllabus. As many as 79 CBSE students and 21 state board students featured in the top 100 ranks, compared with 55 and 43, respectively, in the first rank list.For the pharmacy course, 31,141 candidates appeared for the entrance examination, and 26,944 were included in the rank list. Vinayak Narayan, of Pazhambilly near Potta in Thrissur, emerged as the topper with a score of 286.2576 out of 300. Jessae Jestin, from Ollur in Thrissur, secured the second rank, while Diya Fathima A N, of Kavanoor in Malappuram, finished third.The computer-based entrance examination was conducted from April 17 to 22 at 192 venues across 152 centres in Kerala, as well as at centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Sharjah, Bahrain and Kuwait. The minister said special arrangements were made to conduct the examination in Gulf countries in view of the conflict in West Asia, enabling students stranded abroad to appear for the test. Examination centres were set up in Sharjah, Kuwait and Bahrain on a war footing with support from Indian embassies and technical assistance from C-DIT.The admission process for engineering courses is expected to be completed by Aug 14 in accordance with the AICTE academic calendar. Option registration for the first phase of allotment will begin on June 30 and continue until July 4, while the first allotment is scheduled to commence on July 8. The minister said the allotment process for architecture courses would begin once NATA scores become available. Candidates who could not apply earlier for BArch admissions were given an opportunity to submit their applications until June 18.
